How to Check Voicemail Messages on Android

To listen to your voicemail messages on an Android phone:

The keys you have to press for these instructions will vary based on who your telecom carrier is, so we’re going to add a little more detail below, in case our quick steps aren't enough for you to go on. We’ve also got a "cheat sheet" of voicemail commands for different carriers, so be sure to scroll down and check that out.

How to listen to your voicemail messages on Android

1. Power up your phone and open the Phone app.

Press and hold the power button for your phone to turn it on. Then, once you unlock your main screen, tap the Phone app to launch it.

2. Access the dial pad.

You'll need to bring up the Phone app's dial pad, as if you were going to call an actual person. To do this, tap the dial pad icon near the bottom of the screen.

3. Call your voicemail system.

Call your voicemail account by typing in its phone number with the keys on the dial pad, and then pressing the green Call button. Or, as a shortcut, you can just press and hold the 1 key.

4. Provide your voicemail system's password.

You will be prompted to enter the passcode to your voicemail account, if you have set one (which, hopefully, you have). Use the keys on the dial pad to type it in.

5. Check your voicemail inbox.

Once you're in your voicemail system, you may have to do things slightly differently than how they're done in this tutorial, depending on your telecom carrier and/or voicemail client. However, the general options that you'll have should be pretty similar.

Anyway, the first thing you should do is tap the key on the dial pad that lets you check your messages. In this case, it's 1.

6. After listening to each message, decide what you want to do with it.

The most recent voicemail message that you've received should start playing. When it finishes, you will be given some choices about what you want to do with the message. Usually, these will include deleting the message, saving it, finding out more information about it, and so on. Press the key on the dial pad that corresponds to what you want to do.

In this case, you can press 7 to delete the message or 9 to save it. Or, if you want further options for what you can do with the message, press 0.

Deleting or saving the message will cause the next most recent voicemail message to start playing. From there, go back to the beginning of this step.

However, if you choose to listen to more options for the current message, you will be given additional choices. These usually include replaying the message, finding out more information about the message (including when it was sent and by whom), or cancelling checking your messages and returning to your voicemail system's main menu.

Again, just press the key on the dial pad that represents the option that you want. In this case, you can press 4 to replay the message, 5 to hear more information about the message, or * to quit reviewing messages and go back to the main menu on your voicemail system. Unless you choose this last option, you will return to the beginning of this step.

7. When you're finished, hang up to exit your voicemail system.

When there are no other messages for you to check, or you're otherwise done checking your voicemail, press the red End Call button to exit your voicemail system and hang up the call.

That’s more or less how it’s done! Because the options can vary by carrier, we’ve got a cheat sheet for you below. If you use a popular cell phone carrier, these are the buttons you’ll need to press when checking your voicemail messages.

Popular telecom carrier voicemail shortcuts

Those are the basics of playing voicemails on your Android phone! Keep an eye out for our series of blog posts and articles that explain other neat tricks that you can do with your Android device!