Call forwarding

Verizon call forwarding: every code, and how to turn it off

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated August 19, 2026

The short answer

On a Verizon wireless line, dial *72 followed by the 10-digit destination number to forward every incoming call, or *71 followed by the number to forward only the calls you do not answer. Dial *73 to turn forwarding off. Forwarded calls are billed as if you answered them.

Verizon's forwarding controls are three star codes, and almost every problem people have with them comes from not knowing that two of the three do different jobs. Here is each one, what it changes, and the behaviour that catches people out.

The three codes

Verizon wireless call forwarding codes, from Verizon's own support documentation.
Code	What it does	How you dial it
*72	Unconditional forwarding. Every incoming call goes to the other number and your handset does not ring at all.	72 then the 10-digit number, then call. Verizon's example: 72-908-123-4567
*71	Conditional forwarding. Your handset rings first; only the calls you do not answer move to the other number.	*71 then the 10-digit number, then call
*73	Turns forwarding off, whichever of the two you set.	*73, then call

The distinction between *72 and *71 is the one worth internalising. Unconditional forwarding is silent: your phone gives you no indication that anything is happening, because it never rings. Conditional forwarding leaves the phone behaving normally, which is why people set it, forget it, and later cannot work out why some callers reach a number they no longer use.

How to forward all your calls

1
Dial the code and the destination
From the Verizon line itself, dial *72 immediately followed by the 10-digit number you want calls to reach. No spaces, no country code, no leading 1.
2
Press call and wait for the confirmation
You will hear a confirmation tone or a short message. If you hear nothing, the code did not take — hang up and dial it again rather than assuming it worked.
3
Test it from another phone
Call your Verizon number from a different handset. It should not ring on the Verizon phone at all, and it should ring at the destination. A test call takes fifteen seconds and is the only real confirmation.

Forwarded calls cost the same as answered calls

If your plan does not include unlimited minutes, every forwarded call is billed as though you had answered it on the handset — including calls forwarded to a landline. On a busy line that is a bill nobody budgeted for.

How to forward only the calls you miss

Use *71 and the same 10-digit destination. Your phone rings first, and only unanswered calls move. This is the right setting when you want a colleague or an answering service to catch overflow without taking the line away from you.

It is also the setting that produces the strange status messages people search for. If you have ever seen a phone report that call forwarding is unconditional but voice is not forwarded, that is the network describing a forwarding rule that exists but is not currently moving calls — the full explanation is in our guide to call forwarding codes and what they mean.

How to turn Verizon call forwarding off

1
Dial *73 from the forwarded line
It clears both unconditional and conditional forwarding. There is no separate code for each.
2
Listen for the tone
The confirmation sounds close to a busy signal. That is normal and means it worked; hanging up before it plays is the usual reason the setting appears not to stick.
3
Verify with a test call
Ring the number from another phone. It should ring on the Verizon handset again.

What Verizon forwarding will not do

It does not forward texts. Messages stay on the original line. If the point of forwarding was to hand a line over to someone else, they will get the calls and none of the messages.
It does not reach international numbers. Forwarding to a destination outside the country is not supported.
It does not follow a schedule. There is no business-hours rule and no time-zone awareness; forwarding is on until you turn it off.
It does not split traffic. Every call goes to one destination. There is no ring group, no round robin, and no fallback if the destination is busy.
It leaves no record. The forwarded call does not appear anywhere you can report on later, which matters if the line is doing business work.

When forwarding is the wrong tool

Carrier forwarding was designed to move a personal line to another personal line for an afternoon. Businesses reach for it because it is right there, then hit the same four walls: no schedule, no reporting, no shared handling of the same number, and a bill that grows with every forwarded minute.

The replacement is number routing at the platform level rather than at the carrier. The number is yours, and rules decide where a call lands: business hours to the team, out of hours to voicemail or an AI receptionist, overflow into a queue, everything logged. That is what an IVR and call routing layer does, and it is why a business line rarely needs a star code at all.

Porting keeps the number

Moving a number to a platform does not mean giving up the number your customers already have. Numbers are portable between carriers, and the line keeps ringing throughout the transfer — see our guide to porting phone numbers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Verizon call forwarding code?

*72 followed by the 10-digit number you want calls sent to. Verizon's own example is *72-908-123-4567. To forward only the calls you do not pick up, use *71 instead. To stop forwarding entirely, dial *73.

Does Verizon charge for forwarded calls?

If your plan does not include unlimited minutes, yes. Verizon bills a forwarded call the same way it would bill a call you answered on the handset, and that applies even when the call is forwarded to a landline.

Will call forwarding also forward my text messages?

No. Call forwarding moves voice calls only. Texts continue to arrive on the original handset, which is the single most common surprise when someone forwards a line and then wonders why they are still getting messages.

Can I forward my Verizon number to an international number?

No. Verizon does not allow forwarded calls to international destinations. If you need calls answered abroad, route the number through a phone platform that supports international termination rather than through carrier forwarding.

I dialled *73 but calls are still being forwarded. What went wrong?

Two things cause this. Either the *73 did not complete, in which case redial it and listen for the confirmation tone, which sounds close to a busy signal; or what you set was conditional forwarding with *71, which is cleared by the same *73 but is easy to forget about because the phone still rings normally before the call moves.

Can I set up forwarding without my phone?

Not with the star codes, which have to be dialled from the line itself. Forwarding can be managed from the My Verizon account instead, which is the route to use when the handset is lost, broken or out of battery.

Sources

Call Forwarding FAQs — VerizonVerizon's own wireless call forwarding codes (*72, *71, *73), the billing treatment of forwarded calls, and the limits on forwarding texts and international numbers.
Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication — Federal Communications CommissionThe STIR/SHAKEN framework, the attestation levels carriers sign calls with, and the mandate requiring providers to authenticate caller ID.

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