Galaxy S8 received texts are out of order, can’t send SMS, other texting issues

Hello Android fans! Welcome to our #GalaxyS8 post for the day. This post covers some texting issues on the S8. We hope you’ll find our solutions helpful.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Galaxy S8 sending and receiving duplicate SMS, received texts are out of order, delayed SMS

I’ve had my Galaxy S8 plus for about a month now and recently my sending and receiving texts has become an issue. First it started with sending and receiving two of the same text. Then, I started receiving texts broken up into multiple texts that I receive out of order. Now I’m getting texts from people who had sent them days prior to my receiving them. It’s a mess. Can you help me? Thanks. — Jason

Solution: Hi Jason. An issue like this is most likely network-related but in order to ensure that you’ve covered all bases, we suggest that you wipe the phone clean with factory reset. This is the only way to know if there’s a bug in your phone, or if it’s entirely out of your control, such as a network problem.

To factory reset your phone, follow these steps:

1. 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.
2. Turn off the device.
3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If you don’t want to factory reset your phone right away, you can also contact your carrier first and ask for help. Part of their troubleshooting may include a factory reset anyway but at least you’ll know if they’re aware of the issue or not.

In some cases, received texts may become out of order or may seem to arrive days after they were sent if your phone has incorrrect system time, date, or timezone. Make sure that you have the correct system time and date all the time to avoid these issues in the future.

Problem 2: Galaxy S8 workaround on how to filter SMS from specific contact

Hey guys! I’ve got a problem with a S8 related to my job. I’ll try to be the clearest I can. I need to send SMS to a S8 but they must be silent and filtered because the receiver has to see them in private sessions for professional reasons. Someone told me that there is no way to filter messages in a separate folder without blocking the phone calls. What can you tell me about this? What about black list? Can it be used to spam only SMS without blocking phone calls? Any other solution to the problem is very welcomed. Thanks in advance. — Silla.Collesei

Solution: Hi Silla. The current Android OS version is not capable of creating a setting you want. A Galaxy S8’s messaging app also does not have the capability to allow a silent notification when a message from a specific contact arrives. Sound customization for notifications are applied at the app level only. We are not aware of any messaging app that can do what you’re asking either.

A workaround is to block the messages from you so that no notifications will be generated. Then later on, the S8 user can check his/her blocked messages. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the stock Samsung messaging app (Messages).
2. Tap More settings at the upper right hand side (the three-dot icon).
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Block messages.
5. Tap Block numbers. This option will allow the S8 user to add your phone number to be blocked.

This type of block won’t affect calls from your number; it’s limited to the SMS and MMS you send. You would still be able to call the S8 user via voice calling. The S8 user can also remove your number from his/her block list anytime.

Problem 3: Galaxy S8 messaging app opens  old messages first instead of new ones

When i receive a new text message and open the conversation, the app jumps to the oldest message instead of the one that I just received. Is there a way to fix this? — Ivan

Solution: Hi Ivan. The only explanation for this case has something to do with the phone’s system date and time. We suggest that set it to automatically use your network’s date, time, and timezone. Here’s how to do that:

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

If your phone is already running the correct date and time at this time, there may be an app bug causing the issue. To fix it, try clearing its cache and data. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
3. Once in there, look for the application and tap it.
4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more.
5. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
6. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application. Try to wipe the cache first and see if that will change anything. If the problem persists, do the Clear Data option.

Keep in mind that clearing the messaging app’s data will erase all your text/MMS. Be sure to create a backup if you don’t want to lose anything.

Problem 4: Galaxy S8 randomly fails to send SMS or make calls

My S8 will not send texts or make calls consistently; it will send sometimes 1 or 2 texts then fail or sometimes as many as 10 or 15 then fail and i will have to either restart the phone. Or i have just discovered i can switch it on and off from airplane mode and resend the text and then it will go through. I am in the same place when this happens so the signal has not changed. To solve this I have reset the phone to factory numerous times. We also turned off the LTE settings after all that we still have the same problem. We live in Ontario, Canada. Is there any help for it or is it junk!!? — Joann

Solution: Hi Joann. If the issue keeps returning after a factory reset, the cause must be an app you simple re-install. To check, restart the phone to safe mode and observe how SMS and voice calling works for a few days. If the issue won’t occur, that’s a confirmation of our hunch. To find the culprit, you should uninstall third party apps one by one, making sure to observe how the phone works after every uninstall. This will likely take time, especially if you have hundreds of apps but it’s the only way to narrow down possible causes.

To restart your phone to safe mode, follow these steps:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
8. Uninstall apps that are causing a problem.

Problem 5: Galaxy S8 can’t send SMS

Hey, my phone can receive text messages, calls and everything, but it refuses to send messages. It just says ‘Failed’, sometimes after that spinning wheel spins for a couple seconds. Any resolutions for this?

I’ve tried:

• taking battery, SIM and memory card out for 5 minutes
• deleting apps I rarely use
• clearing cache and forcing stop on messages app settings
• turning delivery reports on and off
• double checking the messages centre number.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! All the best. — DW

Solution: Hi DW. You’ve done almost everything on your level except for one thing: factory reset. Be sure to wipe the phone and check if you can send SMS when there are no third party apps installed. Refer to the steps above on how to factory reset your S8.

If the issue remains after a factory reset and even when there are no third party apps installed, there must be a network issue causing it. Make sure to talk to your carrier about it.

 

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