If you came here because calls have stopped reaching your phone, dial ##002#
and press call. That clears every forwarding rule on your line, whatever set it
and whenever. Then test it by calling your number from another phone.
If that fixed it, the rest of this page explains how it happened. If you are here to set forwarding up, skip to the codes below.
How to cancel call forwarding
There are two kinds of cancelling, and knowing the difference saves a lot of confusion.
| What you want | Code |
|---|---|
| Cancel everything, every type | ##002# |
| Cancel forward-everything only | ##21# |
| Cancel forward-when-busy only | ##67# |
| Cancel forward-when-no-answer only | ##61# |
| Cancel forward-when-unreachable only | ##62# |
| Cancel all the conditional ones, keep forward-everything | ##004# |
##002# is the one to use when you are not sure what is set. It is the reset
button, and it cannot do any harm beyond switching off something you wanted.
How to check if your calls are being forwarded
Dial *#21# and press call. Your phone replies with whether an
unconditional forward is set, and if it is, the number your calls are going to.
Check the others the same way: *#67# for busy, *#61# for no answer, *#62#
for unreachable.
This matters more than it sounds. Anyone who has your unlocked phone for under a minute can set a forward, and afterwards there is almost nothing on the screen to show for it. Your calls simply stop arriving and you assume it is the network. Many phones show a small forwarding icon in the status bar, but plenty do not.
Three other things that cause the same symptom and are not forwarding at all: a
full or barred line, Do Not Disturb left on, and the DND service some networks
apply to block promotional messages. If *#21# says nothing is set, look at those.
The codes to set it up
Dial these exactly as written, then press call. Replace the example with the number you want calls to go to.
| What you want | Code | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Forward every call | **21*number# | **21*08031234567# |
| Forward when you are busy | **67*number# | **67*08031234567# |
| Forward when you do not answer | **61*number# | **61*08031234567# |
| Forward when your phone is off or out of range | **62*number# | **62*08031234567# |
| Set all three conditional ones at once | **004*number# | **004*08031234567# |
Forward everything, or only when you cannot answer
Forwarding everything with **21* means your phone never rings. That is right
when you have lost the handset, or you are switching to a new number and want the
old one to follow you.
For most working situations the conditional codes are better. They ring your phone first and only pass the call on when you genuinely cannot take it.
**67*number#catches calls while you are already on another call.**61*number#catches calls you do not answer in time.**62*number#catches calls when your phone is off, flat or out of coverage.
Set all three to the same number, or use **004*number# to do all three in one
go.
Does forwarding cost anything?
Setting a rule is free. The forwarded call is not.
When a call is forwarded you are usually charged for the second leg, the part that runs from your number to the number you sent it to, at your normal rate. The person who rang you pays only for reaching your number. So forwarding to another network, or to a number abroad, quietly puts the cost on your bill rather than theirs. Worth remembering before you point a line at an international number and forget about it.
Network by network
MTN Nigeria
The codes above work. There is no MTN-specific call forwarding code, despite how often it is searched for. MTN also exposes forwarding in the MyMTN app and in your phone's own call settings, which is the same feature with a screen in front of it.
Airtel Nigeria
The same codes. Airtel's own menus sit under your phone's call settings rather than a USSD menu of their own.
Glo
The same codes. Glo lines sometimes take a few seconds longer to confirm, and the confirmation message can arrive as a text rather than on screen.
9mobile
The same codes. 9mobile was Etisalat Nigeria until 2017, so older guides naming Etisalat are describing this network.
What forwarding will not fix
Forwarding does one thing: it sends calls from this phone to that phone. Useful, and completely unequal to running a business line.
- It goes to one phone only. It cannot ring three people and let whoever is free answer first.
- Nothing says it is a business call. It lands on a personal handset looking like any other call, so it gets answered "hello" rather than with your business name.
- There is no record. Nobody can see who rang, who picked up, who missed it, or what was agreed.
- The number belongs to a person. When they travel, or leave, the number and every customer who knows it leaves with them.
- You pay for the second leg. Forever, on every call.
If you are forwarding a personal line because the business has outgrown one phone, that is the thing worth fixing rather than the forwarding rule. A business line rings everyone who should hear it, on phones they already carry, and keeps the history in one place. That is what a cloud phone system does, and you can bring the number you already use.
Common questions
Why does my forward keep turning itself off?
Networks often drop a conditional forward when the destination is unreachable for
a long period, or when the line runs out of credit. Dial *#61# to see whether
it is still there.
Do these work on an iPhone?
Yes. The codes are handled by the network, not the handset, so iPhone and Android behave the same. iPhone also has a screen under Settings, Phone, Call Forwarding, but it only shows the forward-everything rule, so a conditional forward set by code will not appear there.
Can I forward calls to WhatsApp?
No. WhatsApp calls run over the internet, not the phone network, so there is no number for the network to forward to.
Someone has been forwarding my calls. What do I do?
Dial ##002# to clear it, then change your phone's lock code. The forward was set
from your handset, which means someone had it unlocked.
Can I forward only calls from one person?
Not with these codes. GSM forwarding applies to the whole line and cannot tell callers apart. Per-caller routing is something a phone system does, not a SIM.