How to Set Up Call Forwarding

Call forwarding is one of those things that people tend to not think about, but all four of the main carriers support this function, and many prepaid phones to do. There are several different ways in which you can foward your calls depending on what kind of device you have and what carrier you have.

Call Forwarding Shortcodes

Sprint/Verizon generally tend to support the following codes:

• To set up call forwarding: *72(phone number, including area code) then press ‘send.’  You should receive a confirmation tone or message.
  • for example: *72-1-222-333-1234
• To stop call forwarding: *73 then press ‘send.’ You should hear a confirmation tone or message.

AT&T generally supports the following codes:

• To set up call forwarding: **21*(phone number including area code)# Then press ‘send.’ You should receive a confirmation message.
  • for example: **21*1-222-333-1234#
• To stop call forwarding: ##21# then press ‘send.’ You should hear or see a confirmation message.

T-Mobile tends to prefer customers set it up within their phones instead of using shortcodes. There are no supported shortcodes listed on T-Mobile’s support documents.

Call Forwarding in Android Settings

Androids are far more common in the prepaid market than any other phone, so I’m mostly going to focus on how to set up call fowarding on that device. If you have another device, try looking here for more information. Now, as with all things Android it’s worth noting that there is always more than one way to do something and that each version of Android is going to be a little different. From the different devices I tried, there seem to be two main ways in which to do this:

1. Open your settings
2. Select ‘call settings’
3. select ‘call forwarding’
4. Turn ‘call forwarding’ on and follow on-screen prompts

If that doesn’t work, or you don’t have those options try this instead:

1. Go to your dialer
2. Select ‘settings’ or tap/long press on the menu button
3. Select ‘call settings’ (may be listed as ‘voice call’)
4. Select ‘call forwarding’
5. Turn call forwarding on and follow on-screen prompts

None of those work for me!

If nothing else works, contact the customer service for your service provider. They will be able to talk you through the process of setting up call forwarding, provided that it is available. I’m not 100% sure that all MVNOs will support this, but I expect that most will.]]>