Smart & Connected Life > Smart Watches & Wearables How to Fix It When You Can't Answer Calls on a Samsung Galaxy Watch Start receiving calls from your wrist again By Jeremy Laukkonen Jeremy Laukkonen Facebook Twitter Writer Shoreline Community College Jeremy Laukkonen is automotive and tech writer for numerous major trade publications. When not researching and testing computers, game consoles or smartphones, he stays up-to-date on the myriad complex systems that power battery electric vehicles . lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 16, 2022 Reviewed by Ryan Perian Reviewed by Ryan Perian Western Governors University Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Causes of Not Being Able to Answer Calls on a Galaxy Watch Fixes for Answering Calls on a Galaxy Watch Frequently Asked Questions One of the most important features of Samsung Galaxy Watches is that they allow you to answer calls without picking up your phone. If you can’t answer calls on a Samsung Galaxy Watch, there may be a connectivity problem, the watch may not be configured correctly, or you may need to add it to your mobile plan. Elisaveta Ivanova / iStock / Getty Causes of Not Being Able to Answer Calls on a Galaxy Watch When you can't answer calls on a Samsung Galaxy Watch, there are several potential causes. The most common problems are connectivity and configuration issues, which you can usually fix yourself. There may be Bluetooth connectivity issues, or you may have turned on a silent setting like Do Not Disturb mode. If you're trying to use your watch without your phone, the watch needs to support LTE, and you must activate it with your cellular provider. Additionally, you may have turned off your notification settings. No matter the causes, some easy fixes can get you communicating on your Galaxy Watch in no time. How to Fix it When You Can’t Answer Calls on a Samsung Galaxy Watch If you can't answer calls on your Samsung Galaxy Watch, perform each of the following troubleshooting steps in the order presented (easiest to most involved) for your best chances of success. Ensure you've connected your Galaxy Watch to your phone. The phone and watch must be connected via Bluetooth. Without pairing your phone properly, you won't be able to answer calls. Be sure you've enabled Bluetooth on your paired phone. Without Bluetooth on, you can't connect your watch and phone and answer calls. If your watch is connected to your phone remotely by Wi-Fi, you won’t be able to answer calls with it. Check that your watch is near your phone. If you don't have LTE, the watch and paired phone must be close together for you to answer calls. (within about 30 feet). Check to see if you can answer calls when the watch and phone are close to each other. If you can, there may be radio interference in the area or a problem with your phone’s Bluetooth radio. Verify that your watch has LTE service, if applicable. If you have an LTE-enabled Galaxy Watch, you can answer calls without your phone. However, this option is only available if you’ve activated the watch with your cellular carrier. If you haven’t done that yet, contact your carrier for more information. Check your watch band. Metal watch bands may cause interference, leading to disconnected calls. Check your phone’s Bluetooth connectivity. Try using your phone with other Bluetooth devices in various locations. If it works in some areas but not others, you’re probably dealing with interference. If your phone has poor Bluetooth range wherever you go, you may need to replace or repair the phone. Disable silent modes on your Galaxy Watch. Check to see if Do Not Disturb, Goodnight, Theater, or any other silent mode is on. Do Not Disturb is set on your phone, while Goodnight, Bed Time, and Theater modes are all accessed in the watch's advanced settings. If any of these modes are on, turn them off and check to see if you can answer calls. Turn on notifications on your Galaxy Watch. You may have inadvertently disabled notification settings. In the Samsung Wearable app on your phone, tap Watch Settings > Notifications > More, and ensure you've turned on call notifications. Check if Water Lock is on. If you’ve accidentally turned on Water Lock, you won’t be able to answer calls on your watch until you turn it off. To turn off Water Lock, press and hold the home or home/power button until it switches off. Check your phone for an error message. If you’re using your Galaxy Watch with an iPhone, your phone will display an error the first time you try to make a call from the watch. If you see that error, immediately open your iPhone Bluetooth settings, and you’ll see a second Galaxy Watch listed in the available devices. Connect to that, and you’ll be able to send and receive calls. Contact Samsung Galaxy Watch support. If none of these solutions work, check with Samsung's tech support to see if there's another issue. FAQ How do I answer calls on a Samsung Galaxy Watch? To answer calls on your Samsung Galaxy Watch, tap the green phone icon and swipe toward the center of the screen. To decline a call when you're busy, tap the red phone icon and swipe left. Why can't my Samsung Galaxy Watch Active answer calls? Only Galaxy Watches with onboard speakers and microphones, such as the Galaxy Watch Active2 and Galaxy Watch4, can answer calls. If you have a first-generation Galaxy Watch Active, you can still tap to view and accept calls on your watch. Any accepted calls transfer to your connected smartphone. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! 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