How to fix Galaxy S9 can’t receive some text messages issue
Today’s troubleshooting article addresses an issue reported by a Galaxy S9 user about her device not getting SMS or texts from some contacts. This is not a typical texting issue though as shown by some circumstances below.
Problem: Galaxy S9 can’t receive some text messages
We recently got a new phone with Sprint to try to save money on our bill. About this time last year we switched to Sprint from Republic Wireless with our Google Pixels. Had absolutely no issues with the network and everything went smoothly. However we were on their free service for a year plan and we didn’t want to pay over $100 for cell service. Anyway, a buddy of ours who works at Sprint told us a way to get onto a new promotion but that meant getting new phones. What we ended up having to do was temporarily porting our phone numbers over to Google voice and then port our numbers back to Sprint. Everything went smoothly and seemed to be in working order. However, shortly after we had our phones, we noticed that we weren’t receiving text messages from everyone. A few of our friends and family brought it up. I can receive texts from others but not from a little handful of important people to me. My husband has an S9 Plus and he had the same issue with being able to text certain people but not others. We’ve both checked to make sure the numbers weren’t blocked, the parties were were texting could receive our texts but we couldn’t receive theirs. Calls work fine and we’ve been using FB messenger and Google Hangouts to communicate for now but we’ve had our new phones for little over a month and can’t figure out how to fix this. We’ve done factory resets a couple times as well as removing the SIM card for a bit and reinstalling it. I personally have also tried deleting said contacts and re adding them but still no change. Our Google voice accounts aren’t showing any recent text messages since we ported our numbers out and our signal is fine. It’s not at full bars but it’s good enough that calling and other forms of communication work with no problem. Any ideas? I have none and my husband is out of ideas as well. Celia
Solution: This one is a little complicated as the cause of the problem might lie in either of the two services you’re using, Google Voice and Sprint’s messaging system. As we are an outside entity to these two services, we can’t know for sure whether there’s a system restriction in any of them that blocks certain numbers from sending texts to your current number. Below are the troubleshooting steps that you can try to figure out the reason for this issue.
Check for errors
You did not mention any other indicators or errors but if there’s anything, that might be a clue to get the issue fixed. Are you getting a message when sending texts to numbers you’re not receiving SMS from? Did you ask the contacts if they are getting errors on their end when replying to your messages? At this point, any error is better than nothing at all. If you’re lucky, an error may point you to the right direction in your troubleshooting.
Ask contacts to delete and re-add your number
If you nominated a different number when using Google Voice, it’s possible that there may be a chance that carriers of contacts you’re not getting SMS from may be sending SMS to your current number. If that’s not the case, it’s also possible that there may be a bug on their end causing a miscommunication. Since there’s virtually nothing that you can do to check that out, all you can do is to ask those contacts to ensure that they’re sending their responses to your number. We suggest that you tell them to delete the old conversation and your contact information. Once those two have been taken care of, let them add your current phone number (not your Google Voice number if it’s different). Then, send them a text message again and see if they can now send a reply.
Get help from your carrier
Should the two suggestions above won’t help at all, we suggest that you elevate the issue to your network operator. As mentioned above, there’s a chance that the problem may not be due to a bug from Google Voice side but on your carrier’s network. They are in a better position to look into this issue as their representative has inside access to your account.
Try a different number
If nothing has helped so far, you can always consider changing your phone number. This can be a bit drastic and a hassle but if Sprint can’t figure out the real reason, we are positive that they’ll recommend this solution anyway.