Google Voice Call Screening: Turn Off Press 1 and Filter Spam

To turn Google Voice call screening on or off, open Settings → Calls → Screen Calls in Google Voice. When screening is on, Google Voice can ask unfamiliar callers for their name and ask you to press 1 to answer. If you still hear that prompt with the switch off, compare a call answered in Google Voice with one answered on your linked phone.

Find the setting for your problem

• Press 1 or a caller-name prompt: check Screen Calls and any rules for individual contacts.
• Scam and robocall filtering: use Filter spam and review the Spam folder if calls go missing.
• Wrong phone rings: check My devices and Call forwarding under Incoming calls.

How to turn off Google Voice call screening

1. Sign in to Google Voice with the account that owns the number receiving the call.
2. On the web, open Settings → Calls. In the Voice app, open Menu → Settings and look under Calls.
3. Switch Screen Calls off, then make a test call to the Google Voice number. Turn it back on if you want Google Voice to announce the caller before you pick up.

When screening is enabled, Voice may announce a saved contact or recognized business without asking them to say their name. The prompt you hear can therefore differ by caller. Google Voice screening instructions

Why does Google Voice still ask me to press 1?

What you observe	What to check next
Only one caller or group triggers it	On the web, open Settings → Calls → Custom call forwarding → Manage rules. Google applies the first matching rule. Check whether it uses Always screen and choose Never screen if you want that caller to bypass screening.
Only a linked phone plays the prompt	From a second phone, call the Voice number and answer in the Voice app or browser. Repeat and answer on the linked phone. Then dial the linked number directly. That isolates the route where the prompt appears.
Both the app and linked phone ring	Open Calls → Incoming calls. Review the enabled entries under My devices and Call forwarding. Disabling forwarding to a number there leaves the number linked.

Change one setting at a time. If the prompt occurs on a direct call to the linked number, investigate that phone or its carrier. If it only occurs when answering a forwarded Voice call, use those reproduction steps when contacting Voice support. Google Voice contact rules · Linked phones and incoming calls

How to stop spam calls on Google Voice

In Voice settings, open Security and enable Filter spam where the switch is available. Review the Spam folder if a call or voicemail you expected is missing, and use the option to mark a genuine call as safe. For a specific unwanted number, use the number’s menu in Voice to block it. Google Voice spam and blocking instructions

We checked Google’s instructions on November 13, 2026. The troubleshooting checklist uses those documented settings. We haven’t run the call comparison on a live Google Voice account.