No Call Forwarding in iPhone Settings? How to forward on Verizon

The short answer

If you open Settings on an iPhone, search for “Forwarding” and find nothing, the phone is almost certainly on Verizon or on a brand that uses Verizon's network. Nothing is wrong with the phone. Verizon simply turns forwarding on with a short code you dial, instead of a switch in Settings.

That is the whole job. The rest of this guide explains which phones need it, why, what to do if Verizon refuses the code, and how to be sure it worked. We wrote it after a real setup this week: a daughter and her mother, an iPhone on Verizon, and a Settings screen with no Call Forwarding anywhere.

Which carriers work this way

Two families of carriers, two ways to forward:

Brands that buy network access from the big three, such as Straight Talk, Tracfone or US Mobile, follow whichever network their SIM card uses. The quickest test is the one that started this guide: look in Settings first. If Call Forwarding is there, use it. If it is not, use the code.

Why Verizon is different

For most of the history of American mobile phones there were two incompatible technologies. AT&T and T-Mobile used GSM, the standard most of the world uses. Verizon and a few regional carriers used CDMA.

GSM has call forwarding built into the standard itself, so a phone can switch it on and off directly. That is the switch you see in an iPhone's Settings. CDMA never had that: forwarding was a network feature you turned on by dialing a star code, and the phone itself had no say.

Verizon switched its CDMA network off at the end of 2022 and now runs entirely on 4G LTE and 5G. It kept the star codes anyway, and the iPhone still hides the switch on Verizon lines. So in 2026 the largest carrier in the country, and a favorite of older customers, still forwards calls the way it did in the 1990s.

Step by step on a Verizon iPhone

You need the number calls should go to. For PhoneShield, that is your PhoneShield number, shown on your setup page with a Copy button.

1. Open the green Phone app. The one you make ordinary calls with: not Settings, and not the PhoneShield app.
2. Tap Keypad at the bottom of the screen.
3. Dial *72, then the 10-digit number, with no spaces, dashes, brackets or +1. For (941) 555-0123 that is *729415550123. If you copied the code from PhoneShield, press and hold the number field at the top of the keypad and choose Paste.
4. Press the green call button. You hear a few beeps, a short ring, or a recorded confirmation.
5. Hang up. Forwarding is on. It stays on until you turn it off, even if the phone restarts.

“Your call cannot be completed as dialed”

This is the message we heard during the setup that prompted this guide. It has two causes, in this order:

1. A typo in the code

The code must be exactly *72 followed by ten digits. A missing digit, an extra 1 or a pasted “+” makes Verizon reject it. Clear the keypad and type it again slowly: *72, then the area code and the seven digits, nothing else.

2. Forwarding is blocked on the line

If the code is right and Verizon still refuses it, the line is not allowed to forward. Common reasons:

• Verizon Smart Family or other parental controls on a family plan.
• A prepaid plan that does not include forwarding.
• A business or government line where the employer has turned the feature off.
• An account block added by a previous owner of the line, or by Verizon after a fraud report.

To fix it, open the My Verizon app or verizon.com, choose the line, and look for Call Forwarding among the line's features and controls. If you cannot find it, dial *611 from the phone and ask Verizon to “enable call forwarding on this line.” It is a routine request. Then dial the *72 code again.

Check that forwarding is on

Verizon's beeps tell you the code was accepted, not where calls are going. Two ways to be sure:

• Press Test on your PhoneShield setup page. PhoneShield calls the phone; if forwarding is on, the call comes straight back and the phone never rings. The page says “Forwarding is on” within a few seconds.
• Call the phone from another number. Instead of ringing, you should reach PhoneShield's front desk.

PhoneShield also re-checks forwarding by itself when a protected phone goes unusually quiet, and emails the family if it has been switched off. That happens more than you would think: a new SIM card, a carrier change or a phone reset can all clear it.

Turning it off

In the Phone app, on the Keypad, dial *73 and press call. Listen for the confirmation and hang up. Calls ring the phone directly again, which also means PhoneShield is no longer screening them.

The other Verizon codes

You may come across a second code in Verizon's help pages:

• *72 and a number: forward all calls, immediately. This is the one PhoneShield needs.
• *71 and a number: forward only calls you do not answer or that arrive while you are busy.
• *73: turn either kind of forwarding off.

We do not recommend *71 for scam protection. With it, every call still rings the phone first, so a scammer reaches your parent before PhoneShield ever hears it. The point of forwarding is that the front desk answers first.

Does it cost extra?

Verizon does not charge to turn forwarding on. A forwarded call does use plan minutes, the way an outgoing call would. On unlimited talk plans, which almost every current Verizon plan is, that makes no difference. On limited or older prepaid plans, keep an eye on minutes.

AT&T, T-Mobile and everyone else

On AT&T, T-Mobile and the brands on their networks, the switch is in Settings. Open Settings, type “Forwarding” into the search field at the top, open Call Forwarding, switch it on and enter the number. If you prefer a code, the GSM code works too: **21*, the 10-digit number, and #, then press call. Android phones and landlines have their own steps, all in Setting Up Call Forwarding.

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