A significant number of iPhone users run into situations where they find that their iPhone does not ring or makes noise with incoming phone calls, text messages, and alerts, resulting in missed calls and texts. This is very frustrating, but in most cases the reason why this happens is very simple; iPhone is accidentally placed in Focus or Do Not Disturb mode.
We will show you how to fix this problem and turn off do not disturb mode so that you can receive phone calls and texts again, and you will not miss any more calls or messages.
Disabling Do Not Disturb / Focus Mode on iPhone to Receive Calls and Texts Again
Do Not Disturb Mode / Focus Mode is the first reason why many iPhone users seem to stop receiving calls and texts from time to time, with the next reason being to enable AirPlane mode by mistake.
- Open Control Center by swiping down from the top right of the iPhone screen, then, depending on the iOS version, you’ll look for the Moon icon, or buttons that say something like “Focus” or “Do Not Disturb” and turn that off.
You can also go to the Settings app and look for a setting to change there, which may be labeled as “Do Not Disturb” or “Focus”, depending on the version of iOS on the iPhone.
And yes, everyone but the user likes how Apple has changed this setting enough times that there is no universal answer for all iOS versions, so keep this in mind if you are helping a friend, relative, co-worker, or someone else with this problem. Even if they learn to turn this off successfully and manage it at some point, the iOS version may have changed making the words or button different.
I had to deal with this situation recently with an elderly relative, who had been missing calls and messages for days, and we couldn’t figure out why. They missed calls from family and friends, appointments, follow-up calls that had to be rescheduled, all calls and texts from family and friends, and more. Because they didn’t mean to enable Do Not Disturb mode, and never realized they accidentally turned it on, they thought there was something wrong with their iPhone, and almost went to get a new iPhone to fix the problem. From the end, the call went straight to voicemail and luckily when I messaged them, I saw a small notification in their chat that their device was in Sleep Mode and “Notify Anyway” where I did, told them to call me, and walked them through fixing the problem over the phone.
This is a surprisingly common situation for regular iPhone users and those who tend to use their iPhone more as a phone and messaging device instead of a Super Cool Geeky Gadget like the rest of us (I’m guilty of the latter myself, but most of my friends and relatives fall into the former). So if you experience this, you are not alone, there are many people who complain of the same annoyance and are forced to investigate various possible reasons for missed calls and texts, although usually the answer is Focus/Do Not Disturb/Sleep Mode.
Personally, I really like the Do Not Disturb feature and use it often while working and at night, but with how easy it is for regular users to accidentally enable it, and how it doesn’t seem like it’s turned on, and how vague “Focus” sounds, it’s understandable to see why this is a confusing feature for some.