Voicemail: Press #3 to Rerecord

David Pogue
·Tech Critic
Updated

You’re leaving a voicemail message for someone, and you mess up. Or maybe you’ve just said, “Dude—Your behavior at lunch was appalling,” and you realize that a more tactful wording might be appropriate.

Or you change your mind about leaving a message altogether.

All you have to do is press the # key on your phone.

At this point, a voice gives you three options:

  • Press 1 to play your message back so you can hear it.

  • Press 2 to continue recording. (In other words, the # is a great “Pause” key; it holds the recording while you think.)

  • Press 3 to erase your voicemail. You can start over again if you like, but you don’t have to. 

Impressively enough, all four U.S. cellphone carriers—Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile—treat the # keystroke exactly the same way, and offer exactly the same options when you press it.

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Adapted from Pogue’s Basics, Flatiron Books. Order here.