How-to

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Make and receive phone calls

You can make calls to one or more people in different ways—ranging from entering a person's phone number, to selecting a contact on your phone, to using voice commands.

And to make your life easier, and potentially safer, you can use your phone hands-free by using the speaker or a Bluetooth headset. For more information about connecting a Bluetooth device to your phone, see Pair my phone with a Bluetooth accessory.

To make a phone call

  1. On Start, tap Phone Phone tile.

  2. In History, tap Keypad Keypad icon, enter a phone number, and then tap Call.

  3. Tap End call to hang up.

Tips

  • If you're ready to hang up and you don't see the dial pad, tap the notification at the top of the screen, and then tap End call.
  • You can also make a call using Speech. Press and hold the Start Start button button, and then say "Call" and the name of the person you want to call. To learn more, see Use Speech on my phone. Speech may not be available in your country or region.

To call a contact

  1. On Start, tap Phone Phone tile.

  2. In History, tap People People icon, tap the person you want to call, and then tap the number to call.

  3. Tap End call to hang up.

To make a phone call from your call history

  1. On Start, tap Phone Phone tile.

  2. In History, you can:

    • Tap Call Call icon to call the person back at the current number.
    • Tap the person's name, and then tap the number to call.
    • Tap Search Search icon. In the Search box, start typing the name of a person you've called. When their name appears, tap Call Call icon to call the person back at the current number, or tap their name, and then tap another number.

  3. Tap End call to hang up.

To answer an incoming call

  • When you get an incoming call:

    • If your phone is locked, slide up, and then tap Answer.
    • If your phone is unlocked, tap Answer.

To use in-call options

  1. During a call, do one or more of the following:

    To Do this

    Show the keypad during a call

    Tap Keypad Keypad icon

    Use the speaker during a call.

    Tap Speaker Speaker icon

    Mute a call, so people can't hear you or background noise from your phone.

    Tap Mute Mute icon

    Put a call on hold.

    Tap Hold Hold icon

    Add a call.

    For more info about conference calls, see Use my phone for conference calls.

    Tap Add call Add call icon

  2. To turn off an in-call option that's turned on, tap the corresponding button. For example, if you're using the speaker during a call and want to turn the speaker off, tap Speaker Speaker icon.

  3. Tap End call to hang up.

Note

Your in-call options will vary by mobile operator.

To make an emergency phone call

  1. On Start, tap Phone Phone tile.

  2. Tap Keypad Keypad icon, enter the local emergency phone number, and then tap Call.

  3. Tap End call to hang up.

Note

If your phone has a password, you or someone else can still make an emergency phone call without entering the password by tapping Emergency call on the lock screen, and then dialing the local emergency number.

To send an incoming call directly to voicemail

  • When you get an incoming call, tap Ignore.

To silence the ringer on your phone

  • When you get an incoming call, do one of the following:

    • To silence the ringer, press the Volume button.
    • To silence the ringer and turn off the screen, press the Power button.

Note

For more information about how to change the volume on your phone, see Ringtones, sound, and volume.

To make an international call

  1. On Start, tap Phone Phone tile > Keypad Keypad icon.

  2. Tap and hold 0 on the keypad until the + sign appears.

    The plus sign (+) shows that you're making an international call (instead of entering the country exit code for the country or region you're in).

  3. Enter the following on the keypad:

    • Country or region code
    • Area code (without the 0 at the beginning)
    • Phone number

  4. Tap Call.

    Notes

    • When making international calls, additional charges may apply based on your phone plan.
    • In Phone settings, the International assist setting is turned on by default and can help correct common dialing mistakes when making an international call. However, if a country or region has multiple exit codes, you'll need to correctly enter a country exit code to make the international call.

To forward calls to another phone number

  1. On Start, tap Phone Phone tile > More More icon > Call settings.

  2. Turn on Call forwarding.

  3. Enter the phone number to forward calls in the Forward calls to box, and then tap Save.

Notes

  • To make and receive phone calls, you must have an account with a mobile phone operator, as well as a working cellular signal in your current location.
  • Call forwarding varies by mobile operator, and this service must be available with your current phone plan. Your mobile operator might charge you extra for forwarding calls.
  • You can't make a call if Airplane mode is turned on. To find the Airplane mode setting on your phone, on Start, flick to the App list, tap Settings Settings icon, and then tap Airplane mode.
  • You can tap the top of the screen to show the status bar, which has icons that tell a lot about your phone—including information related to making and receiving calls. Some of these icons include bars indicating signal strength, whether Airplane mode Airplane mode icon is turned on, letters indicating the data connection type, whether forwarding calls Forward calls icon is turned on, if you're roaming Roaming icon, if you're connected to Bluetooth devices Bluetooth icon, as well as the current phone profile. See What do the icons on my phone mean? for more info about these icons and others that might appear at the top of the screen.

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