Where are voicemails stored on Android?
Voicemail is a useful feature on Android phones that allows callers to leave a voice message when you are unable to answer. Understanding where these voicemails are stored is important for accessing and managing your messages. On Android devices, voicemails can be stored in a few different locations depending on your phone, service provider, and preferences.
Voicemail App
On Android devices, incoming voicemails are stored within the native Phone or Voicemail application. When someone leaves you a voicemail message, it gets routed to your mobile carrier’s voicemail system. Your Android phone then receives a notification that you have a new voicemail waiting. To listen to the message, you simply open the Phone or Voicemail app, which retrieves the voicemail recording from your carrier’s servers and downloads it to your device for playback (Source).
The voicemail audio file itself is temporarily cached on your device’s internal storage in a folder managed by the Phone/Voicemail app. After you listen to a new voicemail, it will be marked as “read” but remain available in your app’s inbox until deleted. Old and deleted voicemails may still be recoverable through your carrier, but are removed from local storage on your Android phone. So the Phone/Voicemail app is your gateway to retrieving and playing back voicemails, which are then stored locally only as long as needed.
Storage Locations
Voicemails on Android can be stored in a few different locations depending on your phone and app settings:
The default storage location for voicemails is usually the phone’s internal storage. Voicemail audio files such as .amr files are typically saved in the directory for your voicemail app, such as the Visual Voicemail folder for the native Phone app (1).
Many Android phones also allow saving voicemails to an external SD card. The voicemail files can be set to automatically save to the SD card storage through your voicemail app settings (2). This keeps voicemails from taking up space on your internal storage.
Some voicemail apps and carriers offer cloud storage for keeping voicemails. Cloud storage allows accessing voicemails from multiple devices. However, cloud storage often has capacity limits before incurring additional fees (3).
Default Storage
By default, voicemails are stored locally on the device’s internal storage. When someone leaves a voicemail for you, it gets saved in the Voicemail app on your Android phone. The audio file for the voicemail will be located in the internal storage under Android/data/com.android.providers.telephony/voicemail/inbox, along with an associated .conf file containing metadata like the phone number and timestamp (Source).
The amount of storage space available for voicemails will depend on the total internal storage capacity of your specific Android device and how much space you have free. Most Android phones come with at least 16GB of internal storage these days. Voicemails are stored as .ogg or .amr audio files which are compressed, so a 3 minute voicemail may only take up 1-2MB of space.
By default, there is no limit on the number of voicemails that can be stored locally, but you may eventually run out of free space on your phone if you don’t listen and delete old voicemails. Older voicemails are automatically deleted by the system as needed to make space for new ones. So the actual number of voicemails you can save depends on the storage capacity of your device and length of each voicemail.
SD Card Storage
Many Android phones allow you to store voicemails on an external SD card if one is installed. This provides additional storage space beyond the phone’s internal storage. When you save a voicemail, you may see an option to choose the SD card as the location. For example, on a Samsung Galaxy device, when you tap and hold a voicemail, choose “Save” and then tap the SD card icon.
Storing voicemails on the SD card keeps them off the phone’s internal storage, helping avoid filling up that space. It also lets you remove the SD card to back up the voicemails or transfer them to another device. One downside is that accessing the voicemails requires the SD card to be installed in the phone. If you remove the card, the voicemails won’t be available until the card is re-inserted. Overall, the SD card provides a convenient overflow storage option for voicemails on devices that support external SD cards.
Cloud Storage
Many Android devices now offer cloud-based visual voicemail which allows voicemails to be stored in the cloud rather than locally on the device’s storage. This is often included with major carrier Visual Voicemail apps like Verizon’s Visual Voicemail.
Storing voicemail messages in the cloud has several advantages. It allows access to voicemails from multiple devices by syncing them to the cloud. Cloud storage also provides virtually unlimited storage space compared to limited local storage on a device. And it enables handy features like voicemail transcription.
The downside is that retrieving voicemails requires an internet connection. But for most users, the benefits of having voicemails available across devices and safely stored in the cloud outweigh this minor inconvenience.
Storage Limits
Android voicemail storage limits vary by mobile carrier and device model, but there are some commonalities.
Most Android devices come with a default voicemail storage limit of around 20-40 voicemails, according to an article on The Atlantic. However, this can vary substantially depending on your mobile carrier and phone model. For example, some Samsung Galaxy models may allow storage of up to 100 voicemails by default.
Mobile carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile often set a limit of 20-30 voicemails, with a maximum voicemail duration of 3-5 minutes each. According to Community Phone, the typical voicemail storage capacity is around 10-15 minutes total.
On most Android devices, voicemail messages are automatically deleted after a certain time period, usually 30 days. This helps free up storage space. However, some users have reported losing voicemails after just 2 weeks.
If you need additional voicemail storage on your Android device, you may be able to purchase a higher tier plan from your mobile carrier. For example, Verizon offers premium plans with 60-90 voicemails included. There are also third-party apps that can transcribe and back up your voicemails to the cloud.
Managing Storage
Voicemail storage can fill up quickly, especially if you receive a lot of voicemails. Here are some tips for managing your Android voicemail storage:
Set a voicemail limit in your phone settings. This allows you to set a maximum number of voicemails that can be stored before older ones get deleted automatically. The limit varies by device, but is usually around 10-20 voicemails.1
Delete old voicemails regularly. Open your voicemail app and delete messages you no longer need to free up space.
Enable voicemail transcription. Many Android devices can transcribe voicemails to text so you can read them instead of listening and save on storage space.
Back up important voicemails. You can forward special voicemails to your email as an audio file attachment to save them long term.
Move voicemails to the cloud. Some third party apps like Google Voice let you store voicemails in the cloud rather than locally on your device.
Upgrade to a phone with more storage. Many modern Android phones have 128GB or more storage so running out of space is less likely.
Contact your carrier about upgrading your voicemail storage if needed. They may be able to increase the limit or offer cloud storage options.
Transcription
Many Android phones include built-in voicemail transcription features. For example, Google Pixel phones come with the Phone app which can automatically transcribe voicemails into text (source). To enable this, open the Phone app, tap More options > Settings > Voicemail, and turn on Voicemail transcription. The transcriptions will appear next to each voicemail in your inbox.
Samsung Galaxy phones also offer a similar voicemail to text transcription feature through the Phone app. Go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Phone app and enable Voicemail to Text to automatically convert voicemails into text (source).
There are also third party Android apps like Notta that can transcribe voicemails into text. After installing Notta, open the app, log in, tap the plus button, select voicemail as the audio source and it will convert the message to text (source).
These transcription features provide a convenient way to quickly read voicemails instead of having to play back the audio. It can save time and makes voicemails more accessible.
Conclusion
In summary, voicemails on Android devices are stored in a few different locations depending on your specific device and settings. The default storage location is on your carrier’s servers, which allows you to access voicemails on any device by dialing your voicemail number. Voicemails are also often stored locally on your device’s internal storage or SD card by the voicemail app. Some Android devices give you the option to forward voicemails to cloud storage services like Google Voice for long-term archiving. Storage limits and transcription services vary across providers and apps. Overall, Android offers flexible voicemail storage options, with the default location being on your carrier’s servers for easy anytime access by phone.