Where Did Voicemail Go in iOS 26? Finding iPhone Voicemail in the New iOS
Wondering if voicemail no longer works in iOS 26? Convinced that iOS 26 removed the Voicemail feature from iPhone? Can’t determine how to check voicemail on iOS 26? If you can’t find voicemail on iPhone since updating to iOS 26, you’re not alone. The new unified Phone app design in iOS 26 features a complete redesign of the iPhone calling app, where everything is smushed into a single screen and behind some nearly hidden menus. The prior Phone app design made Voicemail always easy to access and find by having Voicemail in a very obvious tab, but now Apple has moved Voicemail into a submenu that many users are overlooking, or wouldn’t think to investigate to find popular features that should be immediately apparent. This has led many iPhone users to become confused, giving them the impression that Voicemail disappeared, was removed from their iPhone, or that voicemail is no longer working on their iPhone since updating to iOS 26.
Rest assured that your iPhone with iOS 26 still has the Voicemail feature, but accessing it now is different than before. This tutorial will show you how to access Voicemail in the iOS 26 Phone app, as well as show you how to get the old easy to use Voicemail tab back again.
How to Access Voicemail in iOS 26 for iPhone
Voicemail in iOS 26 is now tucked behind a menu, making it easy to miss and leading to plenty of frustration and confusion amongst a fair number of iPhone users. Here’s how to find and access your Voicemail in iOS 26 for iPhone:
- Open the “Phone” app as usual
- Tap on the three lines button menu in the top right corner of Phone app
- Select “Voicemail” from the dropdown menu that appears
That’s how you access Voicemail now by default in Phone app for iOS 26. For whatever reason, Apple has determined that quickly and easily accessing Voicemail in Phone app was not necessary, so they tucked it into this dropdown menu that didn’t exist in prior versions of iOS.
Hiding the voicemail within a submenu is an interesting design decision from Apple, but a lot of the Liquid Glass redesign has similarly befuddling design choices that have led to confusion amongst iPhone, iPad, and Mac users.
If you aren’t happy with the cluttered redesigned Phone app with the harder to find Voicemail feature, you can switch the Phone app interface back to the old familiar easy to use design.
How to Get Voicemail Tab Back in Phone App for iPhone with iOS 26
You can get the voicemail tab back on your Phone app by reverting to the classic Phone app layout:
- From Phone app, tap the three lines menu button in the top right corner
- Tap on “Classic” to switch the Phone layout back to the traditional design and to re-enable the Voicemail tab
If you want to always see the easy to access Voicemail tab again in the Phone app for iOS 26, this is your only option. You can not use the new Unified interface and have a quickly accessible Voicemail tab, as that is not an option.
Did iOS 26 remove or disable Voicemail from iPhone?
This is a common question that a fair number of iPhone users have after updating to iOS 26, and they discover there is no Voicemail tab anymore. This has led many to believe Voicemail is either no longer on the iPhone, or that the Voicemail feature was disabled, or is no longer available. Alas it’s important to point out that, no, the Voicemail feature is not removed or disabled in iOS 26 for iPhone. The Voicemail feature is simply now tucked behind a dropdown menu by default due to the Phone app redesign. You can switch this back to the classic layout design for Phone app if you’d like to using the instructions above.
What do you think of the new Phone app for iOS 26 on iPhone? Do you like hiding the Voicemail and missed calls by default? Do you prefer the classic familiar Phone interface with the Voicemail tab? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
