Learn what to do if you can’t set your iPhone phone calls to appear on your other devices, such as your iPad or Mac.
Enable Calls on Other Devices
The iPhone Mobile Calls Continuity feature lets you make and receive cellular phone calls from your iPad or Mac if your iPhone is nearby and on the same Wi-Fi network. All you need to do is:
- Go to iPhone Settings > Phone.
- Tap Calls on Other Devices.
- Enable Allow Calls on Other Devices.
- Turn on the switch next to your iPads and Macs.
Note: If you’ve installed macOS on two separate partitions of your same Mac, they may appear as two computers in step 4. Turn on the switch for both.
Once you have followed the above steps, enable Calls from iPhone from iPad and Mac’s FaceTime settings:
- On iPad: Go to Settings > FaceTime and enable Calls from iPhone.
- On Mac: Open the FaceTime app and click FaceTime > Settings/Preferences from the top menu bar. Now, check the box for Calls from iPhone.
After this, when you get a phone call on your iPhone, it will also ring on your iPad and Mac.
Note: For the record, your Apple Watch, Windows PC (even with iCloud set up), and Android phone won’t appear on your iPhone’s “Calls on Other Devices” screen.
Fix other devices not showing up on iPhone
The first problem you may face when activating “Calls on Other Devices” in your iPhone settings is that your iPad or Mac do not even appear as a potential destination to make and receive calls. To fix this:
- Make sure you’re using the same Apple ID on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
- Set up FaceTime on iPad from Settings > Facetime. And on Mac, open the FaceTime app and sign in using your Apple ID.
Related: How to fix the “Waiting for activation” issue in FaceTime
Unable to activate Calls on Other Devices
Next, here’s what to do if you see your iPad or Mac on the iPhone’s “Calls on Other Devices” screen but can’t activate this feature.
Restart your iPhone, iPad, and Mac
In many cases, you may be unable to relay iPhone calls to your iPad or Mac because of minor glitches. Turning off and on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac should help in this situation.
Enable “Calls from iPhone” on iPad and Mac
Your iPhone may continue to show your iPad or Mac’s name on the “Call on Other Devices” screen, but the switch next to their names may not work if this feature was enabled earlier, but then you turned off “Calls from iPhone” in iPad and Mac settings. So, here’s how to fix that and ensure this service can be used again:
- On iPad: Go to Settings > FaceTime and enable Calls from iPhone.
- On Mac: Open the FaceTime app and click FaceTime > Settings/Preferences from the top menu bar. Now, check the box for Calls from iPhone.
Once you’ve followed the above steps, force quit and reopen the settings app on your iPhone. Next, go to the “Calls on Other Devices” screen, and now you should be able to turn on the switch next to your iPad’s or Mac’s name. If not, the remaining solutions will help.
Check iPhone phone number for FaceTime on all devices
- On iPad: Go to Settings > FaceTime and make sure your iPhone phone number is checked under the “You can be reached by FaceTime at” heading.
- On Mac: Open the FaceTime app and go to its General settings by clicking FaceTime > Settings/Preferences from the top menu bar. From here, check the box for your iPhone phone number under “You can be reached by FaceTime at.”
Update all your devices
It’s also likely that you can’t see your iPhone phone calls on your iPad or Mac because of software bugs. You can fix this by updating your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to the latest version of their respective operating systems.
Note: If you’re on iOS or macOS beta, consider downgrading to the non-beta version.
Set FaceTime as the default calling app on Mac
Go to FaceTime settings and make sure FaceTime is checked in the drop-down menu next to “Default for calls.”
Reset all iPhone settings
Still no luck, and you see the same error while trying to activate Calls on Other Devices on your iPhone? Resetting all iOS settings may help fix the problem.
Erase your iPhone and set it up again
Finally, if nothing helped and this feature is important to you, go ahead and erase your iPhone and set it up again. Here are the tutorials to help:
- How to back up your iPhone and iPad to iCloud or a computer
- How to erase everything on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- 30+ things I always do when setting up a new iPhone
Unable to see or use iPhone calls on your iPad or Mac
Here’s what to do if you have successfully activated Calls on Other Devices, but it still doesn’t seem to work.
Keep devices nearby and connect to the same Wi-Fi network
Your iPhone and the other device (iPad or Mac) must be nearby (ie. in the same room) and connected to the same Wi-Fi network. You can’t receive iPhone calls on iPad or Mac if Wi-Fi is turned off on either device or they are connected to different networks.
Keep the FaceTime app open on Mac
Sometimes, you may not get iPhone calls on your Mac after you’ve turned on or restarted your computer and have not opened the FaceTime app even once. So, when you start working on your Mac, open the FaceTime app for iPhone calls to show up on it. You can even set FaceTime to launch automatically when you power on or restart your Mac.
Make sure FaceTime notifications are switched on
You may also miss iPhone phone call alerts on your iPad and Mac if the notifications for the FaceTime app are turned off. Here’s how to fix it:
- Open iPad Settings. For Mac, launch System Settings.
- Go to Notifications.
- From here, select FaceTime and make sure Allow Notifications is enabled. You can also customize other things here, like the alert style, sounds, etc.
Turn off Do Not Disturb
You won’t get new incoming phone call alerts if Do Not Disturb is switched on. So, turn it off on your iPhone and the other devices (iPad or Mac).
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