7 Ways To Fix Dial Pad Not Working During Call

 

It can be a sort of disgraceful moment when the dial pad is not working during a call on your phone. In fact, it makes me feel stupid in front of the customer care robot last week when my dial pad stopped working. She was like "Press 2 to select this option". But my dial pad just stopped working!

So, if you have a similar experience on your phone, you can fix it in no time. With my experience with the same issue on Android, here are the 7 easy ways to fix the dial pad not working during the call.

Just reboot your phone

When the dial pad is not working during a call on Android, it's usually caused by software anomalies 99% of the time, and you possibly can resolve that just by restarting your phone.

Here's the trick: rebooting your phone puts the phone system into a short rest and wakes it up again. And during that process, a lot of changes, including releasing the RAM, reloading the Operating System, fixing bugs, and more are carried out. So, restarting your phone can help out if your dial pad messed up during a call; here's how to do it.

1. Tap and hold the Power key to open the power options.
2. Tap or slide on Restart to reboot your phone.

Try using the dial pad after rebooting your phone to see how it goes.

Reset the Phone (Dialer) app

Undoubtedly, restarting your phone should fix the problem. But if it's just the same old story, resetting the Phone app should surely fix the dial pad not working during a call on Android. To do that on Android, all you need is the clear the cache and data for the Phone app, and that's one of the most effective ways of fixing app issues on Android.

Worried about losing your call logs? No, resetting the Dialer app won't clear your call logs or contact. It just resets the functions of the app, and hopefully, it fixes the issue. Here's what you need to do to reset the Phone app.

1. Tap the Settings app from your home screen (launcher).
2. Click on Apps
3. Tap Manage apps. (might carry a different name on your phone)
4. First, tap the 3-dot button at the top-right corner of the screen and select Show system apps.
5. Now, look for Phone on the list and tap it.
6. Click on Storage & Cache
7. Finally, hit Clear cache, followed by Clear data to reset the Phone app.

Try making a call to see if the dial pad is now working.

Update the Phone app

To resolve the dial pad not working during a call on Android, ensure you're running the latest version of the Phone app. Mainly what caused the same problem for most Android users in the past was a bug in the Phone app, but it was fixed afterward via an app update.

So, if the dial pad is not opening during a call, go straight to the Play Store and update the Phone app.

If an update is available, you should see it in the "My apps & games" section on the Play Store. You can update it from there.

In case your brand doesn't push out system app updates via the Play Store, you may check your phone for other app update functions. For instance, TECNO has HiOS Lab, while Infinix has XOS Lab for pushing updates.

Downgrade the Phone app

On the flip side, if you noticed the dial pad stopped working during calls after you recently updated the Phone app, you may need to downgrade it. The reason is that the latest version might be malfunctioning; perhaps it comes with some bugs or error codes conflicting with your phone system.

Don't be scared, downgrading the Phone app does nothing else than reverting it to the stock version. And since "Phone" is a system app, it's quite straightforward to downgrade it. Just follow these steps:

1. Open Settings on your phone and select Apps
2. Click on Manage apps or See all apps.
3. Tap the 3-dot button at the top-right corner and select Show system apps.
4. Find the Phone app on the list and select it
5. Finally, tap the 3-dot button at the top-right corner again, and select Uninstall updates to downgrade the phone app. If you can't find it there that means you can't downgrade the phone app. try another solution in this article.

Relaunch the Phone app after downgrading it and make a call as usual to the if the problem is gone.

Install System Updates

Nevertheless, you need to keep your phone system up-to-date to get over the dialer not working during calls. And for most people who don't have any means of updating the Phone (Dialer) app, installing system updates could be a perfect way out.

No software is perfect; henceforth, it can develop issues unexpectedly. But when you install a software update; it fixes the bugs, improves overall system performance, bumps the security patch, and more. Similarly, updating your phone can fix the dial pad not working.

1. To update your Android phone, simply go to the Settings app
2. Scroll to the bottom and select
3. Tap on System Update; follow the instructions to check and update your phone.

Reset app preferences

"Resetting app preferences" has been a common solution for fixing app-related issues on Android. And if the dial pad is not working during a call on Android, you should try to reset app preferences.

Forget about how it sounds like, resetting app preferences won't erase any of your data. As its name implies, it just restores the initial setup for the apps on your phone; and hopefully, that will fix the issue you're battling with.

1. Launch Settings on your phone and go to the bottom of the page.
2. Hit System and select Reset options.
3. Now, carefully select Reset app preferences.
4. And finally, hit the RESET APPS

Reboot your phone after the process and try using the dial pad during a call. If it still doesn't work, try another Phone app. 

Try another Phone Dialer app

Conclusively, if you still can't use the dial pad app after following all the solutions above, we think something is wrong with your phone's software or the Phone app itself. But there's a workaround for that. Of course, you can get another Phone (dialer) app that gets the job done without issues.

If you agree to do that, Google's Phone app is one of the very best dialer apps you can get on Android. And now that it works on every Android phone, it's a bonus for you. To get started you should install the Phone app from Google via the Play Store and set it as your default calling app.

1. Install Phone app by Google from the Play Store [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer]
2. Launch it and select Set Phone as default on the first screen.
3. Grant all the necessary permissions for the Phone app to start using it.

With the new Phone app on your phone, you should be able to use the dial pad during a call. If it works, you'll need to start using it as your default calling app. And also, don't forget to place it on your home screen for a better experience.