Android Voicemail Notifications Won't Go Away! (How To Fix)

Android notifications are usually easy to wipe away, but the voicemail notifications can be quite stubborn, refusing to go away.

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Android notifications are usually easy to wipe away, but the voicemail notifications can be quite stubborn, refusing to go away.

Even long-pressing and swiping don't seem to work, and sometimes these notifications can clog the top badges and notifications banner to the point of hiding beneficial notifications.

Android voicemail notifications won't go away when your dialer/phone application runs a silent alert that is permanently fixed to your notification banner as long as the app runs. Force shutting the app or wiping its local data can make the notifications go away.

In this article, we will go over the specific steps to take to get this done. The steps are slightly different in some smartphones, and these differences will be covered as well.

The methods you'll learn in the following few paragraphs have been tried on the major iterations of the Android operating system. Towards the end, you will also learn how to disable the voicemail notifications so they can't disturb you in the future.

Table of Contents

Why Doesn’t the Voicemail Notification Go Away?

Permanent notifications seem to be an android glitch. When such a notification occurs, it is persistent and happens over and over within the same app. Music and Voicemail seem to be the most persistently affected functions by this problem.

When this glitch occurs, the app gets tied to the notification. The notification persists as long as the app keeps running in the background. And even when you swipe up or away to terminate the app, it continues to operate until terminated by force stopping.

Android OS 'phone' app handles voicemail. This makes the persistent voicemail notification all the more annoying because the phone app is naturally always running. You can force stop is to make the notification go away, but there's another way.

How to Make Android Voicemail Notifications Go Away

The best way to make android voicemail notifications go away is to clear the system's "phone" app storage. This removes the notification information from the app's data, which stops it from displaying the notification. Here is a breakdown of the key steps to take to do this:

1. Go to Settings

The first step is to go to the phone settings by swiping down to reveal the menu and clicking the gear(s) icon to open the settings. In some Android smartphones, you can search various functions, including 'settings.' The gear icon is also visible on the home screen.

2. Open App Settings

To get to app settings, you need to first open 'apps' in the settings navigation area. Again, some systems allow you to search various sections in settings, so typing 'apps' would work. But if your version allows searching specific settings, then you should look up 'all apps' or 'app list' to go directly to the section you need to open after you open 'apps.'

3. From ‘Apps,’ Open ‘All Apps’

Unless you have the option to look up specific settings from the settings navigation window, you'll need to first open 'apps' and then process to 'app list,' 'all apps,' or 'app management.' Tapping this will open a folder that has all the app icons.

4. Open the ‘Phone’ App Settings

The phone app or the dialer app will be listed in an alphabetically appropriate spot and signified by the same icon you use to trigger the calling interface of your phone.

5. Clear App Data

Inside the settings window for your 'phone' or 'dialer' app, you'll see a few options, including 'force stop,' which terminates the app, and 'clear cache,' which removes unnecessary files stored by the app. Clearing the data of this app can sometimes wipe your recent call history, but it also removes the notification information. As long as the dialer app is unaware of voicemail, it cannot display the notification.

6. Restart Your Phone

Finally, you have to restart your phone after you have cleared its local notification data so that the current silent notification can go away for good. Of course, it isn't practical to restart your phone every time there is a voicemail notification. That's why you should turn off the voicemail notifications from the dialer app's notification settings.

Will the Voicemail Notifications Stay?

After you have removed the voicemail notification, you might wonder if they'll continue being sticky the next time around. Unfortunately, yes. That is until you use a long-term solution.

Android voicemail notifications won't go away when they get miscategorized or your phone app glitches. The immediate fix is to clear 'phone' app data and restart the device. In the long run, you need to uninstall the problematic system updates by following the steps covered below.

How to Turn off Notifications in Android?

To turn specific notifications off, you need to open the notification settings of the specific app and then toggle the enabled notification to disabled. In some instances, you might need to force stop the app to make this work.

Here are the steps you need to follow

1. Open Phone Settings

This can be done from the banner, by swiping up/down and clicking the gear icon, the home screen (swiping until you find the gear icon), or the operating system search (looking up 'settings' in the search bar that you use to find specific apps)

2. Find the App List

A list of applications opens when you click this. But it is a little difficult to find because the naming is not standardized across different android smartphones. In some phones, it is called the 'app list,' in others, it is listed as 'apps' only. In a few phones, this is even called 'app management.' Scrolling down until you find the closest version of apps or app settings is the best way to go about this.

3. Open ‘Phone’ Settings

This is not to be confused with your smartphone settings. You're already in your mobile phone's settings once you click the gear icon. You need to open the settings of the 'phone' application. In some iterations, this is called 'dialler,' and in a few, it is labeled 'calls' or 'calling.' You can spot it by simply looking for the icon you tap to make calls.

4. Browse Notification Settings

The next step is to open notifications settings. In some systems, you need to further find 'silent notifications,' but this is a small enough step to include in locating notification settings.

5. Toggle off the Voicemail Notifications

The final step is to go to the individual notifications within the app settings and turn off the voicemail notifications. The word 'voicemail' will have a toggle next to it. It is enabled by default, and you have to disable it.

How to Get Rid of Permanent Notifications Problem

Permanent notifications serve a function. They keep you from forgetting that an app is using up your phone's processing power. But when these notifications are redundant, they can be annoying and useless.

Voicemail notification is not supposed to be permanent. It can become a permanent notification if the software update you install erroneously categorizes getting a voicemail the same as 'app running.' When that happens, you cannot wipe away the app.

The best way to fix a miscategorized permanent notification issue is to uninstall system updates. These can be your system updates (if the issue occurs after your phone software is updated) or app-specific updates. Since apps keep naturally updating by default, any random update can make voicemail notifications permanent.

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