Getting Rid of the Voicemail Icon in Samsung Galaxy S3

While the Samsung Galaxy S3 was one of the most powerful device in 2012 and even today, it was plagued with problems that thousands ,if not millions, of owners are experiencing. Aside from connectivity issues, one common problem was that the voicemail icon seemed not to go away even after the voicemail was deleted by the user.

Basically, the voicemail icon indicates that there is (are) still voicemails that the owners have to listen to even if there’s none. The first instinct a user could think of is to tap on the clear button on the notification bar, but it doesn’t do anything to solve the problem. While the problem is not serious because it doesn’t interfere with other services, it’s just annoying that you wouldn’t know if there is indeed a new voicemail unless you open your voicemail inbox.

I asked a Samsung representative about the problem and he said that the possible causes are the following:

• A network outage is affecting the area.
• Inconsistent network connectivity.
• Voicemail wasn’t properly accessed or wasn’t deleted.
• A third-party application is causing it.

The rep actually gave all logical causes to the problem but I believe that this is merely a glitch and, by the way, the rep didn’t provide resolution to the problem but suggested to do a factory reset. He may be right but after messing up with the phone, I discovered there are two possible solutions to the problem.

Clearing Voicemail Notification

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll to and tap Call Settings.
4. Now tap Clear Voicemail Notification.

Given that the button was not grayed out in your device, this procedure would work. However, there are models whose Clear Voicemail Notification button was grayed out (I’m really not sure which model). If this is the case in your phone, the following procedure would get rid of the voicemail icon.

Stopping Voicemail Service

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Tap Applications Manager.
4. Swipe left to choose All tab.
5. Scroll to and tap Voicemail.
6. Tap Force Stop.

What this procedure does is forcibly stop the voicemail service, thus the icon would also disappear. But don’t worry, you can always launch Voicemail app anytime. If you do that, the icon would still not be seen unless you really have new voicemails. Likewise, a reboot would bring the service back to life.

Having problems with your phone?

Tell us about them by emailing us at [email protected]. Make sure to include as much details as possible so that we could understand the problem well and find the best solutions for you. If you can share a screenshot or two, that would be better.

We may not be able to respond to every email we receive but rest assured we do read them… yes, all of them even if some do look like spams.