How to Make Your Phone Ring Instead of Just Vibrate

ByJim Miller

If you've ever experienced the frustration of your phone only vibrating instead of ringing, you're not alone. This can happen when your phone is in silent mode or vibration mode. Luckily, there are simple steps you can take to make your Android or iPhone ring again.

Making Your iPhone Ring Instead of Vibrate

If your iPhone is only vibrating instead of ringing, it's likely in silent mode. Here's how you can turn off silent mode and enable the ringer:

  • Look for the physical silent button on the left side of your iPhone.
  • If you see an orange line inside the button, it means silent mode is enabled. Push the button upwards towards the screen to turn it off.
  • If you want to enable or disable vibration in ring mode, go to iPhone Settings > Sounds & Haptics. From there, you can turn off the toggle for “Play Haptics in Ring mode” or “Play Haptics in Silent Mode”.

In case the side switch doesn't work, you can also go to iPhone Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch. Enable the toggle for AssistiveTouch, and a floating button will appear on the screen. Tap on it, select Device, and then Unmute to turn off silent mode.

Making Your Android Phone Ring Instead of Vibrate

If your Android phone only vibrates but doesn't ring, you can try the following methods to disable the vibration mode:

Method 1: Turn off the Vibration Mode

  • Press the Volume Up or Down button on your Android phone.
  • A volume slider will appear with a vibrate or bell icon at the top. If you see the vibrate icon, tap on it and select the Bell icon. This will turn off the vibration mode.

Method 2: Disable Automatic Enabling of Vibration Mode

  • Open Settings on your Android phone.
  • Go to Sound and Vibration and turn off the toggle for “Shortcut to prevent ringing”. This will disable the shortcut that automatically puts your phone on vibrate when you press the Volume Up and Power buttons simultaneously.

Method 3: Change Ringtone

If the previous methods didn't work, you can try changing the ringtone on your Android phone:

  • Go to Settings > Sound and Vibration > Phone ringtone.
  • Make sure a ringtone is selected and try changing it to a different one. Press the Save button after selecting a new ringtone. You can also make your own ringtones using ringtone maker apps.

Making Your Samsung Galaxy Phone Ring Instead of Vibrate

Samsung Galaxy phones have three sound profiles: Sound, Vibrate, and Mute. If the Vibrate profile is selected, your phone will only vibrate. Here's how you can switch back to the sound mode:

Method 1: From Settings

  • Open Settings on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
  • Go to Sounds and Vibration.
  • Select Sound from the list of Sound, Vibrate, and Mute.

Method 2: From Volume Slider or Quick Settings

  • Press the Volume Up or Down button on your phone.
  • When the Volume slider appears, tap on the Speaker icon with a bar on it to disable vibration mode and enable the normal sound profile.
  • Alternatively, open the Quick Settings panel by swiping down twice on your phone. Tap on the Vibrate tile until you see the Sound mentioned on the tile.

Customize Your Ringtone

Once you've made your phone ring again, you can customize your ringtone to make it more personalized. On your Android or iPhone, you can set a song as your ringtone or change the ringtone for specific contacts. Explore the settings on your device to make it truly your own.

Now that you know how to make your phone ring instead of just vibrate, you'll never miss an important call again.