How-To

How To Forward Calls With Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon AT&T

Updated
call-forward-cell-phone

We’ve posted a tutorial on how to forward calls on an iPhone, so we thought we’d share how to do it with other phone companies as well including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint.

We’ve posted a tutorial on how to forward calls on an iPhone, so we thought we’d share how to do it with all mobile phones and set it up using Carrier Codes at the carrier level vs. at the device level. Here’s a list of Carrier Codes for the four top US mobile phone carriers.

Set up Call Forwarding using Mobile Carrier Codes

This method involves punching in a code on your phone’s dial pad. The codes listed are accurate as of June 2016. For details on additional codes, including call forward when busy or no answer call forwarding, please see the detailed instructions links I’ve listed under each carrier.

T-mobile

Verizon

For Sprint

For AT&T

  • Enable – Dial **21*, followed by the 10-digit number you wish to forward the calls to, then dial#. For example, **21*1235556789# forwards your call to 123.555.6789.
  • To disable, Dial #21#.
  • Detailed Instructions

Conclusion

Phone forwarding is easy to set up on any phone, even if you don’t have built-in support for your device. I set up forwarding on my mobile phone with just a couple of steps, and after testing it (on Sprint), it works excellent. My cell phone didn’t even ring; all of my calls just went straight to, well, whatever number I want.

54 Comments

54 Comments

  1. Frank K

    October 21, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    I just did this the other day on my HTC Hero and used
    *28 + Area Code + 7-Digit-Number to activate
    and it’s *38 to de-activate . Works great except that you can’t foward text messages.

    • MrGroove

      October 22, 2010 at 11:47 am

      Great tip Frank. And yeah, I’ve not found a way yet to forward TXT messages. That’s the only downside to throwing my phone into my cabinet every night. ;)

      • Animis

        October 22, 2010 at 11:52 am

        Google Voice forwards text messages, sorta. It can’t do media texts, no pictures or videos, but it can do sounds.

        Only problem with Google Voice is that you have to give everyone your Google Voice number for it to work. Usually they already have your regular number. Of course, you could just tell everyone that your number changed and have them call your GVoice.

        • Trish

          October 14, 2011 at 11:12 am

          Is there a way I forward my calls to my home from my iPhone (already enabled) remotely? I live in the hills and have NO cell service. I have to drive 7 – 9 miles before I get a signal – poor me – I know. I only drive into “town” a few times a week. I never remember to forward calls before heading up. I want to call in on my land line #2, use my passcode, and forward the calls to Line #1 here at home? Cannot get to the app from here…. Or maybe from my computer? Any ideas? I think it is set up this way so that stalkers cannot forward my calls to their house in the hills….any ideas other than tie a ribbon around my finger with an alarm that hits me in the head while driving – or post a sign on the public road at the bottom that says: Don’t forget to forward calls! – Trish

          • Steve Krause

            October 14, 2011 at 12:37 pm

            Hmm… There might be a way from your PC on the AT&T website but after looking, I don’t see it.

            Another option would be to use Google Voice to control the forwarding. You would just setup a Google Voice account then control where the number sends the calls. You can have it send calls to home home phone or mobile based on the time of day or even the phone #. Take a look here — https://www.groovypost.com/tags/google-voice/ where we’ve written about it quite a lot.

          • Brian29621

            June 15, 2016 at 6:22 am

            You could get one of the location based services people use to track their kids. Then set a geo fence a mile or so before you know you’re going to lose signal. When you get the notification that you’ve crossed the boundary, pull over and forward the phone. And you’d get notified on the way back out as well.

  2. Shockersh

    October 23, 2010 at 1:13 am

    @animis what do u mean ? Sorry I don’t follow u on the google voice forwarding…

    • Animis

      November 5, 2010 at 1:12 pm

      @Shockersh
      Well, if you receive all of your calls via your Google Voice number – yeah it is pretty simple to forward them from to any phone you want since that is the only way to receive Google Voice calls.

      And, Google Voice will foward all text messages to your phone unless you turn off that feature on the google.com/voice page.

  3. alanna

    September 2, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    Hi there. I have a Samsung galaxy.on a Fido plan. I am needing to call forward to my home. But cannot. Any ideals.

  4. Merribeth

    July 7, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 that I can’t find and wondered if there is a way to forward my calls to my other cell phone?

  5. hilary

    May 24, 2015 at 1:36 am

    Is there a way to forward just one number

  6. Teresa Cooper

    January 27, 2016 at 2:50 pm

    I would like to know how I can just forward calls & text for ONE number in one cell over to another cell?

    • Sandra

      January 27, 2016 at 9:28 pm

      I think “Forgot My Phone” App helps you in this case. https://goo.gl/EGWeP0

  7. Freda Whaley

    March 22, 2016 at 7:22 am

    My captell phone through Time Warner will let me not only forward calls from it to my cell phone (Galaxy S5 through Sprint) but will also ring both phones so I can pick up either one. Can my Galaxy be set up to do the same thing?

  8. Jennie

    June 14, 2016 at 8:38 am

    Hello , can you help me ? I usually forward calls to my cell phone , but recently I can not do it .
    my office telephone is AT&T
    I don’t know why ? I’m so worry. Please help me

    • Steve Krause

      July 4, 2016 at 10:53 am

      So you’re trying to forward calls from your desk phone to your mobile phone? Have you check with your Telcom team at work?

  9. Mike

    June 15, 2016 at 7:05 am

    How do you cancel forwarding on AT&T? You don’t show that.

    • Steve Krause

      July 4, 2016 at 10:52 am

      Great question Mike – #21#

      Updated article for all carriers. Hope it’s easier to read now!

      -S

  10. Dave May

    June 15, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    Note to Verizon users. You’ll want to eventually cancel the call forwarding. Use *72 to do so.

    • Brian29621

      June 16, 2016 at 6:32 am

      Cancelling Call Forwarding on Verizon Wireless is *73

    • Dave May

      June 16, 2016 at 7:10 am

      Correction: Verizon’s activation code is *72, the cancellation code is *73

      • Steve Krause

        July 4, 2016 at 10:51 am

        Awesome – Thnx – Updated article. It had a few old codes in there. Looks like the carriers made a few updates.

  11. Barbara Taylor

    July 8, 2016 at 10:51 am

    I have a Samsung/LG phone. When a call comes in and I answer it, is there a way then to transfer that caller to another person on a different cell number?

  12. Les Schopeck

    October 21, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    Hi,
    I have T Mobile and am unable to forward my calls. I have tried the **21* phone number # . I keep getting the same response “Unexpected response from network” and it goes back to being disabled. Any help would be greatly appreciated . Thanks,

    Les

    • Steve Krause

      October 21, 2016 at 7:10 pm

      Hi Les,

      Try this link and read through the T-Mobile docs – https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4041

      Perhaps you have Linlink? In that case, you need to use *72 to enable and *73 to disable. Example: *72 2061111111

      • Les Schopeck

        October 22, 2016 at 10:36 am

        Steve,

        Thank you for that suggestion but I am still getting same result. I am getting pretty frustrated and am about to go with another carrier just so I can combine my work and personal phone. Sick of carrying 2 phones to do one job. LOL

        • Steve Krause

          October 22, 2016 at 6:07 pm

          Yeah, that’s really odd. I think the best option before you port the phone # is to just call your carrier and see what they say. Perhaps there’s an easy explanation why it’s not working.

          Keep us updated. I’ll bet whatever you find will help a lot of other readers.

          Thanks!

          -Steve
          groovyPost.com

          • Les Schopeck

            October 22, 2016 at 6:55 pm

            Steve,
            Called T-Mobile and after I told the tech what I wanted and what was happening. He told me that that service was not available to me. It wasn’t something I could buy or add on, it was just not an option for me.
            I asked several times just to make sure we understood each other. I even asked if ” I had to change carriers so I could get call forwarding?” he would reply each time with ” Sir, I am not telling you to change carriers but this is not an option we can provide you”..
            Thank you for all of your help and suggestions. I guess it is time for me to shop around for a different phone and carrier.

          • Steve Krause

            October 22, 2016 at 11:34 pm

            @Lee – I’ve never heard of such a thing. Are you using an android or an iPhone?

  13. Michael

    October 21, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    I’m looking to have 1 phone number forwarded to another phone on my account. I just need the texts and calls from this number to go to the other phone. I’m on sprint

  14. Freda Whaley

    October 21, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    I went to my phone (sprint) account on line and was able to set it up so my land line calls rang my cell phone as well. Then I can either pick up the land line or my cell phone to take the call. It doesn’t make my land line ring when I get a call on the cell though. It’s nice when I’m on vacation because I don’t miss any calls to my home while I’m goine, just answer them using my cell phone, even when I’m in another state. Again, I had to go on line to Sprint, log in and do it there. Hope this helps. (On sprint I believe it’s called (Ring anywhere), you can also just forward the calls if you want.)

  15. Chris

    December 7, 2016 at 5:39 am

    Hi

    I’m moving to Canada and would like to keep my us cell #. Is there a inexpensive service that would allow me to forward my calls to a Toronto area code. Also have you heard of any cell phones that have 2 line capability

    • Joy

      April 26, 2017 at 11:02 am

      Chris, have you ever gotten an answer about cell phones that have 2 line capabilities?

      • Steve Krause

        April 26, 2017 at 1:40 pm

        That’s a great question Joy. Not 100% sure on that one. If you happen to call the carrier and check on it, please let us know here. Would be great info to post up on the article.

  16. Melissa B.

    January 3, 2017 at 1:11 am

    My Sprint Note5 screen broke completely. I won’t have the ridiculous deductible for a couple weeks,so I turned on an old phone. Is there a way to call forward without seeing the screen? I’m thinking headphones & Google, but don’t know exactly what to do. Please help.

  17. Crystal

    January 10, 2017 at 4:55 am

    How do u forward another phone to yours?

    • Steve Krause

      January 10, 2017 at 8:08 am

      Hi Crystal,

      Did you follow the steps in the article?

  18. JT

    January 11, 2017 at 4:47 pm

    I currently have 2 cell phones- work and personal. Work decided not to provide phones any longer. i will just use personal for everything, But work number is on biz card etc. So I want to forward- AND shut off biz phone -will forwarding work once biz phone is shut off, since that is the number forwarding will be generated from?

  19. Catherine Wiley

    January 19, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    Years ago, I set up my phone to ring both my home and my cell. I have no idea how. It has always moved with any phone or carrier I have had. I phone to android and back. Sprint to Verizon. Until this time. I now have the iPhone 7 and sprint. It will ring occasionally, but not always and not until the home phone has rang several times.
    I do not want traditional call forwarding as if I am calling home, I want it to ring there, not just my cell. And I do not want to wait several rings so I miss many calls in the cell by the time I get it. What do I do to get it back?

  20. krys

    January 30, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    Hi …I tried this and it works but my only question is is if I set up the call forwarding on my cell phone to ring to a house phone will it work even tho my cell phone doesn’t have service …basicly what I’m asking is if I set it up and go to my destination and find that my cell phone doesn’t have service will it still ring on that landline phone i set it up on…need reply asap thanks

  21. Margarita Santamaria

    February 8, 2017 at 8:41 pm

    Helllo I need to set up call gorwarding to my cell phone after 3 rings can any one help me please,

  22. David

    February 12, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    Anyone tried call forwarding from one cell phone on t-mobile to another cell phone on At&t ?

    • Steve Krause

      February 13, 2017 at 7:17 am

      Should work just fine David. I have an AT&T mobile and I forward it to different numbers all the time include my home phone and my friends mobile which is on T-Mobile.

      So… I would think it will work without an issue.

  23. Joe

    February 17, 2017 at 7:22 am

    Hey Steve,
    I am in mexico for vacation and I forgot to forward my phone before I left. I have service here, but it wont let me forward my phone. Any ideas? Thanks

  24. Samantha

    February 27, 2017 at 4:46 am

    For work I have a Verizon phone, where I have been staying My calls will not come through only text. Everyone else has Sprint and receives their calls. I’m curious could I forward my Verizon calls to a sprint phone? Thinking I could just go buy a cheap prepaid phone just so when I’m at home I don’t miss my calls.

  25. Samantha

    February 28, 2017 at 5:30 am

    Awesome thanks I will give that a try for sure. I didn’t even realize I could do that.

  26. Charlie

    May 12, 2017 at 11:49 am

    I am using a Samsung Galaxy S6 by Verizon and I am currently in Africa, Nigeria. Bank services here uses *737# as a USSD code. Anytime I try dialing *737# for bank transaction here in Nigeria, it brings up call “*73 disable call forwarding”. What do I need to do in order to disable this *73 for Verizon call forwarding so I can use the same *73 for banking transactions in Nigeria? I need your help!

  27. Potatoe

    July 6, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    That’s because you’re hitting *737# charlie… don’t hit the # key. You do the *72 then the phone number i.e *7272135709420 that’s the code with number plugged in.
    And disable is just *73 not *737. So if you’re do8ng the codes correctly it should work correctly. From th looks of your comment it looks as if the code entries are confusing.

    So if you use *737# for bank it will work. From the looks of your comment you’re using two different key codes….

  28. Charlie

    July 7, 2017 at 10:44 am

    I just tried doing it even without the hash (#) key, it is still showing “*73 disable call forwarding”. Once it detects *73 at the beginning of any dial it brings that up. So doing any USSD transaction that has to begin with *73 is now impossible.

  29. Potatoe

    July 7, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    Are you doing the full code, because IF it’s GTBank then the code for that is *737*1*the ammount*Nubian account number#

    Or if going to someone else
    *737*2*Amount*NUBAN Account No#

    if you go by that exactly then there shouldn’t be an issue. Because even if the codes start of with the same two numbers entering in a complete code or doing it wrong with Verizon will get you the wrong pop up. Push comes to shove could be an issue with the phone itself or the network. You’re best bet would be to take it to a local phone company for assistance

    If you also had a telephone number change at any point and never updated it then it can cause issues.

  30. Charlie

    July 7, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    Potatoe,

    It is actually GTBANK USSD transfer code. The Verizon phone was configured to use or detect any dial that begins with *73 as call forwarding deactivation. I was just thinking and looking for a way I could still use it for my GTBANK transaction.

    I have been removing my simple card and putting it in another phone for me to be able to do the *737# bank transaction. I thought they could be away out instead of putting of my phone and removing the SIM card all the time.

  31. Marie

    July 13, 2017 at 3:39 am

    I am required to be available by my employer by phone when I am on call (I am a doctor). I like to hike, and don’t have cell phone reception where I would like to be on the weekends (a national park and national forest). I have been researching a satellite phone to use on hikes, and just forwarding my regular cell phone calls and messaging to a satellite phone (I have Sprint as my cell phone carrier). My concern regarding forwarding calls to the satellite phone is that the number of digits for a satellite phone is greater (because the satellite phone number includes a preceding country code, then a long string of numbers which has a suffix indicating which satellite phone provider one has). Would it work to forward calls to the satellite phone? Also, everything I have read discusses forwarding phone calls. Is forwarding text messages possible also?

Related Items:, , , ,

Recommended for you

To Top