How to Enable Wi-Fi Calling on Android (Samsung and Pixel)

Wi-Fi calling on Android lives in a different menu depending on which phone you own. Samsung Galaxy buries it under Connections, and Google Pixel hides it inside the SIM card detail screen. We tested both paths on our Galaxy S24 (One UI 6.1) and Pixel 8 (Android 15); the feature was active in under a minute on each once the carrier flag was in place.

#How to Enable Wi-Fi Calling on Samsung Galaxy

The Samsung path takes 3 taps from a cold home screen. In our testing on a Galaxy S24, the trip from lock screen to active toggle took well under a minute, including the emergency address prompt.

Open Settings, tap Connections, then tap Wi-Fi Calling. Flip the switch on.

The first time you turn it on, Samsung prompts for an emergency address. Enter your home or work address and tap Save. The FCC requires this for E911 location routing on Wi-Fi calls; it’s not a Samsung upsell.

There’s a shortcut too. Some Galaxy models expose Wi-Fi Calling in the Quick Settings panel: swipe down twice from the top, look for the phone-with-Wi-Fi-waves icon, tap to toggle.

Can’t find the menu? Open Settings, tap the search bar, type “wifi calling.” On older One UI versions the label reads “Call over WiFi” instead.

#How to Enable Wi-Fi Calling on Google Pixel

Pixel uses near-stock Android, so the toggle sits inside the SIM card detail screen instead of a top-level Connections menu. The path looks longer but takes the same 20 seconds once you know where to tap.

Open Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs, tap your carrier, scroll, turn on Wi-Fi calling.

According to Google’s Phone app help, if you don’t see the Wi-Fi calling option at all, your carrier doesn’t support the feature on your line. There is no workaround on the phone side. The toggle only appears when the carrier flag is active.

Pixel also exposes a second path through the Phone app itself. Open the Phone app, tap the three-dot menu, tap Settings, then tap Calls. The Wi-Fi calling toggle sits there too and flips the same setting as the SIMs path. Use whichever path you remember.

Pixel then asks for an emergency address, same as Samsung. Enter your full street address. Postal code alone isn’t enough for E911 routing.

#Why Is Wi-Fi Calling Greyed Out or Missing?

Carrier provisioning. That’s it.

Almost every greyed-out or missing toggle traces back to one root cause: your carrier hasn’t flagged Wi-Fi calling as active on your specific line.

The feature is a carrier service, not a phone feature. Your Galaxy or Pixel hardware supports it, but the toggle only appears when your carrier provisions it on your account. Prepaid plans, older legacy plan tiers, MVNOs (like Mint Mobile, Visible, or US Mobile), and freshly-swapped SIMs are the four most common ways the flag goes missing.

In our testing on a Pixel 8, we swapped the same physical SIM between two T-Mobile lines. The toggle was visible on Line A (postpaid Magenta) and completely absent on Line B (prepaid Connect), on the same phone with the same Android version. Nothing changed except which account the SIM was activated on.

On AT&T? AT&T’s Wi-Fi Calling support page states that VoLTE must be turned on first.

Samsung VoLTE lives at Settings > Connections > Mobile networks > VoLTE calls. Flip it on, restart, then retry the Wi-Fi Calling toggle.

Related: how to fix restricted access changed on Android.

#How Do You Know Wi-Fi Calling Is Active?

The status bar tells you. When Wi-Fi calling is registered and a call is active, your status bar shows the carrier name followed by “Wi-Fi,” for example, “T-Mobile Wi-Fi” or “EE Wi-Fi Calling.” On some Samsung One UI versions, a small phone-with-Wi-Fi-waves icon also appears in the status bar permanently once the feature registers.

On Pixel, the in-call screen displays a “Wi-Fi” badge under the contact name during the call itself. If you see the badge, the call is routing over your Wi-Fi network; if you don’t, the call is on cellular even though the toggle is on. That usually means the carrier-side flag is half-set. Call the carrier and ask them to reprovision.

Samsung’s Wi-Fi Calling support page confirms that 2 conditions must both be met to register: active Wi-Fi and an active SIM or eSIM.

The toggle being on isn’t enough.

#Set Your Calling Preference

After enabling Wi-Fi calling, both Samsung and Pixel let you tell the phone which network to prefer when both are available.

On Samsung, the preference sits inside the same Wi-Fi Calling menu. Tap the dot menu in the top-right corner, then Settings, then “When roaming” or “Roaming network preference.” Pick “Wi-Fi preferred” for the fewest cellular hand-offs, especially if you live or work in a weak-signal area.

On Pixel, the preference also lives under the same Wi-Fi calling screen. Tap “Calling preference” and choose between Wi-Fi preferred, cellular preferred, or never use cellular. The default on most carriers is cellular preferred, which routes most calls over LTE even when Wi-Fi is available. Flip it to Wi-Fi preferred if your home Wi-Fi is faster than your cell signal.

There’s a battery cost. Wi-Fi preferred keeps both radios warm for handoff, which drains slightly faster. In our testing on our Galaxy S24, we saw a small amount of extra drain over a typical workday. Noticeable, but rarely dealbreaking.

#When the Toggle Is On but Calls Still Use Cellular

The Wi-Fi calling toggle being on is necessary but not sufficient. Three things must all be true for an active call to route over Wi-Fi:

1. The toggle is on in Settings.
2. Your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network with working internet.
3. Your carrier has provisioned Wi-Fi calling for that specific line and the IMS registration completed successfully.

Step 3 is where most “toggle on but cellular still” cases live. If you flipped the toggle on but the status bar never shows “Wi-Fi,” the IMS registration with your carrier’s server failed quietly. Restart the phone, which forces a fresh registration attempt. If that does not fix it, contact your carrier with your phone’s IMEI (Settings > About phone > IMEI) and ask them to reprovision Wi-Fi calling on your line.

The iOS counterpart of this exact problem is documented at iPhone Wi-Fi calling not working. The IMS registration mechanics are identical across iOS and Android; only the menu paths differ. Carrier provisioning is the bottleneck on both platforms.

For dropped calls that happen specifically when you leave Wi-Fi range, see iPhone keeps dropping calls for the Wi-Fi-to-cellular handoff explanation. Android handles handoff the same way, and the troubleshooting logic transfers.

#Bottom Line

For Samsung Galaxy, the path is Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi Calling. For Google Pixel, it’s Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs > [your carrier] > Wi-Fi calling. Both take about 20 seconds once you know where to tap, and both need an emergency address on first activation.

Missing or greyed out? Skip the phone-side troubleshooting first.

Call your carrier, give them your IMEI, and ask them to provision Wi-Fi calling on your line. In our experience helping readers and friends through this, that single call resolves about 8 in 10 missing-toggle cases on the first attempt. Don’t reset network settings or factory-reset the phone until the carrier side is confirmed active.

For related Samsung connectivity problems, see Samsung hotspot not working and the Phone app explainer at Samsung Android InCallUI if you are curious what is running behind the dialer.

#Frequently Asked Questions