O2 voicemail number: access, setup and how to turn it off

If you are trying to reach your O2 voicemail, the short answer is simple: the O2 voicemail number is 901, dialled free from your O2 mobile. But there is a bit more worth knowing — how to listen to 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, and crucially how to switch voicemail off altogether if you would rather rely on missed-call alerts. This guide pulls all of it together in one place, with the exact codes O2 uses, so you can sort your voicemail in a couple of minutes and get back to what you were doing. It also explains the small print that catches people out, such as charges when you pick up messages while roaming.

#The O2 voicemail number is 901

On O2, your voicemail is branded 'Voicemail 901', and the number to reach it could not be simpler: dial 901 from your O2 mobile and you are connected straight to your mailbox. The call is free on every O2 tariff, including Pay As You Go, so you never pay to listen to your own messages from your own phone within the UK. Voicemail 901 is switched on by default on new O2 phones, which is why you may start receiving voicemails without ever having set anything up. Most handsets also let you press and hold the 1 key on the dialler to call voicemail, which does the same thing as dialling 901. If you have an iPhone with Visual Voicemail, your messages appear as a list in the Phone app's Voicemail tab instead, but 901 always works as the fallback.

#How to access O2 voicemail from another phone or abroad

There are times when you cannot use your own handset — it is lost, broken, out of battery, or you are abroad and want to avoid roaming oddities. In those cases you can still pick up your O2 messages remotely. From any other phone in the UK, or from overseas, call +44 7802 090 122. The system will ask for your mobile number and then your voicemail PIN, so this only works if you have previously set a PIN (more on that below). Note that calling this number from a landline or a non-O2 mobile is charged at that provider's normal rate — it is not free the way 901 is from your own phone.

If you are travelling and 901 will not connect for some reason, O2's own guidance is to dial 1780 free from your O2 phone, or call +44 7802 090 100 and wait for O2 to text you the correct number to use from where you are. The essential point is the same in every case: set your PIN before you travel. Without it, remote and overseas access simply will not let you in, and there is no way to set the PIN from afar. If you are heading overseas, it is also worth reading our note on charges further down, because retrieving voicemail abroad can cost more than you expect.

#Setting up your O2 voicemail and greeting

1. 1

   Dial 901

   Call 901 from your O2 phone. If voicemail has never been set up, the system walks you through it automatically.

2. 2

   Create a PIN

   Choose a memorable but non-obvious four-digit PIN. You will need this to access messages from another phone or abroad, so do not skip it.

3. 3

   Record a greeting

   Record a personal greeting so callers know they have reached you, or keep O2's default greeting if you prefer.

4. 4

   Test it

   Call your own number from another phone, leave a message, then dial 901 to check it arrives and plays back.

Once set up, listening is straightforward: dial 901 (or press and hold 1), and new messages play first. Use the keypad options the system reads out to replay, save or delete each message. If you ever want to change your greeting later, dial 901, then key the menu option for greetings — on O2 you can reach the settings by dialling 901 and pressing * then the relevant number the menu announces.

#Resetting a forgotten O2 voicemail PIN

Forgetting your voicemail PIN is common, and it is easy to fix — you do not need to know the old one to set a new one. The simplest route is the My O2 app or the My O2 website: sign in to your account, find the voicemail or call settings, and reset the PIN there. Alternatively, call O2 customer services on 202 free from your O2 mobile (or 0344 809 0202 from another phone) and ask them to reset it. O2's older default PIN was 8705 on some accounts, but you should not rely on a default — set your own as soon as possible, because anyone who knows a default and your number could otherwise access your messages remotely. A strong, personal PIN is the single most important security step for voicemail, since the remote-access number is public.

#How to turn off O2 voicemail completely

Plenty of people would rather not have voicemail at all — they prefer a missed-call text so they can decide whether to ring back, without callers leaving long messages. On O2 this is easy to switch off. Dial 1760 free from your O2 phone and you will hear a confirmation that Voicemail 901 has been deactivated. From then on, unanswered calls simply ring out, and you still get missed-call notifications. If you change your mind, dial 1750 free from your O2 phone to switch voicemail back on, then follow the prompts to set it up again.

If 1760 does not fully stop calls diverting to voicemail — occasionally a handset holds its own divert settings — you can also cancel call diversions using the standard GSM codes from your dialler. Dialling ##002# then call cancels all conditional call-forwarding on the line, which clears any divert-to-voicemail rule your phone has stored. To target just the 'no answer' divert, use ##61#. These codes work across networks, not only O2, and are handy when a phone keeps sending calls to voicemail after you thought you had turned it off. For the wider topic of controlling where your calls go, see our guide on how to forward or divert calls.

#Charges, roaming and the small print

Voicemail 901 is free to call from your own O2 phone in the UK, on every tariff. The charges to watch for are around remote and overseas access. Calling the remote-access number (+44 7802 090 122) from a landline or another network's mobile is billed at that provider's standard rate — it is not free the way dialling 901 is. More importantly, retrieving voicemail while roaming abroad can be charged as an international call, and in some cases callers diverting to your voicemail while you are overseas can generate charges even if you never listen to the messages. If you are travelling outside your plan's inclusive roaming area and want to avoid any surprises, the clean solution is to turn voicemail off with 1760 before you go and turn it back on with 1750 when you return. For how O2 fits into the wider UK mobile landscape — including coverage and roaming considerations — see our best mobile network in the UK guide and the UK mobile networks by 07 prefix overview.

#When voicemail and unknown callers collide

One reason people end up checking their voicemail settings is a run of calls from numbers they do not recognise — and a voicemail can be the only clue to who was trying to reach them. If you keep getting missed calls and cryptic voicemails from unfamiliar numbers, it is worth checking those numbers rather than just calling back blind. You can look up any UK number to see its details and whether others have reported it, which helps you tell a genuine caller (a delivery driver, a clinic, a recruiter) from a nuisance or scam line. For a full method, our who called me? guide walks through it, and if the calls come from withheld numbers, see withheld number. The combination of a tidy voicemail setup and a quick number check means you rarely have to wonder who is trying to reach you, and you can ignore the nuisance calls with confidence.

It is also worth remembering that scammers sometimes leave automated voicemails — fake 'your account is suspended' or 'press 1 to speak to an agent' messages — designed to make you call back an expensive or fraudulent number. Treat any urgent voicemail demanding money, codes or a call-back to an unfamiliar number with suspicion. Do not call the number in the message; instead verify independently using a number you find yourself, and if it claims to be your bank, dial 159. A well-managed voicemail is a convenience, not a channel you have to trust blindly.

#Common O2 voicemail problems and how to fix them

A handful of voicemail issues come up again and again, and most have quick fixes once you know the cause. The first is 'I can't check my voicemail' — usually because it was never fully set up, or the PIN is missing. Dial 901 and follow the setup prompts; if you previously deactivated voicemail, dial 1750 to reactivate it. The second is calls going straight to voicemail when your phone is on and has signal. That points to a call divert being active: dial ##002# to cancel all diverts, then ##61# if a 'no answer' divert specifically persists, and check your handset's own call-forwarding settings under the phone app. The third is voicemail not working after a SIM swap or new phone — the platform sometimes needs a nudge; turning voicemail off with 1760 and back on with 1750, then restarting the phone, clears most of these.

A fourth common problem is Visual Voicemail not appearing on an iPhone. If your messages used to show as a list in the Phone app but have stopped, the fix is usually to update your carrier settings (Settings > General > About, accept any prompt) and reset network settings, then re-enable voicemail. The fifth is remote access failing from another phone or abroad — this almost always comes down to not having set a PIN, because the external number cannot let you in without one. Set a PIN from your own phone before you next need remote access. Finally, if you simply never want voicemail, the cleanest answer is to turn it off with 1760 and rely on missed-call texts; you will still see who tried to reach you, and you avoid the whole category of problems. Across all of these, the underlying theme is that voicemail is a network service plus a handset setting, so fixes often involve nudging both — a code on the network side and a restart or settings check on the phone side.

#A realistic example: returning a voicemail safely

Imagine you dial 901 and hear a message from a number you do not recognise, asking you to call back urgently about 'a problem with your account'. This is exactly the situation where a calm routine pays off. 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, take a moment to look the number up and search it online; a genuine organisation will have a verifiable presence, while a scam line tends to surface complaints. Third, if the message claims to be from your bank, a delivery company, or any official body, ignore the call-back number entirely and reach the organisation independently — on the number printed on your card, on a statement, on its official website, or via 159 for your bank's fraud team. A real issue will still be there when you call back on a trusted number; a scam evaporates.

This matters because voicemail is increasingly used as a delivery channel for scams precisely because it feels more considered than a cold call — a recorded message implies someone took the trouble to leave details. But the same red flags apply: urgency, a request for money or codes, a call-back number you cannot verify, or pressure not to tell anyone. None of those belong in a genuine voicemail from a real organisation. Treat your mailbox as a useful record of who tried to reach you, not as a source you have to trust blindly, and pair it with a quick number check whenever the caller is unfamiliar. Our who called me? guide sets out the full method, and identify a UK caller covers reading the signals.

#Voicemail across the main networks (quick comparison)

Because people often manage phones on more than one network — a personal O2 line and a work EE phone, say — it helps to keep the main voicemail codes straight. On O2 the short code is 901, with 1760 to turn it off and 1750 to turn it back on. On EE it is 222 (or press and hold 1), with voicemail turned off by texting VM OFF to 150. On Vodafone it is 121. On Three it is 123, and Three has no simple self-service off-code — you call 333 and ask. MVNOs generally inherit their host network's code: giffgaff and Tesco Mobile use O2's 901, while BT Mobile uses EE's 222. If you are not sure which network a given mobile number belongs to — for instance when saving a contact or working out who left a message — our UK mobile networks by 07 prefix guide explains how the ranges map to operators, and our best mobile network in the UK guide helps if you are weighing up a switch. Knowing the codes for each network means you are never stuck hunting for how to reach or disable voicemail on whichever phone is in your hand.

#Voicemail etiquette and getting the most from it

Voicemail is most useful when it is set up thoughtfully rather than left on its default. A clear, brief greeting — your name and an invitation to leave a message — helps genuine callers know they have reached the right person and encourages them to leave the details you actually need, which cuts down on phone tag. If you are often unavailable at predictable times, a greeting that sets expectations ('I check messages in the afternoon') manages callers' expectations and reduces repeat calls. Keeping your mailbox tidy matters too: a full mailbox rejects new messages, so delete old ones periodically, especially if you rely on voicemail for work. And setting a strong PIN is not just about remote access — it is the single most important security step, because the remote-access number is public and a weak or default PIN historically allowed others to listen to people's messages. Treat the PIN like any account password: non-obvious, not shared, and changed if you suspect it is known.

It is also worth deciding deliberately whether voicemail suits you at all. Some people find a missed-call text more useful than a voicemail, because it lets them see who called and decide whether to ring back without listening to a message — in which case turning voicemail off with 1760 is the right call. Others rely on voicemail heavily, particularly for work or for callers who prefer to leave detailed messages. There is no universally correct answer; the point is to choose rather than drift. If you do keep voicemail, the combination of a good greeting, a tidy mailbox, a strong PIN and a habit of checking unfamiliar numbers before returning calls turns it from a source of mild anxiety into a genuinely useful tool — a reliable record of who wanted to reach you, which you can act on at your own pace and with appropriate caution where the caller is unknown. Set it up once, the right way, and it quietly does its job in the background from then on.

#Bottom line

The O2 voicemail number is 901 from your own phone, free on every tariff, and +44 7802 090 122 from another phone or abroad (with your PIN). Set up a personal greeting and a strong PIN the first time you call, reset a forgotten PIN through the My O2 app or by calling 202, and if you would rather skip voicemail entirely, turn it off with 1760 (back on with 1750). Watch for charges when retrieving messages abroad, and turn voicemail off before travelling if you want to avoid them. And when an unfamiliar number leaves you a message, look it up before calling back — see who called me? for the full routine.