How to fix a Nokia 8 that cannot send or receive text (SMS) messages [Troubleshooting Guide]

SMS problems in mobile devices are often attributed to network connectivity issues. In some cases, account-related issues are to blame like unsettled bills and inactive account services. Other factors that can cause problems in sending and receiving of text messages or SMS on the phone are invalid settings, faulty updates, software glitches. Generally, the underlying cause is on the software, which therefore denotes that the problem is fixable by end-users at home. Highlighted in this post are potential solutions to a similar issue on the Nokia 8 smartphone. Read on to find what to do if ever you’ll have troubles sending or receiving text/SMS messages on the same Nokia smartphone.

Before we proceed, if you’re looking for a solution to a problem with your phone, try to browse through our troubleshooting pages to see if we support your device. If your phone is in the list of our supported devices, then go to the troubleshooting page and look for similar problems. Feel free to use our solutions and workarounds. Don’t worry it’s free. But if you still need our help, then fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

How to troubleshoot Nokia 8 that can’t send / receive text messages

Before you begin to troubleshoot your device software, check and ensure that you can make voice calls. If you can’t make voice calls on your Nokia 8, then you’ll need to deal with network issues first. Your phone may not have a network connection because the selected network is out of range or other network problems exist. If that is the case, then you can try changing between network modes and see if SMS functions are working using a different network type.

To switch between network modes on your phone, go to Settings-> Network & Internet-> Mobile network-> Preferred network type, then tap the select any from the available options.

After making changes, try to create a test SMS message and see if your phone can send and receive the message. If that doesn’t work, then you’ll need to further troubleshoot network connectivity issues on your Nokia 8.

But if your device is getting a strong and stable network signal/connection and can make voice calls but just couldn’t send or receive SMS, then you can proceed and try the following generic solutions.

First solution: Clear cache and data from your Messaging app.

Temporary files and data stored on the messaging app might have been corrupted and therefore caused the app to act up or become unstable. To rule this out, you clearing cache and data on the app can help. Here’s how:

1. From the Home screen, drag the Arrow Up or slide your finger upwards from the bottom of the screen to launch the Apps screen.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Apps & notifications.
4. Tap Info.
5. Tap to select your Messaging app.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear Cache to clear temporary files and data from the Facebook app.
8. Press the Home button when the cache clearing is finished.

To see if the problem is fixed, open your messaging app then create a sample SMS message to send and receive. Also ensure that you’re entering the correct recipient details, particularly the contact number. In the case where you cannot receive SMS message only from certain contact or number, try to check your auto-block list and make sure that number is not in there. Otherwise, you will need to remove the contact from the block list for you to receive messages from the sender.

Second solution: Restart your phone (soft reset).

A device restart or soft reset can help fix various types of device issues that are triggered by random software glitches and minor bugs. If you haven’t restarted your phone yet, then you must do so with these steps:

1. Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds.
2. Select Power off from the menu options then tap OK.
3. After a few seconds, press and hold down the Power button again to turn the phone back on.

A soft reset clears errors and glitches from your apps and phone system, without affecting your data saved on the internal memory.

Third solution: Update your apps or phone software to the latest version available.

Installing updates for your apps and device software is recommended to keep them optimized. Software updates not only offers new features and functions but also contain fix patches to address existing bugs that cause various issues on certain devices. To check for available updates on your Nokia 8, follow these steps:

1. Tap on Menu and go to Settings.
2. Tap About Phone.
3. Select Software version.
4. Scan for new software update (OTA update). If an OTA update is available, you will see a notification.
5. Before you proceed, make sure that your phone is connected to Wi-Fi Internet and that has enough power (at least 50%).
6. Then follow the onscreen prompts to complete the update download and installation process.

If you haven’t configured your device to install updates automatically, then you’ll need to manually check for app updates. To do so, open Play Store app then follow these steps:

1. Tap the list symbol on the upper leftmost side of the Play Store search bar.
2. Tap My apps and games.
3. Find your messaging app from the list of apps with pending updates.
4. If you find it there, tap the Update button next to your messaging app then wait for the update to install.
5. To install multiple app updates at once, you can tap on the Update All button instead.

Wait until all the apps are finished updating and then restart your phone to apply the new changes and refresh your apps and phone system.

Fourth solution: Wipe cache partition on your Nokia 8.

If the problem started after updating your device software, then it’s likely a usual system glitch that can be cleared by wiping the cache partition. Doing so will wipe any corrupted temporary files and data from the system folders that caused the device or certain apps to go rogue. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Power off your phone by pressing and holding the Power button until it powers down.
2. Then, press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously for a few seconds.
3. Release the Power button when the Android logo appears but keep pressing on the Volume Down button.
4. Release the Volume Down button when the Boot Mode menu appear.
5. Press the Volume Up/Down button to scroll to and highlight wipe dalvik cache and wipe cache partition options.
6. Then press the Power button to confirm.
7. Wait until your phone is finished wiping cache partition. You will know when it’s done if you see the Reboot system now option highlighted.
8. By then you can press the Power button to reboot your phone.

Wiping the cache partition won’t affect any data and personal information saved on the internal memory on the phone, hence won’t result to data loss.

Fifth solution: Reset your phone to factory defaults (master reset).

A full system reset is often needed if nothing else works and the problem persists due to complex system errors on the device. All settings, downloaded apps, and personal files will be erased along with any bugs and terminal errors that inflicted system problems on the phone. Should you wish to proceed, back up all your important files and then follow these steps to factory reset your Nokia 8 through settings menu:

1. Tap Settings.
2. Tap Backup & Reset.
3. Select Factory data reset.
4. Tap Reset Device.
5. Tap Erase Everything.

Wait until the reset is finished and your phone reboots. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your phone as new.

Other Options

You can also try using other SMS messaging platforms on your phone to determine if the problem is isolated to the stock messaging application in use. If other messaging platforms work, then you can switch to the working platform while waiting for a fix patch.

Otherwise, you can seek further assistance from your network service provider or carrier. Just give them a call, let them know of the problem you are dealing with and what you’ve done so far. If you see any error messages or codes, then let them know of that so they can use that as hint on what had possibly gone wrong and how to fix the error.

You can also contact Nokia Support for other options and recommendations especially if the problem started after installing a new software update.

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