How do I reset my voicemail app on Android?
Resetting the voicemail app on an Android phone is a straightforward process that allows you to clear out old voicemails, reset your voicemail PIN, and troubleshoot issues with your voicemail. It’s a simple procedure that involves accessing your voicemail settings and selecting the reset option.
On most Android devices, the voicemail app is integrated directly into the Phone app. By resetting it through the settings menu, you can refresh the whole voicemail system and clear up problems like missing notifications or interface glitches. This quick reset usually fixes common voicemail problems.
Prerequisites
Before resetting your voicemail app on Android, it’s important to check a few prerequisites. Most Android devices come with a pre-installed voicemail app, but functionality can vary across manufacturers and Android versions.
In general, a voicemail app requires Android 6.0 or later to support full visual voicemail capabilities. Some specific requirements include:
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow or newer – Visual voicemail was first introduced as a native Android feature in Android 6.0. Older versions may not fully support visual voicemail apps.
- VoLTE support – Visual voicemail requires Voice over LTE (VoLTE) support from your carrier. Make sure your device and plan support VoLTE.
- Carrier visual voicemail app – Most carriers offer their own visual voicemail app. Install the latest version recommended by your carrier.
On Samsung devices, the Samsung Visual Voicemail app is preloaded. This fully replaces the stock voicemail app if available from your carrier. Other Android devices will default to the Google Phone app for voicemail.
Before resetting your voicemail app, check that you meet the Android version and carrier requirements. Contact your carrier if you have any issues with visual voicemail capabilities.
Back Up Data
It’s important to back up your voicemail data before resetting the app. That way you don’t risk losing any important voicemails or messages in the process. Here are some options for backing up your voicemail data:
Save voicemails to your device storage: Open the voicemail app, select the voicemails you want to save, and choose the option to export or save them. This will store the audio files locally on your device. Make sure to remember where you saved them.
Sync with a cloud service: Many voicemail apps let you sync your voicemails with a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox. Open the app’s settings and look for a backup or sync option. Turn this on to automatically save your voicemails to the cloud.
Connect to a computer: You can also connect your Android phone to a computer with a USB cable. Then access the phone’s storage and locate the voicemail audio files. Copy them to your computer for backup. Just remember where you saved them.
Taking the time to back up your voicemails ensures you have a copy if anything goes wrong during the reset process. You’ll be able to restore your messages after resetting the app.
Reset Voicemail App
To reset the Android voicemail app, first open your device’s Settings menu. This is usually accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon, but may vary depending on your specific Android model.
In Settings, scroll down and select Apps. This will open a list of all apps installed on your device.
Find and select your voicemail app from the list. Common voicemail apps include Google Voice, carrier-specific voicemails like Verizon Voicemail or AT&T Voicemail, and third-party options. Tap the voicemail app to open its settings.
In the app settings, look for a Reset option. On some devices this may be under Storage or App Info. Tap Reset to initialize the reset process.
Confirm that you want to reset the app when prompted. This will clear any logged-in accounts, saved preferences, and data for that voicemail app. However, it will not delete actual voicemail audio files, which are stored separately.
Once the reset is complete, the voicemail app will return to its default out-of-box state. You can then log in again or adjust any settings as needed.
Confirm Reset
Before resetting your voicemail password, Android will prompt you to confirm the action. You’ll typically see a message saying something like “Reset voicemail password? This will delete all existing messages.” This serves as a final warning to make sure you really want to proceed.
Some Android devices may require entering a confirmation code or selecting “Reset” again to verify the action. It’s important to carefully read any prompts at this stage, as resetting voicemail will delete any existing saved messages.
Reset Completion
Once the steps to reset your voicemail app are complete, the app data will be erased and the app returned to its default factory settings.[1] This means all previous voicemail messages, saved passwords, and customized settings will be deleted.
The voicemail app should now be in the same state as when you first installed it on your Android device. The reset process clears any corrupted data that may have been causing issues with the app.
At this stage, the voicemail app reset is finished. You can now start using the app again as if setting it up for the first time. Going forward, you’ll need to re-record your greeting, set a new password, adjust any settings to your preferences, and so on.
Restore Backup
After resetting your voicemail app, you’ll want to reload any backups you made of your data before the reset. The easiest way is to restore a backup from an external source like Google Drive or Dropbox where you may have saved your voicemail files.
First, install the app where your backup is located if you don’t already have it, such as the Google Drive app. Open the app and navigate to the folder where your voicemail backup is stored. Select the backup file and choose the option to download or export the file back to your device storage. Typically this is done by tapping the 3 dot menu icon next to the file and choosing “Export” or “Send a copy”.
Once the voicemail backup file is downloaded to your device again, open your Phone app, go to the Voicemail tab, select the option to “Import media”, and pick the backup file you just downloaded. This will load your voicemails back into the voicemail app.[1]
Restoring from a cloud backup or external storage is the easiest way to retrieve your voicemail messages again after resetting the app. Just be sure to make a backup before starting the reset process.
Adjust Settings
After resetting your voicemail app, you’ll need to reconfigure your voicemail settings and preferences. Here are some steps to take:
Open the Phone app and navigate to Voicemail settings. On many Android devices, you can access this by tapping the 3-dot menu icon in the top right and selecting Settings or Voicemail.[1]
Set a new voicemail greeting so callers hear a personalized message when directed to voicemail. You can record a new greeting or choose a default system greeting.[2]
Adjust additional voicemail options like transcriptions, blocking, notifications and more. Enable features you find useful.[3]
Set a voicemail PIN code if desired, to prevent unauthorized access to messages.
Once your voicemail settings are configured, test by calling your phone and leaving a message. Confirm settings took effect as expected.
With your voicemail preferences set up again post-reset, your Android voicemail app is ready to use.
[1] https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115069?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPc5j9hVyO4
[3] https://www.wikihow.com/Set-Up-Your-Voicemail-on-Android
Test Reset
Once you have completed the reset process, it is important to test that your voicemail is working properly again. Here are the steps to test it:
Make a test call from another phone to your Android device. Let it go to voicemail and leave a message. Then, on your Android device, open the Phone app and navigate to voicemail. Follow the prompts to listen to the new voicemail message you just left from the other phone.
If you are able to successfully listen to the new voicemail message, then your voicemail app has been reset properly. However, if you encounter any issues accessing voicemail and listening to messages, you may need to go through the reset process again or troubleshoot further.
Be sure to test calling your voicemail and leaving test messages from a few different phones. Check that you can listen to messages from both your Android device and by calling your voicemail from a phone. This full testing will confirm that your voicemail system is operating correctly after resetting the app.
Troubleshooting
If you run into issues after resetting your voicemail app, here are some common problems and fixes:
Can’t log into voicemail – Make sure you are entering the correct password. Double check that the password reset was successful by going through the steps again. You may need to power cycle your phone as well.
Voicemails not showing up – Try re-syncing the voicemail account on your phone by going into Settings > Accounts > Voicemail and tapping Sync. If that doesn’t work, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the voicemail app.
Can’t play back voicemails – This could be a connectivity issue. Make sure you have a strong wireless or cellular signal. You can also try clearing the app cache and data for the voicemail app in your Apps settings.
If none of those basic troubleshooting steps work, you may need to contact your mobile carrier for further support. Provide details on exactly what issues you are seeing after resetting the voicemail app.