How to fix Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order | SMS displayed out of order, not shown on top

Hello Android community! In this troubleshooting article, we’ll show you how to fix a common texting issue. The issue we’re talking about here is regarding texts being displayed in wrong order on the Galaxy Note10+. If new texts appear at the bottom or in the middle of your older texts or simply not in order (that is, not on top of the list), this article should help.

How to fix Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order | SMS displayed out of order

If incoming texts are in wrong order on your Galaxy Note10+, the most likely reason for that is incorrect date and time. Simply turn automatic date and time feature on and the issue should go away. However, if that won’t work, you must check other factors that can possibly cause the problem as well. Here’s how to do that:

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #1: Check system date and time

The most common reason why your Galaxy Note10+ may be showing texts in wrong order is incorrect system date and time. This usually occurs if a user won’t use the network’s date and time, or if a user manually modify date and time incorrectly. By default, messaging apps display the newest incoming texts on top and the oldest at the bottom. If your device has incorrect date and time, the messaging app will sort the messages incorrectly.

To ensure that your Note10+ has the correct date and time, follow these steps:

 

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap General management.
3. Tap Date and time.
4. Turn on Automatic date and time.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #2: Force quit messaging app

If your Galaxy Note10+ has the correct date and time all along, or if nothing happened after changing date and time, the next move that you want to do is to restart the text message app. There are two ways to restart an app.

Method 1: Close an app using Recent Apps key

1. On your screen, tap the Recent Apps soft key (the one with three vertical lines on the left of the Home button).
2. Once the Recent Apps screen is shown, swipe left or right to look for the app. It should be here if you managed to run it previously.
3. Then, swipe up on the app to close it. This should force close it. If it’s not there, simply tap the Close All app to also restart all apps.

Method 2: Close an app using App Info menu

Another way to force close an app is by going within the app’s settings itself. It’s a longer way compared to the first method above but it’s equally effective. You want to use this method if you plan on doing other troubleshooting for the said app like clearing its cache or data. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap the More settings icon (three-dot icon, upper right).
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find and tap the app.
6. Tap Force Stop.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #3: Clear app cache or data

If your Galaxy Note10+ still shows texts in wrong order, try to see if clearing the cache of the messaging app will work. This can work if the reason for the bug is caused by a corrupted or bad cache. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Go to the Home screen.
2. Tap Apps icon.
3. Open Settings app.
4. Tap Apps.
5. If you’re looking for a system or default app, tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
6. Select Show system apps.
7. Find and tap the appropriate app.
8. Tap Storage.
9. Tap Clear cache button.
10. Restart the device and check for the problem.

If clearing the app cache won’t work, proceed by deleting its data. This will return the messaging app to its original settings or defaults. To avoid losing your texts, make sure that you create a backup of them first. You can use Smart Switch for that. If you are using the default Samsung Messages app, you can also opt to use Samsung cloud to back them up.

1. To clear an app data:
2. Go to the Home screen.
3. Tap Apps icon.
4. Open Settings app.
5. Tap Apps.
6. If you’re looking for a system or default app, tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
7. Select Show system apps.
8. Find and tap the appropriate app.
9. Tap Storage.
10. Tap Clear data button.
11. Restart the device and check for the problem.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #4: Reboot device

Another troubleshooting step that you can do in this case is restart your Note10+. It’s usually effective in fixing issues caused by minor bugs. Try restarting it normally first by pressing the Power button to access the boot menu. Then, select Restart option and see if that works.

Another way to restart the device is by pressing and holding the Volume Down button and the Bixby/Power key at the same time for 10 seconds or until the device’s screen turns on. This simulates the effect of having disconnected the battery from the device. If this works, this may unlock the device.

If doing the regular restart won’t help, then try this:

1. Press and hold the Volume Down button first and don’t release it.
2. While holding it down, press and hold the Power key.
3. Keep both keys held down for 10 seconds or more. 

The second restart procedure tries to simulate the effects of removing the battery pack. On older devices, disconnecting the battery is often an effective way in fixing unresponsive devices. If nothing changed though, proceed to the next suggestions.

Rebooting your device regularly at least once every week can be beneficial. If you tend to forget things, we suggest that you configure your phone to reboot on its own. You can schedule it to do this task by doing these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Device Care.
3. Tap the 3-dot at the top.
4. Select Auto restart.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #5: Reset network settings

Some network or texting issues are caused by incorrect network configuration. Such a situation may sometimes occur when changing SIM cards, switching to another carrier, when using Roaming, or when there’s system-wide changes. To ensure that your phone’s network settings are correct, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap General management.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Tap Reset network settings.
5. Tap Reset settings to confirm.

If you did change the SIM card before this issue occurred, we suggest that you remove the SIM card  to refresh the connection. Follow these steps to disconnect your SIM card from your device.

1. Turn off your Galaxy Note10+. This is important. Removing a SIM while the device is on may result to corrupted data.
2. With your phone’s screen facing you, remove the card tray. You can use the insertion/removal tool (or a paperclip) to unlock the tray by inserting it into the provided slot. This small hole should be visible on the top part of your device.  
3. Remove the SIM card from the tray. You can lift the card up from the bottom. To assist, use the opening on the opposite side of the tray to dislodge (using a fingernail or similar tool).
4. Reinsert the card tray.
5. Press in on the tray to lock it into place.
6. That’s it!

Once you’ve removed the SIM card from the device, wait for a few moments before re-inserting it. This has the effect of refreshing the system without the old cellular settings. Once the SIM card is re-inserted and phone restarted, your network’s configuration should be added automatically. 

If you have another phone that can work with your network, you can also try to insert the SIM card to it. This will help you check if there’s an issue with the SIM card itself. If the problem returns when you use the SIM card in the second device, you either have an issue with the SIM or with the network. Try getting a new SIM card to see if it’s the SIM or the network.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #6: Try another app

If texts are still displayed in the wrong order, the next good move is to install a second messaging app on your Galaxy Note10+ and nominate it as the default. You can get messaging app from the Play Store for free for this purpose. If you have no idea which app to use, try the Google Android Messages app.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #7: Check for bad app

Another possible reason for your problem can come from another app. Some third party apps may be poorly coded which can create bugs that may affect other apps. To check if that’s the case, try booting the phone to safe mode. All third apps, that is, apps that you added on top of the original ones that came with the software, won’t be allowed to run on safe mode. They will all be greyed out so you won’t be able to launch them. So, if your Note10+ will show texts in correct order on safe mode only, that can mean that one of the apps is to blame.

To restart your Samsung Galaxy Note10+ to safe mode:

1. With your device turned on, press and hold the Power button until the Power off menu appears then release.
2. Touch and hold Power off until the Safe mode prompt appears then release.
3. To confirm, tap Safe mode.
4. The process may take up to 30 seconds to complete.
5. Upon reboot, “Safe mode” should appear in the lower-left of the home screen.
6. Check for the problem.

Safe Mode may be a useful trick in checking for a problem but it won’t pinpoint the exact app. In order to identify which of your apps may be behind the problem, you’ll have to do a process of elimination. Here’s what you need to do exactly:

1. Boot Galaxy Note10+ to safe mode.
2. Check for the problem.
3. If the issue returns or once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps one by one. You’ll need to do spend some time doing this if you have plenty of apps installed. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added. 
4. It’s important that you only uninstall a single app at a time. After removing an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem again.
5. If your Galaxy Note10+ is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4 until the rogue app has been identified.

Keep in mind that there’s no shortcut to knowing which app is bad or buggy. Just be patient and keep repeating the cycle above if the problem returns after removing one app. Once the issue stops, the most recent app you deleted must be the culprit. Be sure not to re-install the bad app. You can add the rest of the apps you deleted previously afterwards.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #8: Wipe cache partition

If the problem started after installing a new app or update, there may be an issue with the system cache. To ensure that the system cache is refreshed, you want to clear the cache partition where it’s being kept. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Turn off the device. This is important as your device won’t boot to Recovery Mode when it’s on.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby / Power key.
3. Once the Android Recovery screen comes up, release the buttons.
4. Use the Volume Down button until you are highlighting ‘Wipe cache partition.’
5. Press the Power button to select ‘Wipe cache partition.’
6. Use Volume Down to highlight Yes.
7. Press the Power button to confirm the action to clear the cache.
8. Wait for a second as the system wipes the cache.
9. Press the Power button again to reboot the device. This will return the device to the normal interface.
10. That’s it!

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #9: Factory reset

The final troubleshooting that you can perform on your device at this point is factory reset. This will help you tell if there’s a unique software bug in your Note10+ that prevents its network functions from working properly. Just be sure to create a backup of your files first to avoid losing them.

Below are the two ways to factory reset your Note10+:

Method 1: How to hard reset on Samsung Galaxy Note10+ via Settings Menu

This is the easiest way to wipe your Galaxy Note10+. all you have to do is to go under Settings menu and follow the steps below. We recommend this method if you have no trouble going under Settings.

1. Create a backup of your personal data and remove your Google account.
2. Open Settings app.
3. Scroll to and tap General management.
4. Tap Reset.
5. Select Factory data reset from the given options.
6. Read the information then tap Reset to continue.
7. Tap Delete All to confirm action.

Method 2: How to hard reset on Samsung Galaxy Note10+ using hardware buttons

If your case is that the phone is not booting up, or it boots but Settings menu is inaccessible, this method can be helpful. First, you need to boot the device to Recovery Mode. Once you successfully access Recovery, that’s the time that you begin proper master reset procedure. It may take some tries for you before you can access Recovery so be patient and simply try again.

1. If possible, create a backup of your personal data ahead of time. If your problem prevents you from doing that, then simply skip this step.
2. Also, you want to make sure that you remove your Google account. If your problem prevents you from doing that, then simply skip this step.
3. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
4. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby / Power key.
5. When the green Android logo displays, release both keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
6. The Recovery screen menu will now appear. When you see this, release the buttons.
7. Use the Volume Down button until you are highlighting ‘Wipe data/factory reset.’
8. Press the Power button to select ‘Wipe data/factory reset.’
9. Use Volume Down to highlight Yes.
10. Press the Power button to confirm the action to clear your phone data.

Galaxy Note10+ texts in wrong order fix #10: Get help from carrier

It’s usually rare not to fix this issue on a user’s end but if nothing has changed after a factory reset, you should consider getting help from your network operator. The cause must be something outside the device so your carrier can likely help in this case.

 

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