Troubleshooting Galaxy J7 that wonāt send / receive SMS
When it comes to SMS, there are a few things you have to consider to determine what causes the problem and whether or not you can do something about it. Follow our step-by-step troubleshooting guides below to try to fix the problem you might have with your J7.
Fixing Galaxy J7 that canāt send SMS
Among the things you have to consider when your phone can no longer send a text message are the following:
- Account standing and credit
- Signal strength
- Changed settings
- Messaging app problem
- Firmware issues
Based on these things, hereās what you need to do:
Step 1: Power-cycle your device
If itās the first time the problem occurred, reboot your Galaxy J7 first. Glitches happen all the time and not being able to send SMS is just one of the results. Donāt do anything complex yet, instead, try to restart your device. Once the phone is up and running, compose a test message and then send it to your own number. If you can receive it, then it was sent successfully. Problem solved!
However, if the test message didnāt go through, then continue troubleshooting your device.
Step 2: Check the signal bars
The phone must be connected to your providerās cellular network to be able to send and receive SMS and the signal indicator on the top-right portion of your phoneās display says it all. If it shows thereās only one or two bars of signal, it could be reason why the phone cannot send the message as it will take too long for the device to transmit it to the point that the system will cancel the process.
Of course, if youāre in an area with bad reception, you should consult your provider as it often has a solution for such problem. In this case, also, it may not be the first time the problem happened so at this point, you should already know what the problem really is and who to turn to to work around it.
However, if the phone shows thereās a decent signal reception and you still canāt send SMS, then the next step may give you an idea what to do.
Step 3: Check the Message Center Number
When it comes to sending text messages, the Message Center Number is as important as the signal because without it, the phone cannot transmit the text message despite having excellent signal. So, try to check if your device still has the number and if itās correct. Follow these steps to verify:
- From any Home screen, tap Messages.
- Tap the MORE icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap More settings.
- Tap Text messages.
- View the number under Message center.
If you canāt find a series of number in that field or if there is one but you donāt know if itās correct or not, try to google your providerās center number and enter it on your phone. Or, you may call your provider and ask about it.
Step 4: Reset your phoneās messaging app
After verifying that your device has the correct Message Center Number, itās time to go after the messaging app youāre using. If youāve installed one from the Play Store, then try disabling or uninstalling it and then re-enable Messages. After that, try sending a test message to your own number and if the problem persists, try these steps:
- From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Applications.
- Tap Application manager.
- Tap Messages.
- Tap Storage.
- Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
- Tap Clear cache.
To uninstall an app, hereās what you have to do:
- From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Applications.
- Tap Application manager.
- Tap the desired application
- Tap Uninstall.
- Tap Uninstall again to confirm.
Step 5: Perform Factory Reset on your Galaxy J7
If steps 1 through 4 failed to fix the problem, then you have left with no other choice but to reset your phone, however, before doing it, make sure you backup all your important files and data as theyāll all be deleted. Then, follow these steps to do the reset:
- Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
- From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Backup and reset.
- If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
- If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
- Tap Factory data reset.
- Tap Reset device.
- If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
- Tap Continue.
- Tap Delete all.
Step 6: Call your providerās tech support
Actually, you can do this before the first step. The reason why I intentionally placed it at the end of the guide is because, you may have to wait several minutes on the line for the rep to pick up your call and may just be told to reset your phone. But since everything failed, itās time to pick up your phone (the other phone) and call tech support.
Fixing Galaxy J7 that canāt receive SMS
If your phone can send out text messages but canāt receive them, here are the things you need to consider:
- Storage left on your phoneās internal memory
- Incorrect time and/or date
- Messaging app crashing
- Firmware issue
Based on these things, hereās what I suggest you do to try to fix the problem:
Step 1: Send a test message to your number to verify
As soon as you suspect your phoneās not receiving text messages from friends, verify immediately if your suspicion is true by composing a text message and sending it to your own number.
If you can receive you own message, then thereās nothing wrong with your phone, maybe your friends havenāt responded to your messages yet.
However, if the message did go through but your phone didnāt receive it, then continue with your troubleshooting.
Step 2: Reboot your Galaxy J7
Thereās always the possibility that itās just a minor glitch in the system. So, before you do some complex troubleshooting procedures, make sure you reboot your phone first. Itās safe and easy to do but very effective in fixing issues that happen without apparent reason.
Step 3: Check the how much storage is left
Text messages are very small in size but if you have hundreds of them, they sure will take up some storage. So, check if your phone still has enough storage left because if not, then the reason why you canāt receive text messages is because your device cannot download them. Remember that text messages are saved in your phoneās internal storage. So, in this case, try to transfer your files, data, pictures and some apps to your microSD card to free up some space in your phoneās internal storage. After this, the messages should be received.
Step 4: Check the Time and Date of your phone
If your phone played the message alert tone and you canāt find the message anywhere, then your phone may have set with a wrong time and/or date.
You may set your device to use the automatic time and date or you can just set the correct one. After this, the messages that were received will still be arranged the same way but new ones will surely be arranged in chronological order and are easier to find as they will be visible immediately when you open your inbox.
Step 5: Clear cache and data of messaging app
Whether youāre getting an error message or not, itās recommended you clear the cache and data of the messaging app to reset it.
- From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
Step 6: If all else fails, do the Master Reset
In the first problem, I suggested you do the Factory Reset but in this case, you should do the Master Reset. Itās basically just like the typical reset but it also reformats both the cache and data partitions and gets rid of possibly corrupt cache and data.
- Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
- Press and hold the Volume Up button and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
- When the Android logo displays, release all keys (āInstalling system updateā will show for about 30 ā 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
- Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight āwipe data / factory reset.ā
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until āYes ā delete all user dataā is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, āReboot system nowā is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
I hope this helps.
Source:thedroidguy.com