EE voicemail number: how to call, set up and turn it off

Need to reach your EE voicemail? The short answer is 222 — dial it from your EE mobile (or just press and hold the 1 key) and you are in your mailbox. But the full picture is worth a couple of minutes: how to pick up messages when you are away from your phone or abroad, how to set up a greeting and a security PIN, what to do when you have forgotten that PIN, how to switch on Visual Voicemail on an iPhone, and how to turn voicemail off entirely if you would rather just get a missed-call text. This guide gathers all of it with the exact numbers and text commands EE uses, plus the equivalents for Three and the other major networks, so you are covered whichever phone you are holding.

#The EE voicemail number is 222

On EE, the number for your voicemail is 222, dialled free from your EE mobile. Most handsets also let you press and hold the 1 key on the dialler, which connects you to the same mailbox. EE sets voicemail up by default on its accounts, so you may find you are already receiving messages without having configured anything. The first time you call 222, the system walks you through setup — recording a greeting and, importantly, choosing a security PIN. If you have an iPhone, you can switch to Visual Voicemail so your messages appear as a tappable list in the Phone app rather than having to dial in; we cover that below. Whatever device you use, 222 is the reliable fallback that always reaches your voicemail.

#How to access EE voicemail from another phone or abroad

If your phone is lost, broken, out of charge, or you are overseas, you can still pick up your EE messages. From any other phone in the UK, dial 07953 222222; from abroad, dial +44 7953 222222. In both cases the system asks for your voicemail PIN, so this only works if you set a PIN beforehand. The same external number works for BT Mobile customers, because BT Mobile runs on EE's network. Calling the external number from a landline or another network's mobile is charged at that provider's normal rate, and accessing voicemail while roaming may be billed depending on where you are — so, as with any network, set your PIN before you travel and consider turning voicemail off if you want to avoid roaming charges entirely.

#Setting up EE voicemail and your PIN

1. 1

   Dial 222

   Call 222 from your EE phone. If voicemail is not yet configured, the system starts the setup automatically.

2. 2

   Record a greeting

   Record a personal greeting so callers know they have reached you, or keep EE's default greeting.

3. 3

   Set a PIN

   From the voicemail menu choose Settings and Features, then PIN Settings, and follow the prompts. Use four to ten digits and avoid obvious sequences.

4. 4

   Test it

   Call your number from another phone, leave a message, then dial 222 to confirm it arrives.

A PIN is essential if you ever want to listen to messages from another phone or abroad — without it, the external number will not let you in. EE advises a PIN between four and ten digits; avoid repeated digits like 2222 or anything guessable. Because the external access number is public, a strong PIN is the main thing standing between your messages and anyone who knows your mobile number, so treat it like any other account password.

#Visual Voicemail on EE (iPhone)

If you have an iPhone, Visual Voicemail is the most convenient way to handle messages: instead of dialling in and listening in order, your voicemails appear as a list in the Phone app's Voicemail tab, and you can tap any one to play it, read a transcript where available, or delete it. Visual Voicemail is included on EE plans at no extra cost. To switch it on, text iPhone visual to 150; EE will text back to confirm once it is active. You may need to update your carrier settings first — go to Settings, then General, then About, and accept any update prompt. If Visual Voicemail stops working after a SIM swap or a network change, re-sending that text usually refreshes it. The classic 222 dial-in still works as a backup whenever Visual Voicemail is unavailable, for example on a non-iPhone or when you are using someone else's handset.

#How to turn off EE voicemail

If you would rather not have voicemail — preferring a missed-call alert so you can decide whether to call back — EE lets you switch it off with a text. Send VM OFF to 150 and EE deactivates the service; callers will no longer be offered the option to leave a message, and unanswered calls simply ring out. To turn it back on, text VM ON to 150. Handily, those same commands often fix voicemail glitches: if messages are not coming through, sending VM OFF and then VM ON to 150 refreshes your voicemail divert and frequently restores normal service.

If a divert to voicemail persists at the handset level even after texting VM OFF, you can clear it with the standard GSM codes from your dialler. Dialling #1210# on EE cancels the divert-on-no-answer; more broadly, ##002# then call cancels all conditional call-forwarding on the line, which removes any stored divert-to-voicemail rule. These codes are not unique to EE — they work across UK networks — and they are useful whenever a phone keeps sending calls to voicemail after you thought it was off. For the wider subject of controlling where your calls go, see our how to forward or divert calls guide.

#Three voicemail and other networks

Because EE's keywords often get searched alongside other networks, here is the quick cross-reference. On Three, the voicemail short code is 123, dialled free from your Three phone; from another phone you can reach it on the Three external number, and Three does not expose a simple self-service 'off' code — to disable it you call 333 and ask the team. On Vodafone, voicemail is 121, and you can switch off the no-answer divert with the GSM code shown in the table. On O2, it is 901, with 1760 to turn it off. If you are not sure which network you are actually on — for example after switching, or on a less familiar MVNO — most MVNOs inherit their host network's code (giffgaff and Tesco use O2's 901, BT Mobile uses EE's 222, and so on). To understand which operator a given 07 number sits with, see our UK mobile networks by 07 prefix guide, and for choosing between networks on coverage, our best mobile network in the UK overview.

#Resetting a forgotten EE voicemail PIN

If you have forgotten your EE voicemail PIN, you can reset it without knowing the old one. Dial 222, navigate to Settings and Features and then PIN Settings, and follow the prompts to set a new PIN — on most accounts you can do this directly from your own handset because you are already authenticated by your SIM. If you are locked out, or you need to set a PIN to enable remote access and cannot get into the menu, contact EE customer services on 150 from your EE phone (or 0800 956 6000 from any other phone) and they can reset it for you. Once reset, set a PIN you will remember but others cannot guess, and avoid writing it down anywhere attached to your phone or number.

#When unknown callers leave you voicemails

Often the reason people dig into voicemail settings is a spate of messages from numbers they do not recognise. A voicemail can be your only clue to who was calling — but before you ring an unfamiliar number back, it pays to check it. You can look up any UK number to see its details and whether others have flagged it, which quickly separates a genuine caller (a clinic, a courier, a recruiter) from a nuisance or scam line. Our who called me? guide sets out the full method, and if the messages come from withheld numbers, see withheld number. Be especially wary of automated voicemails claiming your account is suspended or urging you to 'press 1' or call an unfamiliar number — those are classic scam hooks. Never call the number left in such a message; verify independently instead, and dial 159 if it claims to be your bank.

#Common EE voicemail problems and how to fix them

A few EE voicemail issues crop up repeatedly, and most have quick fixes. The first is '222 says it's out of service' or messages not coming through. EE's own first-line fix is to text VM OFF to 150 and then VM ON to 150, which refreshes your voicemail divert and re-enables it; this clears a surprising number of glitches. The second is calls going straight to voicemail even with signal — that is a call divert being active, so dial #1210# to cancel the no-answer divert, or ##002# to cancel all diverts, and check your handset's own call-forwarding settings. The third is voicemail not working after a SIM swap or new phone; again, the VM OFF / VM ON refresh, followed by a restart, usually fixes it.

A fourth common problem is Visual Voicemail vanishing on an iPhone after a network change or update. Re-send 'iPhone visual' to 150, update your carrier settings (Settings > General > About), and restart; that combination restores it in most cases. The fifth is remote access failing from another phone or abroad — almost always because no PIN has been set, since the external number (07953 222222) cannot let you in without one. Set a PIN from the 222 menu before you next need remote access. Finally, if you simply never want voicemail, the cleanest answer is to text VM OFF to 150 and rely on missed-call texts; you still see who tried to reach you, and you sidestep the whole category of voicemail problems. As with any network, the theme is that voicemail is a network service plus a handset setting, so fixes often involve nudging both sides — a text or code on the network side and a restart or settings check on the phone.

#A realistic example: returning a voicemail safely

Suppose you dial 222 and hear a message from an unfamiliar number urging you to call back about 'suspicious activity on your account'. This is precisely where a calm routine matters. First, do not call the number left in the message — automated and scam voicemails routinely plant a call-back number that leads somewhere expensive or fraudulent. Second, look the number up and search it online; a genuine organisation has a verifiable presence, while a scam line tends to surface complaints. Third, if the message claims to be your bank, a courier, or any official body, ignore the call-back number entirely and contact the organisation independently — using the number on your card, a statement, its official website, or 159 for your bank's fraud team. A genuine issue will still be there when you call back on a trusted number; a scam disappears.

Voicemail is increasingly exploited as a scam channel precisely because a recorded message feels more deliberate than a cold call — it implies someone took the trouble to leave details. But the red flags are the same: urgency, a request for money or one-time codes, an unverifiable call-back number, or pressure to keep it secret. None of those belong in a genuine voicemail from a real organisation. Treat your mailbox as a handy record of who tried to reach you, not a source to trust blindly, and pair it with a quick number check whenever the caller is unknown. Our who called me? guide covers the full method, and identify a UK caller explains how to read the signals so you can act with confidence.

#Keeping your number when you switch networks

Voicemail questions often surface when people are switching networks — moving to or from EE — and a frequent worry is whether changing network means losing your number or your messages. The good news is that you keep your number when you switch: you request a PAC code from your current network and give it to the new one, and the number transfers, usually within a working day. Old voicemails do not transfer (they live on the old network's platform), so listen to anything you want to keep before the switch completes. Once you are on EE, set up voicemail fresh by dialling 222 and choosing a new PIN and greeting. If you are weighing up which network to move to in the first place — on coverage, price or perks — our best mobile network in the UK guide explains how to judge them, and UK mobile networks by 07 prefix shows how the operators line up across the 07 ranges. Sorting voicemail is the small final step of a switch; keeping your number is the part that matters most, and it is straightforward.

#Voicemail etiquette and getting the most from it

Voicemail works best when it is set up with a little thought rather than left on the default. A clear, brief greeting — your name and an invitation to leave a message — reassures genuine callers they have reached the right person and prompts them to leave the details you need, cutting down on missed connections and repeat calls. Keeping the mailbox tidy matters too, because a full mailbox stops accepting new messages; delete old ones periodically, especially if you rely on voicemail for work. Setting a strong PIN is the most important security step: the external access number (07953 222222) is public, so a weak or guessable PIN is the main risk to your messages. Treat it like any account password — non-obvious, never shared, and changed if you think someone knows it. On an iPhone, enabling Visual Voicemail makes the whole thing easier to manage, since you can see, read transcripts of, and delete messages without dialling in.

It is also worth deciding deliberately whether voicemail suits you. Some people prefer a missed-call text, which lets them see who called and choose whether to ring back without listening to a message — in which case texting VM OFF to 150 is the right move. Others lean on voicemail heavily for work or for callers who like to leave detailed messages. Neither is wrong; the point is to choose consciously rather than let the default decide for you. If you keep voicemail on, the combination of a good greeting, a tidy mailbox, a strong PIN, Visual Voicemail where available, and a habit of checking unfamiliar numbers before returning calls turns it from a low-level nuisance into a genuinely useful tool — a dependable record of who tried to reach you that you can act on at your own pace, and with appropriate caution whenever the caller is someone you do not recognise. Set it up once, the right way, and it quietly handles missed calls in the background from then on, leaving you to decide which messages are worth a call back and which unfamiliar numbers are worth a quick check first. The handful of codes in this guide — 222 to listen, 07953 222222 from another phone, VM OFF to 150 to switch it off — cover almost everything you will ever need to do with EE voicemail, so it is worth keeping them somewhere handy for the day your phone is lost, broken or out of charge and you need to reach your messages another way. And if the network ever changes how a code behaves — networks do occasionally adjust their systems — EE's own voicemail help page and customer services on 150 are the definitive places to confirm the current numbers, but the values here reflect how EE voicemail has worked consistently for years and cover the vast majority of situations you are ever likely to face in everyday use.

#Bottom line

The EE voicemail number is 222 from your own phone (or press and hold 1), and 07953 222222 from another phone (with your PIN). Set up a greeting and a strong PIN the first time you dial in, switch on Visual Voicemail by texting iPhone visual to 150 if you have an iPhone, and reset a forgotten PIN from the 222 menu or via EE on 150. If you would rather skip voicemail, text VM OFF to 150 (and VM ON to turn it back on). On Three the code is 123, on O2 it is 901, and on Vodafone it is 121. And whenever an unfamiliar number leaves a message, look it up before calling back — see who called me? for the routine.