How to Fix Samsung Phone Not Showing Incoming Calls

Calls and messages are an integral part of any smartphone experience. You are up for confusion when your Samsung phone fails to show incoming calls. Before you miss important calls on your phone, check the tricks below to fix incoming calls not showing on screen on Galaxy phones.

Multiple factors can affect your Galaxy phone’s call notifications. It can be due to a buggy Phone app, outdated system, corrupt cache, incorrect Phone app settings, third-party phone apps, malware and more. Before we explore these tricks, reboot your phone once and try again.

1. Restart Galaxy Phone

Rebooting your Samsung phone troubleshoots all the small niggles that you face. Press and hold the volume down and power key at the same time, and your Galaxy phone will offer to Power off or Restart the device. Select Restart and do the complete reboot.

Make sure to hold the volume down and power key for a few seconds for the Restart menu to appear. Otherwise, you will end up taking a screenshot.

2. Enable Notifications for the Phone App

Understandably, this option is enabled by default for the Phone app. If you had disabled it or an OS update changed the setting, it’s time to enable the notifications for the Phone app. Here is how.

Step 1: Identify the Phone app icon on the home screen or lock screen.

Step 2: Long-press on it and open the app info menu.

Step 3: Go to Notifications and enable Call notifications for your Galaxy phone.

3. Force Stop Phone App

If the default Phone app acts up on your Galaxy phone, you should Force stop the Phone app and open it again.

Long-tap on the Phone app icon and go to the App info menu. Select Force Stop at the bottom and open the Phone app again.

4. Clear Phone App Cache

If you get dozens of phone calls every day, you should clear the Phone app cache occasionally. Here’s how.

Step 1: Long-press on the Phone app icon and open the App info menu.

Step 2: From Usage, select Storage and tap on Clear cache at the bottom.

5. Remove Call Background

Samsung allows you to set different animated call backgrounds to spice up the experience. However, it may be too much for low-end or mid-range Galaxy phones. After all, those animated call backgrounds do require CPU resources to function properly.

You should remove the call background from the Phone Settings menu.

Step 1: Open the Phone app on your Galaxy phone.

Step 2: Tap on the three-dot menu at the top and open Settings.

Step 3: Tap on Call background and open the Background menu.

Step 4: Delete your custom call background and select a simple one.

6. Enable Caller Information

You should enable caller information so that the Phone can display profile picture, show contact’s phone number and other extra details like when you last talked, important dates and more. Here’s how.

Step 1: Head to Phone Settings on your Samsung phone (check the steps above).

Step 2: Scroll to Caller information.

Step 3: Enable the toggle beside ‘Show contacts’ phone numbers’ and ‘Show extra details’.

7. Change Call Display

Samsung uses the default Android API to showcase incoming call pop-ups at the top. The call pop-up doesn’t work all the time, and you won’t see incoming calls on your phone.

You can change the call display from Pop-up to full screen. Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Open the Phone app and go to Settings.

Step 2: Scroll to the Call display while using the apps menu.

Step 3: Select Full screen from the following menu.

8. Disable Block Unknown Numbers

Samsung offers a built-in filter to block unknown numbers from the list. You have to turn it off from the Setting menu.

Open the Phone app and go to the Settings menu. Open Block numbers and disable Block unknown/private numbers from the following menu.

9. Change Default Phone App

The Play Store is filled with third-party phone apps. If you have changed the phone app, it might mess up the incoming call experience on your Galaxy phone. It’s time to revert to the default Phone app on your Galaxy device.

Step 1: Open the App info menu for the Phone app.

Step 2: From the Default, select the Calling app and tap on Phone to set it as the default on your phone.

10. Uninstall Third-Party Phone Apps

Did you set the Phone as the default on your Galaxy phone and still face issues with call notifications not showing up? Third-party phone apps may mess up your device. You may even notice your phone ringing without any active calls. You should identify and uninstall such third-party phone apps from your Samsung phone and try again.

11. Answer/Reject Incoming Calls with Volume and Side Keys

If you still can’t see incoming call notifications, this temporary workaround will let you answer those invisible calls without touch inputs. Users can use the Volume up button to answer the call and the Side key to end it.

Step 1: Open the Settings menu in the Phone app.

Step 2: Scroll down to Answering and ending calls.

Step 3: Enable Press Volume up to answer, and Press the Side key to end calls toggle, and you are good to go.

12. Scan Your Samsung Phone for Malware

When you download apps, media and files from unknown sources from the web, you may accidently infect your Samsung phone with malware. Such bogus files can be the main reason behind broken call notifications on Samsung phone. You should scan and remove malware from Samsung Settings.

Step 1: Launch Settings and scroll to Device Care.

Step 2: Select App protection. Tap Turn on.

Step 3: Hit Scan phone.

13. Update the Phone App and One UI

An outdated Phone or system software can be the main culprit here. You should first update the Phone app to the latest version and if the issue persists, install the latest One UI build on your Samsung phone. The company is quick to release software updates to fix such annoying bugs. The trick should resolve other problems like no caller ID as well.

You should head to the Galaxy Store and search for the Phone app. Update it from the app info page.

Step 1: Open Settings and scroll to Software update.

Step 2: Download and install the latest One UI build on your phone.

14. Reset Samsung Phone

When none of the tricks work, it’s time to reset the Samsung phone and set everything from scratch.

Step 1: Launch Settings and scroll to General management.

Step 2: Select Reset and tap Factory data reset.

Follow the on-screen instructions to reset your Samsung phone.

Get Incoming Calls on Your Galaxy Phone

Samsung Galaxy phones not showing incoming call notifications may leave you in unwanted situations. Before resetting the phone or rushing to a service center, follow the steps above and troubleshoot the issue in no time.