Frustrated by missed calls on your Pixel? These 3 settings might fix it

There are so many things that Google’s Pixel phones do well. Material 3 Expressive is one of the best Android UIs available, longstanding features like Now Playing are still unlike anything the competition offers, and the camera experience is just so hard to beat.

Unfortunately, it looks like something Pixel phones are currently struggling with is one of the most basic things in their toolkit: phone calls.

As Android Authority recently reported, an unknown number of Pixel users are struggling to receive phone calls. For whatever reason, some incoming calls just aren’t ringing. If you’ve been experiencing this and are looking for ways to fix it, here are a few things that might help.

How to stop your Pixel from missing incoming calls

Pixel users on Reddit have been sharing tips on what’s worked for them to address the missed call problem. Based on what’s been discovered so far, there appear to be three possible culprits.

The first is Google’s Scam Detection feature. While Scam Detection is generally excellent at detecting whether an incoming call is a scam, it’s not always 100% accurate. At least according to some Pixel users, disabling Scam Detection can help incoming calls come through like normal.

To disable Scam Detection:

1.  Open the Phone app on your Pixel.
2. Tap the three lines in the upper-left corner.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Scam Detection.
5. Tap the toggle to disable it.

Doing this will disable alerts about likely scam calls, but if you’re fed up with missing incoming calls you actually care about, it’s worth a shot.

You’ll also want to try playing with your phone’s Call Screen settings. This is another Pixel calling feature that helps minimize scam calls, as when suspicious numbers are detected, calls are automatically screened for you in the background. However, if you find that you’re missing calls you shouldn’t, Call Screen could very well be the problem.

To adjust Call Screen:

1.  Open the Phone app on your Pixel.
2. Tap the three lines in the upper-left corner.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Call Screen.

Call Screen is set to Medium protection by default. Some users have reported that changing it to Basic protection helps, though you can also tap the toggle next to Automatic Call Screen to disable the feature completely.

If none of the above works, it’s also speculated that having Advanced Protection Mode enabled is the cause of the missed calls. Chances are you probably don’t have this turned on, and if you do, you’d prefer to keep it on. But just in case you want to check, here’s what to do:

1. Open the Settings app on your Pixel.
2. Scroll down the page.
3. Tap Security & privacy.
4. Scroll to the bottom.
5. Tap Advanced Protection.
6. If the toggle next to Device protection is enabled, tap it to disable the feature.

Advanced Protection Mode enables many high-level security features, all of which you probably value more than a few missed incoming calls if you’re using it. You probably don’t want to go through the hassle of disabling Advanced Protection Mode if it’s something you rely on, but it is another option to try and get your calls back to normal.

Does Google have an official fix for this?

As mentioned above, all of those tips come from what other Pixel users have shared online. And that’s the information we’re relying on right now, because unfortunately, Google hasn’t yet shared any official feedback on this issue.

Google is at least aware of what’s going on, but at the time of publication, the company hasn’t disclosed a known cause for the missed calls or issued a software update to fix the problem.

We imagine that’ll change sooner rather than later, but for the time being, the above tips are your best bet. Give them a try, and (hopefully) your Pixel phone will start acting like a phone once more.