How do I turn off silent mode on my iPhone?

General
1

I’m having trouble with silent mode on my iPhone. I accidentally activated it and I’m not sure how to turn it off. I need my notifications to ring again as I’m missing important calls and alerts. Can someone help me figure this out?

2

Oh no, silent mode strikes again! Here’s how to fix it:

  1. Check the small Ring/Silent switch on the left side of your iPhone, just above the volume buttons. If you see orange, that means your phone is still in silent mode. Flip it the other way to turn silent off.

  2. If it’s already flipped to the ‘ring’ position and you STILL aren’t hearing notifications, head to Settings > Sounds & Haptics. Make sure the volume sliders are turned up and “Vibrate on Ring” is enabled (if needed).

  3. A sneaky one—check Do Not Disturb! Swipe down from the top-right corner to open the Control Center (or swipe up, depending on your model!). If the crescent moon icon is lit up, that means DND is on. Tap it to turn it off.

Let your calls serenade you once again (unless it’s spam calls; they can stay muted forever).

3

Have you tried restarting your phone yet? Sometimes the simplest answer (like turning it off and back on again) actually works miracles. If the toggle switch is where it’s supposed to be and you’re still not getting rings, maybe your issue isn’t strictly about ‘silent mode.’

Also, quick thought: have you checked if your ringtone is set to something insanely low-pitched or silent altogether? Happened to me once when I set my ringtone to some weird tone from my music library, and then boom—no sound. You can go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone and pick a normal, non-disastrous sound.

Lastly, while @stellacadente brought up a solid point about Do Not Disturb, don’t forget about Focus Modes, especially on newer iOS. Focus can be sneaky and put your phone into selective silence. Go to Settings > Focus and see if any modes like Work or Sleep are messing things up. Turn them off if they are!

And hey, if it’s none of those… it might just be time to accept your phone is clearly rebelling against you. Classic.