Google Pixels just got a voicemail feature I’ve wanted for months — here’s how to use it

Ever since it debuted on the Pixel 10 series last August, Take a Message has quickly become one of my favorite recent Pixel features. Essentially Google’s modern take on the voicemail box, Take a Message answers missed calls for you, shows real-time transcriptions, and makes those transcripts easy to read after the fact on the Phone app’s Home page. It’s great.

However, there’s just been one problem with the feature. Take a Message greets callers with a standard “The person you have called is not available, please leave a message after the tone,” with no option to create a custom greeting. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

First things first, you’ll need a Pixel phone that supports Take a Message. As of April 2026, this requires a Pixel 6 or newer, with the full list being as follows:

• Pixel 6/6 Pro
• Pixel 6a
• Pixel 7/7 Pro
• Pixel 7a
• Pixel Fold
• Pixel 8/8 Pro
• Pixel 8a
• Pixel 9/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold
• Pixel 9a
• Pixel 10/10 Pro/10 Pro XL/10 Pro Fold
• Pixel 10a

Next, you need the latest version of the Google Phone app. We spotted custom Take a Message greetings in version 217 of the Google Phone beta, though it’s also reported to be live in version 216. Importantly, at the time of publication, custom greetings appear to be available only in the beta version of Google Phone. If you haven’t already joined the beta, you can do so for free.

If you have a compatible Pixel, have joined the Google Phone beta, and have the app updated to the latest available version, you’re ready to get started.

Assuming you have all the above handled, you should see a pop-up for Take a Message at the very top of the Phone app (the one shown in the photo above). Just tap Try it out, and you’ll be guided through setting up your custom greeting.

If you don’t see this pop-up or accidentally dismissed it, you can also find custom Take a Message greetings by following these steps:

1. Tap the three lines in the top-left corner of the Phone app.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Take a Message.
4. Tap Manage greetings.

Whether you follow this path or access it via the pop-up, the Greetings page shows your “Standard greeting” (the default) at the top. To record your own custom greeting, tap the circular microphone button near the bottom of the page. You’ll see a three-second countdown before it starts recording, and then you’re free to record your custom greeting, with a maximum recording time of one minute. Conveniently, you can tap the pause button at any point to temporarily pause your recording and then pick up where you left off. While paused, you can tap Restart to start over again or Save to finish your recording.

You can have multiple custom greetings saved and swap them in and out whenever you’d like. If you tap the three dots on a custom greeting, you’ll see additional options to set it as the default, rename it, and delete it.

And that’s all there is to it! This is something I wish Take a Message had shipped with originally, but it’s still great to finally see it in action.