Pixel 6 phones automatically decline incoming calls; causes remain unknown

If you are a Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro owner, you might want to check your unit for some problems. One specific issue being experienced by the users of the said phone models now is the automatic declining of some calls. There are no particular reasons or explanations for why it is happening, and (apparently) there are no known solutions for it. But one thing is for sure: it is not an isolated case, as many Pixel 6 users claim to experience said issue.

Pixel 6 Pro is declining calls from contacts without me knowing
byu/merryjaina inGooglePixel

People having the said problem voiced out their experiences on Reddit, where they found other users affirming that it is indeed happening to a lot of, if not all, Pixel 6 users. One user on the platform named u/merryjaina detailed that the issue occurs randomly.

“At least 4+ times a week, I’ll have someone tell me they tried to call me but I have no missed call notification,” the post reads. “When I check my call log, it says the call was declined which obviously I didn’t do. My phone is usually face up on my desk or table when this happens and I don’t even see the call come through.

“This is happening with contacts I have saved and not just unknown numbers. I’ll even ask the callers to call me again to test and it works so it’s not consistent.”

Other users reported that it happened multiple times a week. “My issue is calls that go straight to voicemail without ringing,” says a user named u/HWY20Gal. “It happened several times this week, and it wasn’t spam calls that are meant to go straight to voicemail, but calls from the doctor’s office to set up appointments and such. They weren’t declined, they just didn’t ring.”

In one post on Google’s support forums, a user named John 091999 said that it happened after the April update. “After the April update my Pixel 6 Pro sends all calls to voicemail,” the post reads. “I researched the issue on this forum and every thread that mentions it has been locked. Weird. I have found that a restart fixes the problem for a while then straight to voicemail creeps up again. I have also tried turning Bluetooth off then on again and this seems to work for a while too. Does anyone know what is causing the issue and if Google is planning a fix for it. I’ve missed a few important calls for work and if this doesn’t get resolved shortly I may be forced to move over to another phone maker.”

Meanwhile, others reported that making calls using their Pixel 6 phones is not a problem, but receiving calls is different. Users need to manually check the call logs and voice mails without notifications to receive. Others say that they used to experience it, though it never happened again.

The post from u/merryjaina, on the other hand, assures that unit isn’t using any other features of the phone that could be the cause of the problem. “I have filter spam calls turned off,” the post adds. “I have WiFi calling turned off. I have flipped to shhh turned off. DND is turned off. I’ve reset my network settings and always have a full signal. I made sure the contacts aren’t set to go straight to voicemail. My cell provider says it’s not on their end.”

As said, there is still no clear solution for the issue since the root cause remains unknown. For now, what Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pros owners with such encounters can do is to report the incidences to the developers via the Phone app’s Help & feedback.

In December last year, Google encountered almost the same issue due to complaints of dropped calls and disconnected calls. This pushed the company to pull its December firmware update for the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.