Screen your calls before you answer them

You can use Call Screen to find out who’s calling and why before you pick up a call. Call Screen works on your device and doesn't use Wi-Fi or mobile data. Calls answered by the Google Assistant incur carrier call minutes. Learn how Call Screen works with your data.

Where Call Screen is available

You can screen calls automatically on all Pixel phones in the US.

You can screen calls manually on Pixel phones in these countries:

• Australia
• Canada 
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Spain
• UK
• US

Tip: Manual Call Screen is also available in the US and Canada on selected Android devices.

Tip: Manual Call Screen only works with a SIM card from the countries where Call Screen is available.

Set up automatic call screening

Important: Call Screen doesn’t work with third-party call recording and screen recording apps. We recommend you turn off these apps before you use Call Screen.

1. Make sure you have the latest version of the Phone app. If you see Update, tap it.
2. Open the Phone app .
3. Tap More   Settings  Spam and Call Screen.
4. Make sure See caller and spam ID is turned on.
5. Tap Call Screen.
6. Under “Unknown call settings,” tap the types of callers you’d like to screen.
7. To screen automatically, choose Automatically screen. Decline robocalls. Otherwise, choose from:
   • Ring phone
   • Automatically screen. Decline robocalls.
   • Silently decline
8. Optional: To save audio from screened calls, turn on Save Call Screen audio.
   • If you turn on "Save Call Screen audio," only what the caller says gets recorded. The audio your phone plays to the caller isn’t recorded. If you pick up, your call isn’t recorded.

Screen calls automatically

Important: If you use headphones or if your phone is connected to Bluetooth, your phone won’t automatically screen calls.

1. Turn on Automatically screen. Decline robocalls.
2. When someone calls and is screened, you’ll get a silent “Screening an unknown call” notification.
   • Optional: To answer or hang up, swipe down on the notification and tap Answer or Decline.
3. Your Google Assistant answers the call and asks who's calling and why.
   • If the Assistant determines the call is a robocall or spam call, your phone hangs up.
   • If the Assistant determines the call isn't a robocall or spam call, your phone rings and shows you how the caller responded.
   • Your phone stops playing media, like videos or music, while it screens the call.

Screen calls manually

1. When you get a call, tap Screen call.
2. Your Google Assistant screens the call and ask who's calling and why. You'll get a real-time transcript of how the caller responds.
3. Once the caller responds, you can choose a suggested response, pick up the call, or hang up. Here are some responses and what the caller hears:
   • Is it urgent?: “Do you need to get a hold of them urgently?”
   • Report as spam: “Please remove this number from your mailing and contact list. Thanks, and goodbye.”
   • I'll call you back: “They can’t talk right now, but they'll give you a call later. Thanks, and goodbye.”
   • I can't understand: "It's difficult to understand you at the moment. Could you repeat what you just said?”

Can't find option to screen calls manually

If you can't manually screen calls, you may need to follow additional steps to enable Call Screen.

1. Open the Phone app .
2. Tap More   Settings  Call Screen.
3. To set up Call Screen, follow the steps on screen.
   • If there are no steps to follow on screen, your device doesn't work with Call Screen.

Get transcripts & recordings for screened calls

All screened calls will save a transcript of the screening on your phone. You can have your Pixel phone also save recordings.

1. Turn on Save Call Screen audio.
2. Open the Phone app .
3. Tap Recents.
4. Tap the screened call.
5. Tap Transcript or Transcript and audio. If you don't see those options, tap History See transcript.
6. Optional: To delete the transcript and recording, touch and hold the screened call. Then, tap Delete .

How Call Screen works

• Call Screen uses contacts stored on your phone to determine whether to screen a call. If you don’t want a number to be screened, save the number as a contact.
• Your phone can detect robocalls and spam calls from numbers in Google’s spam database. But not all spam calls and robocalls can be detected.
• When Call Screen is turned on, your phone won’t save screened call information to your Google Account, your Google Assistant Activity page, or to Web and App Activity.
• If you use call forwarding, don’t use automatic call screening. Screened calls won’t be forwarded.
• Call Screen won't always be able to fully understand and transcribe what a caller said.
• Learn more about how Call Screen works.