How to Make a Conference Call on Android

To make a conference call on Android, call the first person, tap Add call, dial the second person, and tap Merge once they answer. Both people are now on one call with you. It runs on your carrier’s calling service, so no app or data plan is needed.

You’re on the phone with one sibling and need to add another to sort out a holiday plan. Below are steps for Google’s and Samsung’s Phone apps; labels vary by phone and carrier.

What You Need Before You Start

A phone conference call on Android is really your carrier’s three-way or conference calling feature, shown through your Phone app. Your phone holds two or more separate calls and joins them, so a few things have to be in place:

• Carrier support. Many mobile plans include conference calling, but not all. Samsung’s Galaxy conference call page notes that some carriers require specific plans or services and that restrictions vary by carrier and region. If you’ve never used it, a quick check with your carrier saves guesswork.
• Your own phone line. The calls go over your carrier’s voice network. You don’t need Wi-Fi or mobile data for a standard merged call, though Wi-Fi Calling can carry it where your carrier supports that.
• A participant limit set by your carrier. Android itself doesn’t set the number. Many carriers allow several people, and some allow only one extra caller (a true three-way call). Your carrier’s support pages or customer service can tell you the limit on your plan.
• An idea of cost. Every number you dial is an outgoing call from your line, so any minutes, long-distance or international rates apply to each one according to your plan. The people you add are simply on a call with you.

It also helps to have the numbers ready in Contacts before you start. Searching for a number while someone waits on hold is the most common way these calls fall apart.

Which Phone App Do You Have?

The merge steps depend on the app that handles your calls, not on the Android version. A quick way to tell:

• Pixel phones use Google’s Phone app.
• Samsung Galaxy phones come with Samsung’s Phone app, which has its own look and menus.
• Other brands often ship with Google’s app, but some makers use their own dialer. If the call screen looks different from both descriptions below, look for buttons with the same names.

Google’s Phone app setup page says the app works on phones running Android 9 or later and can be installed from Google Play. When you open it for the first time, it asks to become the default phone app, and you tap Set as default to confirm. You don’t need to switch apps just to make a conference call, though; Samsung’s own app handles merging fine.

Merge Calls in the Google Phone App

Pixel phones and many other Android phones use Google’s Phone app (sometimes listed as Phone by Google). Imani is on the phone with her brother Marcus and wants to bring in their sister Joy:

1. Open the Phone app and call the first person (Marcus). Wait until he answers.
2. Tell him you’re adding someone, so he isn’t surprised by the pause.
3. On the call screen, tap Add call. The first call goes on hold, and Marcus hears silence or hold audio.
4. Dial the second person (Joy) or pick her from your contacts. Wait for her to answer and let her know who else will be on the line.
5. Tap the merge button. Google’s Phone app calling help calls it Call merge; on your screen it may simply read Merge.
6. Check the call screen. It should now show a single combined call, often labeled as a conference call, instead of one active call and one on hold.

Google’s same page lists the other in-call controls you’ll use around a merge: Hold to pause a conversation without hanging up, Switch to swap between two calls before merging them (the other call goes on hold), plus Mute, Speaker and Keypad. Google notes that some of these options depend on your carrier and device.

Merge Calls on a Samsung Galaxy Phone

Samsung phones use Samsung’s own Phone app, and the flow is almost identical. Samsung’s conference call setup page describes it this way:

1. Open the Phone app and go to Contacts (or the keypad).
2. Call the first person and wait for them to answer.
3. Tap Add call.
4. Find and call the second person.
5. When they answer, tap Merge.
6. To finish, tap the red end call icon.

Samsung’s pages are written for specific regional models, and menu placement can shift with One UI updates or carrier versions of the same phone. If Add call sits behind a menu on your screen, tap the three dots or the “more” area of the call screen to find it.

Add a Third or Fourth Person

Once two people are merged, adding more works the same way:

1. While the merged call is active, tap Add call again. The whole group goes on hold together.
2. Dial the next person and wait for them to answer.
3. Tap Merge (or Call merge) to bring them into the group.
4. Repeat until everyone is on or until Add call stops appearing, which usually means you’ve reached your carrier’s limit.

Keep the group waiting as briefly as you can. While you dial, everyone already on the call is on hold and can’t talk to each other, so a long hunt for a number makes people hang up.

Bring In Someone Who Calls You

You don’t have to place every call yourself. If Joy calls Imani while Imani is already talking to Marcus, Imani can answer the incoming call. Google’s help explains that answering a call while you’re on another one puts the current call on hold. With both calls now on the phone, tap Merge (or Call merge) to join them.

This depends on call waiting, which your carrier provides. If the second call goes straight to voicemail instead of ringing through, call waiting may be off or not included in your plan. Google’s page also notes that its Hold button is tied to a carrier service option, so it may be missing on some plans.

Talk to One Person Privately or Drop a Caller

Once calls are merged, what you can do with individual people depends on your phone and carrier. Neither Google’s nor Samsung’s help pages document these controls in detail, so treat this as a guide to what to look for:

• Look for a participants or manage option. On many phones, tapping the conference call name or an arrow on the call screen opens a list of the people on the call. Where it exists, that list usually lets you end one person’s call or split someone off for a private word.
• If there’s no such list, you can’t remove one person from your side. Ask that person to hang up; the rest of the call stays connected as long as you stay on.
• For a private chat before merging, use Switch (Google’s Phone app) or the swap control to move between the two separate calls. Each person waits on hold while you talk to the other.

End the Conference Call

You’re the host, because the calls run through your phone. That shapes how the call ends:

• When you tap the red end call button, the conference generally ends for everyone, since each person is connected only to you.
• When someone else hangs up, only their line drops. You and the others stay connected.
• If you need to step away without ending it, use Mute rather than hanging up.

Some carriers can keep the other parties connected after the host leaves. That’s a carrier setting, not an Android one, so don’t count on it unless your carrier confirms it.

If Merge Is Missing or Grayed Out

A Merge button that won’t appear or can’t be tapped usually points to one of these:

• The second call hasn’t connected yet. Merge only becomes available once the second person actually answers. If it’s still ringing, wait.
• The second call went to voicemail. If you hear a greeting, hang up that call before merging, or the voicemail recording joins the group. The first call stays on hold. (If you want to hear that message later, see how to check voicemail on Android.)
• Your plan doesn’t include conference calling. Ask your carrier to turn on three-way or conference calling.
• You’ve hit the carrier’s participant limit. Add call or Merge disappears once the group is full.
• The phone or Phone app needs an update. Install system updates in Settings and update the Phone app from the Play Store, then restart and try again.
• You’re on a call type that doesn’t support merging. Some calls placed through Wi-Fi Calling, video calls or third-party calling apps may not merge with regular calls, depending on the carrier.

Google’s Wi-Fi calling help puts that setting at Settings > Network & internet > SIMs > your carrier’s SIM > Wi-Fi calling on phones that use Google’s settings, and says that if you don’t see it, your carrier doesn’t support it. Samsung phones often place it in the Phone app’s settings instead. If calls fail entirely, not just merges, these fixes for an Android phone that won’t make calls cover SIM, network and carrier checks.

If the Call Drops When You Tap Merge

A merge asks the network to join several calls at once, so a weak connection shows up here first. If one person drops every time:

1. Move somewhere with better signal (near a window or outdoors) and try again.
2. If you’re on Wi-Fi Calling, try turning it off so the call uses the cellular network, or the reverse if your cellular signal is weak at home.
3. Call the person who dropped back yourself, then merge. Their call may have reached you on a route that doesn’t merge well.
4. If it keeps happening with one specific number, ask that person to call you instead, and merge their incoming call.

Avoid putting the merged group on hold or using Add call repeatedly while one connection is shaky. Each change is another chance for a weak line to drop.

Make the Call Easier to Hear

• Use earbuds or a headset if you’ll talk for a while. Speaker mode on a group call often causes echo for everyone else.
• Mute when you’re not talking, especially somewhere noisy. Background noise from one person is heard by the whole group.
• Say who’s joining each time you merge someone in, so nobody has to ask.
• Agree on a fallback. If the call drops, decide in advance that you (the host) will call everyone back, so three people don’t try to call each other at once.

Recording a Conference Call

In the Google Phone app, you can’t record a conference call you create: Google’s call recording page lists merged conference calls among the calls that can’t be recorded. Where recording is offered at all (supported phones, carriers and countries only; on Pixels, Pixel 6 or later on Android 14 or later), it works on ordinary one-to-one calls, and Google notes that many jurisdictions require consent from everyone on the call. Samsung phones have their own call recording settings where the feature is offered; if you need a record of a group call, ask everyone first and check what your phone allows.

When an Internet Call Works Better

A phone conference is ideal for a quick three- or four-person call where someone has only a basic phone or no data. It’s less handy for a larger group, a long meeting, or anyone abroad. In those cases an internet call is usually easier:

• Google Meet: Install Meet from Google Play, open it and tap New, then Create link, and share the link by text or email. Google’s Meet help for Android also covers scheduling a meeting in Google Calendar. People can join with video off for a voice-only feel.
• Messaging apps with group calls: If your group already chats in a messaging app such as WhatsApp, its group voice call is often the simplest option, and it uses data or Wi-Fi rather than minutes. Check the app’s own help for its participant limit.

Everyone needs a data connection and the same app for these, which is exactly what a regular phone conference avoids.

Conference Call Questions

Can I add someone who has an iPhone or uses a different carrier?

Generally yes. Only your phone and your carrier do the merging; everyone else is just on a normal call with you, so their phone type and carrier shouldn’t matter. International numbers can still be blocked or charged extra by your plan.

Will the people I add see my number?

Each person you dial sees your number unless you’ve hidden it, just as with any outgoing call. If that matters, here’s how to hide your number when calling on Android. Whether participants can see each other’s numbers depends on the carrier.

Can I transfer a call instead of merging it?

On some carriers and devices, yes. Google’s calling help describes tapping Add call during an active call, dialing the new number, and tapping Transfer once that call connects. You drop off and the other two stay connected.

Is there a time limit on a conference call?

Neither Google’s nor Samsung’s help pages mention one. Any limit would come from your carrier or plan, so check with them if you expect a very long call.

Try the merge once with a family member before you need it for something important. Thirty seconds of practice shows you exactly where Add call and Merge sit on your own phone.