What to do if you cannot make or receive phone calls on Samsung Galaxy S9 (easy steps)

If you cannot make or receive phone calls on your Samsung Galaxy S9, chances are that you may be out of your network coverage or something on your phone is preventing phone calls to be made or go through. In general, you may be dealing with a software issue or hardware problem. It is more likely a software issue if it happens all of a sudden or after modifying your phone settings, downloading new apps or installing new software update on your device. On the other hand, the problem can also be attributed to a hardware issue especially if there were previous instances of dropping or liquid exposure on your device. Unfortunately in this case, your best hope to fix the problem is service, which means the need for a service center visit. Meanwhile, software-related calling issues can still be dealt with by some workarounds so you’ll have a chance of fixing the problem at home.

Highlighted below are some inputs and possible solutions that serves as reference should you wish to troubleshoot software errors that might have prevented you from making or receiving calls on your Galaxy S9. Feel free to try any of these methods whenever needed.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our Galaxy S9 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit.

How to fix Galaxy s9 that can’t make or receive phone calls

Before you start, verify and ensure that the contact number is not in the Auto-Reject list on your device. If it’s in the list, then you need to remove it first to allow calls from the contact number to go through. To manage call reject list on your Samsung S9, open the Phone app, then tap the More icon. Select Settings from the menu options then tap Block Numbers. To remove a contact number from the list, tap the Remove icon located next to the corresponding number or contact. Also check and ensure that Airplane mode or Flight mode is turned off or disabled on your device. All network connections are restricted to your device if Flight mode is enabled so as to avoid any interference with sensitive equipment. Calls, messages or mobile data are temporarily unavailable in Flight mode so make sure it’s disabled.

If the problem persists, then proceed with these workarounds and possible solutions:

First solution: Force close Phone app and then restart your Samsung S9 (soft reset).

There are instances when you will have trouble making calls or unable to receive a phone call due to random software issues on your phone. It usually occurs when the Phone app is misbehaving. Random as they are, problems like this can be rectified by quitting the rogue app and then restart it. The same thing applies to the Phone app. So here’s what you can try doing first to make sure this isn’t the cause of your problem:

Touch and hold the Recent apps key at the bottom left corner of your phone.
Locate the Phone app or Dialler app then swipe it to the right or tap the X to quit the app.

Closing all recent apps running in the background can also help if the problem is inflicted by any of the background apps that crashed. To close all recent apps, tap Close All from the recent apps screen.

Afterwards, reboot your Samsung S9 (soft reset) to refresh apps and system functions. Try to make a test call to see if it’s already working as intended. If not, then move on to the next possible solution.

Second solution: Boot your phone is safe mode and see if you can make and receive calls.

Booting into safe mode can help you diagnose apps and determine if the problem is triggered by a third-party app or not. All third-party apps and services are disabled temporarily in safe thus making it easier for you to isolate the problem.

Here’s how to enable and use safe mode on your Samsung Galaxy S9:

Turn your phone off.
Press and hold the Power button after the model name screen shows up on the screen.
Release the Power button when the Samsung logo appears.
Immediately press and hold the Volume Down button after releasing the Power button.
Keep holding the Volume Down button until the phone restarts.
When you see the Safe Mode badge in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.

Your phone is now running in safe mode. Do a test call then. If you can make and receive calls perfectly fine while running your device in safe mode, then it means that a third-party app is to blame. In this case, try to think of when the problem started and what app you downloaded and installed prior to the onset of the first symptom. Uninstall individual apps likely the most recent apps you’ve downloaded then test to see if calls are now working properly.

Third solution: Disable or remove any apps that has call blocking or rejecting features.

Other pertinent apps can likewise cause conflict and prevents you from making or receiving phone calls on your device. This usually occurs when any of these relevant apps was misconfigured, crashed, bugged and went rogue. To rule this out, try to disable or remove any apps on your S9 that supports blocking and rejecting features. Here’s how it’s done:

Swipe up on an empty space from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings.
Then tap Apps.
Select the app you want to uninstall.
Tap Uninstall.
Then tap OK to confirm action.

Restart your phone afterwards then do a test call to see how it works.

Fourth solution: Reset network settings on your Samsung S9.

Incorrect or misconfigured network settings can likewise inflict the same trouble with your phone’s calling functions. Network settings can be changed manually or automatically. If the problem instigated after making some changes on your device settings, then try to revert the changes you’ve made back to the prior configurations. But if that isn’t possible, you can just do a network settings reset instead. This however will wipe out all your network data so you will need to set up and connect to your Wi-Fi network afterwards. If you wish to give it a shot, then follow these steps:

Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings.
Tap General Management.
Scroll to and tap Reset.
Select the option to Reset network settings.
Tap Reset Settings.
If prompted, enter your device PIN or password.
Tap Reset Settings again to confirm action.

Fifth solution: Hard reset/factory reset your Samsung S9.

A hard reset should only be regarded as the last resort if the problem continues after exhausting all prior means but to no avail. This reset will wipe out everything from your device including your personal information data. Any bugs of major errors within the system structure that might have halted your device from making or receiving phone calls are likewise cleared in the process.

Creating a backup of your phone data is highly recommended before you proceed with this reset.

To back up your data before the reset, go to Apps-> Settings-> Cloud and accounts-> Backup and restore. Then select the option to Back up my data or Automatic restore.
To proceed and perform a factory reset, go to Settings-> General management-> Reset-> Factory data reset-> Reset-> then tap Delete All to confirm. If prompted, enter your credentials or verify your Samsung account and password to proceed and complete the reset.

Ask more help from your carrier

Contact your network service provider or carrier to verify and ensure that none of your account services cause blocking or auto-rejection of calls. Also check if there are any ongoing outages that might have disrupted network services in your place. Scheduled network maintenance or unexpected technical problems in the network bases/towers can also cause network services to become temporarily unavailable. Services will resume when the outage is over so all you have to do is wait.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.