What to do if you cannot send or receive messages on your Motorola Moto G5 (easy steps)

Deemed as one of the best budget smartphones in 2017, Motorola’s 5-inch octa-core handset, the Moto G5 is packed with much tech along with good performance and jazzed up design. Overall it’s a fantastic device but just like any others not perfect. Evident of this are the number of Moto G5 users raising complaints regarding various issues from battery draining, calling, and texting.

In this post, we will tackle one of the most prevalent problems faced by many owners of the Moto G5 handset and that is with texting. If you too are having troubles sending or receiving texts (SMS) or picture messages (MMS) on the same Motorola phone, then this content might be able to help you out. Read on and find out what causes this problem to occur and what needs to be done in order to fix them.

For smartphone owners who found our site while trying to find a solution, try to see if your phone is one of the devices we support. If it is, then visit the troubleshooting page for that device, browse through it to find issues that are similar with yours and feel free to use our solutions and workarounds. However, if you still need our help after that, then fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Why can’t you send or receive SMS or MMS messages on your Moto G5?

Texting problems in mobile devices are often attributed to network errors like when using your device in an area that is already out of your network coverage. Another network-related factor that can cause unavailable or inaccessible network is an outage, either due to scheduled maintenance or sudden technical problems affecting network bases, cellular towers, and network systems. Other people who have encountered similar issue with sending or receiving texts or picture messages found out that the problem was due to a busted SIM card. Incorrect configuration of message settings is also a possible factor to blame especially when the problem started to surface right after altering some options and settings on the phone. Software bugs like faulty updates and bad apps installation can also inflict errors to your phone’s messaging functions.

Potential solutions to fix SMS and MMS problems on your Moto G5

As you can see, there’s a lot of things that you need to consider when dealing with messaging problems not only on the Moto G5 but also with other smartphones out there, Android or iOS. To deal with this issue, I have compiled a rundown of possible solutions and applicable workarounds for you to refer to when you need help in the troubleshooting process.

Before you begin, verify and ensure that your device is connected to your cellular network and that it is getting good signal strength. If not, then you’ll need to deal with network issues first. Otherwise, start whenever you’re all set to troubleshoot software problems your Motorola Moto G5.

First solution: Quit and restart your Messaging app.

The Moto G5 comes with pre-installed messaging apps including Hangouts and Messaging app. If you are using Hangouts as your default messaging app and this is the first time you have trouble sending or receiving SMS or MMS messages, then try to quit the app and then re-launch or open it again. Doing so will refresh the app and clears any minor glitches affecting the app’s functions. Here’s how to force close or quit Hangouts app on your Moto G5:

  1. Touch the All Apps icon from the Home screen.
  2. Touch Settings
  3. Scroll down and touch Apps.
  4. Touch to select Hangouts from the list of apps.
  5. Touch Force Stop.
  6. Then touch OK to confirm.

Go back to the Main/Start screen and then try to launch the Hangouts app again. Create a test message and see if you can now send and receive messages.

Second solution: Restart your phone (soft reset).

A simple restart often resolves minor errors and software issues in mobile devices. It’s possible that your messaging app is glitching and this glitch has prevented the app from performing its main functions to send and receive messages. To make sure this isn’t the case, try to restart your device. For starters, here’s how a soft reset or reboot is done on your Moto G5:

  1. Press and hold the Power button.
  2. Touch Power Off option then tap OK.
  3. Wait for about 30 seconds then press and hold down the Power button again until the device powers on.

When it’s booted up, launch your messaging app then try to see if it’s already working.

If the problem persists after the first restart, then give it another shot probably 3-5 times utmost and see if it yields positive results.

Third solution: Clear app cache and data.

Clearing the app cache wipes out temporary files and frees up memory without affecting your personal settings or information but clearing the app data does. Both these clearing methods are helpful when it comes to eliminating bad segments or corrupted files in the app’s memory that might have caused you this problem. Here’s to clear the messaging app cache and data on your Moto G5:

  1. Tap the All Apps icon from the Main screen.
  2. Scroll to and tap Settings.
  3. Tap Apps.
  4. Swipe to the All tab.
  5. Scroll to and tap the Messaging app you are using.
  6. Tap Clear Cache to wipe out temporary files from the app’s memory.
  7. Tap Clear Data to wipe data stored in the app’s memory.

Once you’re done clearing cache and data from the messaging app, restart your phone and then launch the app again to test of you are now able to send and receive messages as intended.

Fourth solution: Check and install software updates.

Software updates also contain bug fixes. If ever the problem you’re dealing with is inflicted by some bugs, then installing an update will likely fix it. To check for over-the-air (OTA) updates on your Moto G5, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Start/Main screen and then drag the All Apps icon.
  2. Scroll down to and touch Settings.
  3. Select About phone.
  4. Tap System Updates.

If you see an update notification, follow the onscreen instructions to install the software update. Otherwise, your device’s software is up to date.

When the update is successfully installed, reboot your phone then try to see if your messaging app is already working properly.

Other options

  • Delete suspicious messages. There are messages that embed some malware. The moment you received or open the message, the malware would start to penetrate the messaging system and eventually ruin its functions. If you receive any unusual messages like those from unknown senders with links in them, then that might be the culprit.
  • Manually configure APN settings. APN settings are configured automatically by default and it’s supposed to work. However, things can go wrong eventually so you may need to configure these settings on your device manually. The APN settings may vary between the type of devices and platforms (OS) they’re running on. To ensure you’re using the correct APN settings for your device, be sure to contact your carrier for further verifications.
  • Switch to other messaging apps. To determine whether or not the problem is isolated to the current messaging app you’re using, try to switch to a different messaging app. If you can send and receive SMS and MMS using a different app, then it clearly denotes that the previous app is at fault.
  • Service/repair. If you still cannot send and receive SMS or MMS using any other messaging apps, then it’s likely a more intricate system error or hardware damage. At this point, your last best option is a factory reset (master reset), if not tech service or hardware repair.

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