Fixing The Samsung Galaxy S4 Can’t Send Text Message Issue & Other Related Problems

Welcome to our focused troubleshooting series where we aim to resolve the #Samsung Galaxy #S4 can’t send text message issue and other related problems. As we all know, text messaging is a very important feature of a smartphone since it allows a person to easily communicate with others. While a person can also rely on the calling feature, what makes text messaging advantageous is that it can be done even when a person is in a noisy environment.

Samsung Galaxy S4

There are however instances when issues appear concerning the sending of text messages. This is what we will be troubleshooting in this latest troubleshooting installment.

If you would like to browse the previous parts in this series then check out this link.  

Fixing The Samsung Galaxy S4 Can’t Send Text Message Issue & Other Related Problems

S4 Can’t Send Text Message

Problem: changed from Verizon to Walmart Family Plan. Phone is unlocked and has new sim. I can receive text messages but not send them. I also changed the APN settings to Walmart or Tmobile. Just tried a Factory reset and didn’t help. Any ideas?

Solution: The most likely reason why you can’t send a text message is that your phone is still using the message center number of Verizon. This is a number that is unique to every carrier and is where your text messages are sent to first before reaching its destination. The message center is responsible for routing your text message to the correct recipient and if the recipient is unavailable will store this message and send it when the recipient is available.

To change the message center number of your phone go to the dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. If all goes well you should be brought to a hidden menu setting on your phone. Select phone then scroll all the way down to SMSC. Make sure to change this to the number T-Mobile is using which is +12063130004. You can also access this message center number from the messaging settings of your phone.

S4 Text Message Sending Sometimes Does Not Work

Problem: I recently bought a Samsung galaxy 4S after having an LG android through tracfone. I activated the galaxy through tracfone with the BYOP program and seemed to be having problems with texting. Sometimes it does it right away, sometimes I have to try over and over to certain people. I also can’t get images sent to be by text, it requires a download and when I click it is shows it is downloading, but just keeps going thru the motions, with no result. I have never had a fancy smart phone like this, so I feel like a complete moron on how to find anything or know what to do. I never had a problem with any of this with my cheesy LG android. I just want to be able to do what I did before. I also can’t get online unless I am at home . I could get online anywhere with the cheesy phone. I wanted a nicer phone and just want it to work. Any help would be a appreciated. It does have all the AT and T programs on it, even though I hooked it up with tracfone.

Solution: The first thing you need to check in this case is if your phone is getting a good signal from your carrier. You mentioned that your phone will sometimes send a message quickly, probably because there is a good signal reception. There are also times when the message does not send at all, probably due to poor signal reception. Try to determine first if this issue occurs in one particular area or if it occurs in any area you may be at.

To resolve this issue sometimes a restart is what is needed. Turn your phone off then turn it back on again. This resets your phone connection to the network and helps in this case.

There are also cases when an app you download may be causing this problem. To check if this is the case you should start your phone in Safe Mode. Once in this mode only the pre-installed apps are allowed to run while the apps you downloaded are disabled. If the issue does not occur in this mode then chances are it is caused by a downloaded app. You need to find out what app this is and uninstall it.

Regarding your problem with not getting the pictures from text message you should first check if you have an active mobile data subscription and make sure your phone mobile switch is on. You should also make sure that your phone APN settings matches the one Tracfone is using.

S4 Text Message Will Not Send

Problem: I have just about the same problems like others have described. If my phone completely dies, my texts will not send unless I call someone, then have someone call me. Then they will start working again. Problem started as soon as my phone was unlocked from Verizon.

Solution: This issue may be caused by some form of corrupt data. Try clearing the cache and data of the messaging app and see if this resolves the problem. You should also follow this up by wiping the cache partition of your phone.

There are also instances when an app you downloaded can cause this type of problem. To check if this is the case you should start your phone in Safe Mode. In this mode only the pre-installed apps are allowed to run while the third party apps are disabled. If the issue does not occur in this mode then it’s most likely caused by a third party app. Do a trial and error method in determining what app is causing this issue and uninstall it.

As a final troubleshooting step if the above fails you should back up your phone data and do a factory reset.

S4 Sends I’m Driving Now Text Message

Problem: Hi, My phone was really slow and messages weren’t coming in till hours later so I did a factory reset on my Samsung s4. Now when I’m in a car, as a passenger or driver, my phone sends a message to the person I’m texting that’s says “I’m am driving now” whenever I look at a message or after I send a message. I can’t figure out how to turn this off. Any ideas?

Solution: If you are under the AT&T network then this is probably caused by the AT&T DriveMode app installed in your phone. What this app does is it detects if you are  moving at 25 mph. It then sends out a reply to incoming text messages informing your friends that you are driving.

If you are on any other network then you can turn off driving mode by going to Settings>Voice Input and Output>Text-to-speech settings> Uncheck driving mode.

S4 Can’t Send Text Message At Work

Problem: After walking into work, the data plan automatically turns off and I cannot text or call. I can connect to wifi at work, but texting still is not working. Leaving work, the phone must be restarted to correctly work. This only happens at work. Previously the phone functioned at work.

Solution: Try to check if you are getting a data signal in your work area. If you don’t have any data signal then this may be the reason why you can’t text. Try changing the network mode of your phone and see which works best in your work area. The choices are LTE/GSM/WCDMA (auto connect), GSM/WCDMA (auto connect), GSM only or WCDMA only. I suggest you try out LTE/GSM/WCDMA (auto connect) first.

Regarding the issue where your phone needs to be rebooted first to work correctly once you leave your work area this may be caused by some form of corrupt data. Try wiping the cache partition of your phone and check if this resolves the problem.

S4 Not Sending Receiving MMS

Problem: I just bought a Galaxy S4, Model SM-S975L, used the BYOP activation through Tracfone/StraightTalk on the AT&T network. Everything seems to be fine except for sending and receiving MMS, which I see seems to be an all too common issue. I have double checked the APN settings that Straight Talk is giving me, as well as tried numerous variations I’ve found in different troubleshooting forums with none successful so far. The one given by ST is:

  • APN RESELLER
  • MMSC https://mmsc.mobile.att.net
  • MMS PROXY proxy.mobile.att.net
  • MMS PORT 80
  • MMS_APN RESELLER

Any suggestions? Thanks guys

Solution: You should first make sure that you have an active mobile data subscription and that your phone mobile data switch is on. Next, make sure our phone has the correct APN settings.

For Straight Talk under AT&T the settings are

  • Name: straight talk
  • APN: tfdata
  • MMSC: https://mms-tf.net
  • MMS proxy: mms3.tracfone.com
  • MMS port: 80
  • MCC: 310
  • MNC: 410

For Straight Talk under T-Mobile the settings are

  • Name: straight talk
  • APN: wap.tracfone
  • Port: 8080
  • MMSC: https://mms.tracfone.com
  • MMS Proxy:  Leave blank
  • MMS Port: Leave blank

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5 thoughts on “Fixing The Samsung Galaxy S4 Can’t Send Text Message Issue & Other Related Problems”

  1. My phone is getting real hot, but also I cannot send a text message and I can only get messages from one person and the same message has came through 28 time I have rebooted and tried everything. Now I am getting texts multiple times that are very old texts.

  2. my sister has an Iphone.I have a Samsung S4.My phone was originally with TMobile, I unlocked it and now am with AT&T.We can call and talk to one another,but we can’t text each other.My text does not say failed when I send one,she just doesn’t receive it. The only other text problem that I have is responding to Walgreens to enable the to send me a text when my rx.is ready,when I text them,it always says “failed”.Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

  3. I have a galaxy s4 active .in my mgsing the ppl im textin all their mgs r on the lefted side and when i text back mine go to top on right side.

  4. I have a samsung galaxy s4. someone of my messages come through with what looks like an email address, example: when i receive at text message, instead of it coming through with a phone number, it will have the number and then @txt.att.net. this only seems to happen to the same few contacts in my phone and when I try to reply, it fails to send. I tried enabling wifi calling and it says “error invalid SIM”. We now are using family mobile which I believe uses the t-mobile towers. Im not sure if i am looking in the right direction to try and correct this or if I should be trying something else. If you could let me know how to fix this, it would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

  5. I can’t access the message center as you describe on my s4 phone is there any other way ?

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