How to stop calls going to voicemail (UK)

Voicemail feels like a feature sitting on your line that you ought to be able to disable. It is closer to a default. Your network holds a rule that says "if this call is not answered within about 20 seconds, send it here", and out of the box "here" is the voicemail platform. Nothing is switched on; a destination is simply already filled in.

That is why people go round in circles looking for the setting. They are searching for a toggle that does not exist, in a menu that only offers to change the destination. Once you know the rule is a redirect rather than a feature, the fix is obvious: change what it redirects to.

It is also why some networks will happily let you set a destination but will not let you set none. From the network's point of view an unanswered call has to end up somewhere, and silence is not one of the options.

The code is **61*number#. The 61 is the GSM condition code for "no reply". The number between the asterisks is the destination. Every UK network implements this because it is part of the GSM supplementary-services standard rather than something each operator invented.

You will see it written both as **61*number# and as *61*number#. Both activate the divert. The double-asterisk form registers the destination as well as activating it, which is what makes it survive a reboot on most handsets — so it is the one worth using.

If your phone asks for a ring time before it forwards, that is the **61*number**seconds# form: the value before the # is how long your handset rings first. Not every network accepts a custom value, and a rejected code usually means that rather than a problem with the divert itself.

Dial ##61#. That erases the no-answer divert, and with no destination of your own on the line, unanswered calls fall back to the network default — which is voicemail. This is why ##61# looks like it "turns voicemail on". It does not. It removes your rule and lets the default reassert itself.

If your calls are behaving oddly and you are not sure what is set, ##002# clears every divert on the line at once: no answer, busy, unreachable and all-calls. It is the reset button, and it is safe.

It does not stop your phone ringing. Calls still arrive and still ring for the usual 20 seconds or so; the divert only decides what happens after that. If you want calls to stop reaching your handset entirely, that is the all-calls divert, **21*number#, and it is a different rule.

It does not delete the voicemails you already have, and it does not close your voicemail box. The box stays exactly where it is with everything in it. You are only changing where new unanswered calls are sent.

It does not affect calls you answer. A divert on the no-answer condition is invisible on every call you pick up.