“Conditional Call Forwarding Active”: What It Means and How to Stop It

In one sentence: it means some of your incoming calls — the ones you don’t answer, the ones that arrive while you’re already on a call, and the ones that arrive while your phone is off or has no signal — are being sent to another number. On most lines that other number is your own voicemail box, and the setting was put there by your carrier, not by anybody else.

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Network status message

*#004#

123*0#

Call

Normal callYour phone rings first. If you answer, nothing is forwarded.

↓ only if missed, busy or unreachable

No replyYou do not pick up.

BusyYou are already on a call.

UnreachableNo signal or phone off.

↓

Forwarded destinationUsually voicemail. Sometimes an assistant, work line or old number.

This message turns up at odd moments: after a restart, after a SIM swap, after a software update, or in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday. It looks like a warning because your phone has never mentioned it before. It isn’t one. Below is what it actually means, how to see where your calls are going, and how to turn it off if you want to — with one thing worth reading first, because switching it off can quietly take your voicemail with it.

What “Conditional Call Forwarding Active” actually means

Your mobile network can hold a rule that says: if this happens, send the call somewhere else. That rule is conditional forwarding, and “active” simply means one is currently set on your line.

There are three conditions, and a phone showing this message has at least one of them switched on:

• No reply — the call rings your handset, you don’t pick up, and after a few rings it moves on.
• Busy — the call arrives while you’re already talking to someone else.
• Not reachable — the call arrives while your phone is off, in Airplane Mode, or somewhere with no signal.

The word doing the work is conditional. Calls that meet none of those conditions are untouched: your phone rings, you answer, nothing is redirected. That’s the difference from the always-on kind, which is covered further down.

Does it mean my phone is hacked, tapped or being monitored?

No. This is the question behind most searches for the phrase, so here it is plainly: the message is a status notice from your mobile network about call routing, not a security alert. It says a forwarding rule exists. It says nothing about anyone reading your messages, listening to your calls, or having access to your phone.

The message is a status notice from your mobile network about call routing, not a security alert.

Two reasons it reads as alarming when it isn’t:

• The wording is engineering language, shown to consumers. “Conditional Call Forwarding Active” is close to how the setting is named inside the network. Nothing about the phrasing is meant to reassure you, because it was never written for you to read.
• It appears without you doing anything. That feels like a symptom. It usually isn’t — see the next section.

If you’d rather check than take our word for it, the check takes about ten seconds: dial *#004# and read the number in the reply. If it’s your carrier’s voicemail number, that’s ordinary voicemail routing. If it’s a number you don’t recognise, write it down, then cancel the forwarding and ring your carrier to ask how it got there. A rule someone else set is a real thing that happens — usually by someone with physical access to the handset, not remotely — and it is worth taking seriously. It is just not what this message on its own indicates.

Why it says active when you never set anything up

Because on most lines you didn’t. Conditional forwarding is how voicemail itself works on a mobile network. When your carrier activated your line, it pointed your unanswered, busy and unreachable calls at your voicemail box — which is precisely a conditional forwarding rule. Every phone with working voicemail has one.

So the usual answer is: the setting has been there since day one, and something merely caused your phone to mention it out loud. The common triggers:

• A SIM swap, an eSIM transfer, or a new phone. The line re-registers on the network and the handset surfaces the settings it finds.
• A network settings reset, a carrier settings update, or a software update that reset how the phone reports status.
• Voicemail being set up, moved or re-provisioned by the carrier.
• An app or service you connected that answers calls for you — a virtual receptionist, a call-screening app, a business number service. These work by setting exactly this rule.
• A rule you set once and forgot. Forwarding to a hotel, a work phone or an old handset stays set until it’s cancelled. It doesn’t expire.

How to see where your calls are going

Before changing anything, find out what’s actually set. These are status codes: they ask the network a question and change nothing.

Code	What it tells you
*#004#	All three conditional rules at once — the quick one to start with.
*#61#	Where calls go when you don’t answer.
*#67#	Where calls go when you’re busy on another call.
*#62#	Where calls go when the phone is unreachable.
*#21#	The separate always-on rule. Not covered by the codes above, so check it too.

These are the standard GSM supplementary-service codes, and they work on most mobile networks in the US, UK, Canada and India. A few networks answer with a short code or a blank reply rather than a readable summary — notably CDMA-era US lines such as Verizon, which uses star codes instead. If you get nothing useful back, ring your carrier and ask them to read out the forwarding set on the line.

Dial the code on the SIM that showed the message. On a dual-SIM phone each line keeps its own forwarding, and a status code dialled on the wrong SIM reports the wrong line.

How to turn conditional call forwarding off

Read the voicemail note below first — it’s thirty seconds and it saves a confusing afternoon. Then, from the keypad of the phone being forwarded:

To keep one condition and drop another, cancel them individually: ##61# for unanswered calls, ##67# for busy, ##62# for unreachable. And if *#21# showed an always-on rule as well, ##21# clears that one — it’s a separate setting and the conditional cancel code won’t touch it.

On iPhone

1. The keypad codes above are the reliable route, because Settings → Apps → Phone → Call Forwarding covers the always-on kind only. Newer iOS versions put Phone under Apps; older ones list it directly in Settings.
2. So if that switch is already off and your phone still says conditional forwarding is active, nothing is broken — you’re looking at the wrong setting. Use ##004# from the keypad.
3. Step-by-step on the handset side: call forwarding on iPhone.

On Android

1. Open Phone → ⋮ → Settings → Calling accounts → your SIM → Call forwarding. Samsung files it under Supplementary services.
2. Android shows each condition separately — Forward when busy, Forward when unanswered, Forward when unreachable — so you can see and switch off exactly the one that’s set.
3. The menu and the keypad codes reach the same network setting, so you can set it one way and cancel it the other. Step by step: call forwarding for Android.

One code to avoid: ##002# erases every forwarding rule on the line at once, including the voicemail routing. After dialling it, missed calls may simply ring out with no voicemail until that’s set up again. Use the specific cancel code instead.

Then confirm it, in two steps: dial *#004# again and check the reply no longer names a destination, and ring your number from another phone and let it ring out unanswered. A handset that rings proves nothing on its own — conditional forwarding is meant to let it ring first. If the status code and the test call disagree, believe the test call.

Before you cancel: the voicemail catch

This is the part most guides leave out. If the destination in your *#004# reply is your carrier’s voicemail number, then the rule you’re about to cancel is your voicemail. Cancel it and missed calls may ring out into nothing — no voicemail, no message, no record that anyone called.

Some people want exactly that. Most don’t, and find out a week later when a client says they left a message that never arrived. If voicemail stops working after you cancel, your carrier can restore the default routing to the voicemail box; it’s a routine request.

The question worth asking isn’t really “how do I switch this off”. It’s where should my missed calls go — because they have to go somewhere, and the choice is voicemail, another number, or nothing at all.

Conditional vs unconditional forwarding

Two different settings, often confused, cancelled with different codes. Both can be live on the same line at the same time.

	Conditional — **004*	Unconditional / always-on — **21*
Does your handset ring?	Yes, first — you can still pick up	Usually not at all
Which calls move	Unanswered, busy, unreachable	Every one
Usually set by	Your carrier, for voicemail	You, deliberately
Good for	Giving missed calls somewhere to land	Handing your line to another phone
Check with	*#004#	*#21#
Cancel with	##004#	##21#

If your phone rings normally and calls only go missing when you don’t pick up, you’re looking at the conditional kind. If your phone has stopped ringing altogether, check *#21# — that’s the always-on rule, and it’s a different problem with a different cancel code.

If it keeps coming back after you cancel it

A setting that reappears on its own is almost always the network re-applying its default voicemail routing — typically after the phone restarts, loses signal, or re-registers on the network. Work down this list:

• Check what it came back as. Dial *#004#. If the destination is the voicemail number, the carrier restored the default and nothing is wrong.
• Check the right SIM. On a dual-SIM phone, cancelling on one line leaves the other untouched, which looks exactly like a rule that refuses to die.
• Check for an app that sets it. Call-screening, virtual-number and receptionist apps re-apply forwarding when they reconnect. That’s them working, not a fault.
• No signal when you dialled. The cancel code is a request to the network, so in a dead spot or Airplane Mode it never arrives — and the reply on screen can still look inconclusive.
• Still returning to a number you don’t recognise? Call your carrier, ask them to read out every forwarding rule on the line and clear them, and ask how the rule was added. That last question is the one that matters.

The useful version of the same setting

Worth knowing, now that you understand what the message means: conditional forwarding isn’t only something that happens to you. It’s also the mechanism a few apps use on purpose — and OsmO is one of them.

OsmO points your unanswered calls at an AI phone assistant instead of at voicemail. Same setting, different destination. You keep your own number and your phone still rings first, so anything you want to take, you take. What you don’t pick up gets answered in a natural voice: it asks who’s calling and what they want, and texts you what was said. Spam and robocalls tend to hang up on it rather than on you.

Which is to say: if your phone is showing “Conditional Call Forwarding Active” because OsmO is set up, that’s the app doing its job, and cancelling it with ##004# will stop calls reaching your assistant. If it’s showing for any other reason, the sections above will tell you which. Setting it up deliberately? See call forwarding on iPhone & Android, or the carrier guides for AT&T and Verizon. OsmO won’t catch every spam call, and it’s a separate app rather than a carrier setting.

Frequently asked questions

What does “Conditional Call Forwarding Active” mean?

A rule is set on your line that sends some of your incoming calls to another number — the ones you don’t answer, the ones that arrive while you’re busy, and the ones that arrive while your phone is off or out of signal. Your handset still rings first for calls you can pick up.

Does it mean my phone is hacked or tapped?

No. It’s a routing status from your mobile network, and on most lines it’s on by default so that missed calls reach voicemail. To satisfy yourself, dial *#004#: if the destination is your carrier’s voicemail box, that’s ordinary voicemail setup.

Why does it say active when I never set it up?

Because voicemail is conditional forwarding. Your carrier pointed your unanswered, busy and unreachable calls at the voicemail box when the line was activated. A SIM swap, a new phone, a settings reset or a call-answering app can all make the phone mention it out loud.

How do I see which number my calls are going to?

Dial *#004# and press call. For one condition at a time, use *#61# (unanswered), *#67# (busy) and *#62# (unreachable). These ask a question and change nothing.

How do I turn conditional call forwarding off?

Dial ##004# from the forwarded phone, with nothing after the code. To cancel one condition, use ##61#, ##67# or ##62#. On Android you can also switch each one off in the call forwarding menu; the iPhone menu covers always-on forwarding rather than the conditional kind.

What’s the difference between conditional and unconditional forwarding?

Unconditional forwarding sends every call to the other number and your handset may never ring — set with **21*, cancelled with ##21#. Conditional forwarding lets the handset ring first and only redirects unanswered, busy and unreachable calls — set with **004*, cancelled with ##004#.

Will turning it off break my voicemail?

It can. On most networks the rule sending missed calls to voicemail is itself a conditional forwarding rule. Cancel it and missed calls may ring out with nowhere to land. Your carrier can restore the default voicemail routing if that happens.

Why does it keep coming back?

Usually the network re-applying its default voicemail routing after a restart or a re-registration. Check the destination with *#004#, check you’re on the right SIM, and check whether an app you installed sets forwarding when it reconnects.

Is it costing me money?

That depends on the plan. Some include forwarding and some bill the forwarded leg as an outgoing call from your line. Forwarding to your own voicemail box is normally part of the service. Check the current terms with your carrier before leaving a rule to a non-voicemail number switched on.

Does it forward my text messages too?

No — it’s a voice service. Texts keep arriving on your handset as usual.

Official sources

Checked September 2026. Carrier codes and plan features change, and a few networks handle these codes differently.

• Apple: Forward calls on iPhone
• Google: Change Phone app settings
• AT&T: Call forwarding
• T-Mobile: Call forwarding
• Verizon: Call forwarding FAQs

Related: Call forwarding on iPhone · Call forwarding for Android · Call forwarding on iPhone & Android · AT&T call forwarding · Verizon call forwarding · AI voicemail