How to fix iPhone 6s Visual Voicemail that stopped working after iOS 11 update [Troubleshooting Guide]

Addressed in this post is a post-update issue on the iPhone 6s visual voicemail feature, which suddenly stopped working after installing iOS 11. Read on to learn why this problem occurs and what should be done in order to correct the error and get the feature back up and running smoothly on your iOS device.

Visual voicemail is Apple’s patented feature introduced to iOS devices since the year 2007. With this feature, you are able to view a list of voicemail messages and select which ones to listen to, edit, or delete. Overall it was all good but recently when Apple rolled out iOS 11 in the fourth quarter of last year, a lot of people were starting to raise various complaints regarding the visual voicemail feature that is not working as intended after updating iOS the latest version. Now people are wondering what’s with iOS 11 that caused the visual voicemail feature to suddenly fail.

But before we jump right into our troubleshooting, if you have other issues with your iPhone, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page because we’ve already addressed a lot of issues reported by our readers. Find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need more help, fill up our iPhone problems questionnaire and give us more accurate information about your problem so we can give you the best solution.

Why does visual voicemail not working after updating to iOS 11?

Not all of those who updated to iOS 11 ended up having trouble with visual voicemail. That therefore is an indication that the problem is isolated only to a group of iOS device owners. One of the possible reasons as to why this occurs is on how the iOS device is previously configured by the end-user. The fact that not all of those who updated to iOS 11 have experienced the problem clearly denotes a difference on how the update blends with the current settings on the receiving device. For those who haven’t encountered an issue with visual voicemail after updating their iPhone to iOS 11, they must have luckily or coincidentally configured there iPhone settings in accord to the actual iOS 11 system structure. It’s possible for major updates to cause errors especially if the current device settings are conflicting with the new system. It’s also possible that the update just contain a certain bug that could mess up with the iPhone functions. On the positive note, these issues are most likely to be resolved with some workarounds if not through a follow-up firmware update containing a fix patch from Apple devs.

Solutions and workarounds to deal with visual voicemail issues from iOS 11

Thankfully some people just won’t sit, wait and do nothing when a device issue surfaces. Instead they would try to find some ways to remedy the problem rather than waste time in waiting for the official fix patch to roll out. And because of these people, we’ve managed to gather some helpful workarounds they’ve resorted to when they’ve dealt with a similar issue on their iOS device. It won’t hurt if you’d give these options a shot and use them to troubleshoot your iPhone 6s visual voicemail problem. After completing each method, be sure to test your iPhone 6s to see if visual voicemail is properly working again.

Before you begin troubleshooting, check and ensure that your iPhone 6s is connected to your network and that the network connection is stable. Visual voicemail may not work well if the network is intermittent or unstable. If you’ve set up a password for your visual voicemail, try to change the password and see if that will address the problem. If the network is fine but visual voicemail still doesn’t work and changing the visual voicemail password doesn’t help either, proceed and try these subsequent procedures.

First method: Soft reset/reboot your iPhone 6s.

The very first workaround and potential solution you shouldn’t miss when dealing minor software issues is a soft reset. Often times, all it takes is a reboot to fix an app or iPhone itself that’s suddenly acting weird. No data will be affected or deleted in the process so you don’t have to worry about possible data loss. For starters, a soft reset is done this way:

Press the Power button until the Slide to Power off label shows up.
Drag the slider to power off your device.
After 30 seconds, press and hold down the Power button until the Apple logo appears.
Wait until your iPhone boots up completely then test visual voicemail to see if it’s now working as intended.

There’s a chance though that the issue persists from a first reboot, so you’ll need to reboot your device up to three times and see what happens. If that won’t work either, then it’s time to move on and try other applicable solutions.

Second method: Check and install carrier settings update.

Visual voicemail feature has some carrier constraints. If you happened to switch to another cellular plan then update your iPhone to iOS, there’s a chance that your carrier settings need to be updated as well in order to blend with the new iOS platform installed on your device.

To check for pending carrier settings update on your iPhone 6s, go to Settings-> General-> About section, then check next to Carrier. If you see any pending update, install it then see what difference it can make.

Reboot your iPhone 6s once the carrier settings update has been successfully implemented then launch visual voicemail to see if it’s now able to work properly.

Third method: Toggle Cellular Data and Airplane mode on or off.

Some people have found remedy by resorting to these workarounds. You too can take your chances and give them a shot.

To turn cellular service on or off, go to Settings-> Cellular-> Cellular Data-> then tap the switch to turn it off. Wait for a few seconds then tap the switch to turn cellular data on again. Restart your iPhone then see if visual voicemail is working again.
If you wish to try the Airplane mode trick, go to Settings-> Airplane mode, then tap the switch to turn it on. After 30 seconds or 1 minute, restart your iPhone.

Then check and see if that fixes your iPhone’s visual voicemail feature.

Fourth method: Reset network settings.

Major iOS updates would sometimes override your current settings so there is a chance that the network settings on your iPhone 6s were overridden or changed. As a result, network functions on your iPhone including visual voicemail stopped working. To make sure it’s not the underlying cause, you can reset your network settings and set up your network connections again.

To reset network settings on your iPhone 6s, go to Settings-> General-> Reset-> Reset network settings.

Your iPhone reboots when the network settings reset is complete. When your device boots up, try to listen to a voicemail and hang up. Some people said that they’re able to retrieve other visual voicemails from doing so.

Please note though that doing so will likewise erase your network passwords along with other network information like APN settings. After the network settings reset, your iPhone network options and values are restored to factory defaults.

Fifth method: Restore iOS through iTunes.

A system downgrade can be considered an option when dealing with post-update problems that couldn’t be resolved by any applicable workarounds. While post-update concerns are to be addressed by Apple through a follow-up firmware rollout, it could take time for the fix patch to arrive. And chances are that people couldn’t afford to lose a key iPhone feature especially for those who relied much with visual voicemail. While there may be other alternatives, they might not be able to cater their needs as visual voicemail does.

If you’re able to create a backup of your previous and stable iOS firmware and already ran out of options, then you may consider downgrading iOS or restore to a previous iOS backup.

If you wish to proceed, you will need to secure a Windows or Mac computer with the latest version of iTunes program installed. Then connect your iPhone 6s to your computer using the supplied USB connector or Lightning cable. When iTunes recognizes your iPhone, select your device in iTunes then select the option to Restore your iPhone 6s to a previous iOS backup. Follow the rest of the onscreen instructions to complete the entire iOS restore process.

Other suggestions

You can also make a call to your carrier and ask more help in verifying your account services to make sure visual voicemail is supported and active. Meanwhile, if you just have this problem and not yet contacted Apple Support, then you should give them a call right now to escalate the problem and seek further recommendations.

Connect with us

If you have other problems with your iOS device including iPhone 6s, you may visit our Troubleshooting Page or complete and submit this form to get further assistance from our support team. Just be sure to provide us with all necessary information, such as your iOS device model, as well as more details about the issue you have with your device. For example, when did the problem start to occur or what you did before the problem shows. This way, it would be easier for us to determine the main cause(s) and help you towards finding the best possible solution available.

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