Troubleshoot Galaxy Note 5 not receiving all text messages, other texting issues

Hello #GalaxyNote5 fans! Welcome to our new troubleshooting article for this device. We cover 3 texting issues that were recently sent to us.

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 Note 5 not receiving all text messages

I have a Note 5. There are numerous occasions when a text message being sent to me from a particular iPhone does not get received by my phone, even though the sender does not get a “message not sent” on her phone. This only occurs with three separate iPhones. One is my wife’s, which is on the same T-Mobile plan as me. On the other two, one is a T-Mobile account and the other is uncertain as to the carrier. Not ALL of their messages are undelivered, just random ones and it is not necessarily a picture text. I have spoken to T-Mobile in person but they did not have a solution. Is there a setting that is wrong, or another issue? Thanks. — Mark

Solution: Hi Mark. Technically, carriers are not expected to deliver 100% of incoming and outgoing text messages although a lot of time, text messaging have become quite reliable. If you think you are missing text messages from time to time from the same senders, the issue can be due to a network issue.

Unfortunately, carriers can’t always help in such a case either due to limitations in their customer-facing support teams, or unwillingness to dig deeper in their system. For them, text messaging either works or not. Actionable cases are only those that can’t send or receive text messages only. For a case like yours, you’ll hardly get any support. That’s not to say T-Mobile is deliberately depriving you of support. Most probably, their technical support teams, the ones you talked to, are not just equipped to troubleshoot such issue. In fact, there may not be a team or department at all that are trained to handle such cases. Text messaging is fully automated and requires little to no human intervention so problems like yours is either caused by something outside their system such as a possible content/app issue in your phone, or by another network.

To see if it’s a phone issue, consider focusing your troubleshooting in the messaging app you’re using first.

Check for blocked messages

One of the causes why text messages won’t appear in your inbox may be due to a filter you set before. If you are using the stock Messages app from Samsung, start by checking Block messages feature. Here’s how:

Open Messages app.
Tap Settings icon at the upper right hand side (three-dot icon).
Tap Settings.
Tap Block messages.
Check all three options — Block numbers, Block phrases, and Blocked messages.

Pay particular attention to Block phrases and Block messages as your missing messages may be in one of them. Be sure to reconfigure them if you find that those messages are found here.

If you are using a non-Samsung messaging app, try playing around with its settings to see if you have similar options to check.

Ensure that messaging app has enough available storage space

A messaging app requires storage space to store messages. Sometimes, lack of storage can result to erratic behavior so be sure to delete old messages to make way for incoming text messages. To allow the app to automatically manage its storage, you can enable Delete old messages. Here’s how:

Open Messages app.
Tap Settings icon at the upper right hand side (three-dot icon).
Tap Settings.
Tap More settings.
Move slider for Delete old messages to the right.

Wipe messaging app cache and data

To see if there’s an unknown app bug that blocks some of your messages, you can try to clear the app’s cache and data, then observe how to it works over the course of days or weeks. Deleting an app’s data will result to loss of your messages so if you want to keep a copy of them, be sure to back them first by using Samsung Smart Switch.

In order to wipe an app’s cache and data, follow these steps:

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

Problem 2: Verizon Galaxy Note 5 won’t send text SMS at the same week every month

My wife and I have been with Verizon wireless living in the same house for the past 15 years. We have not experienced any problems at home until recently. In the last 2 months we experienced problems sending texts from our neighborhood for 1 week in each month. The odd thing is that it was the same week in each month and the problem disappeared on the same day of the month. All other functions (phone calls, internet access, receiving texts) worked during this time. The problem was just sending texts and not all of them. About 30% were sent but the other 70% would fail. While waiting for a text to send, sometimes the connection would go from 4G to 3G to 1x to 3G etc. before failing. Other times it would remain on 4G and still fail.

We contacted Verizon Wireless support and the Verizon Wireless Executive VP. Verizon’s response was that we are in an area with less than optimal signal strength, only 6 people complained and their plan was to do nothing. Given that we have not had any problems in 15 years, the oddity of happening the same week of the last 2 months resolving itself on the same day of the month, and only affecting outgoing texts, I don’t believe the problem is signal strength. There does not appear to be anything wrong with the phones or a conflict with apps. Both phones are Samsung Galaxy Note 5 using stock messaging app. Before just switching carriers or buying a newer phone, we are hoping you might have some advice. — Ej962012

Solution: Hi Ej962012. If your own carrier can’t figure out what’s causing their provided service to fail intermittently, any other support group like us would be at a loss too. In the first place, we don’t know the history of your devices. This means that we can’t even decide where to start our troubleshooting with you. We suggest though that you refer to our suggestions for Mark above and see if any of them can help. We’d say you should even consider doing a factory reset so you can see if there’s a difference afterwards.

Secondly, an issue like this is most likely network-related so you should continue working with your carrier. Not every issue can be addressed by your network’s technical support group and it may take time and lengthy troubleshooting to figure out the true reason for the trouble. If you really want to get to the bottom of this issue, you must spend effort and time working Verizon.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 5 loses signal and keeps saying SIM card error

Hello. I have had a Note 5 for nearly years now and have had very steady consistent service throughout. However, I have been encountering issues where my service will drop to zero (little x appears where service bars used to be, no 4G). This also makes my phone lose my GPS signal so if I’m using maps, my phone will lose the route. When I’m making calls, the call will drop every 5 minutes to 15 minutes and when it does it says there is a sim card error. Any thoughts on what may be causing the issues? Thanks for your help! — Gary

Solution: Hi Gary. The first logical troubleshooting step that you can do in this situation is to contact your carrier. While some technicians may argue that you should do some phone troubleshooting first, we say it’s more important to know initially if there’s any network problems in your area. Loss of signal is almost always a network issue unless something drastic has occurred in your phone like when you dropped it, got it wet, or if your tampered with the software. If nothing of these things happened, the problem must lie with the network so wasting your time troubleshooting the device is only second. Besides providing you with accurate information regarding the condition of network services, , your carrier’s technical support can also assist you with further device troubleshooting.

If your carrier will say that there’s no network issues in your location at all, you can then check if there’s a problem with the SIM card. To do that, you can insert it to another compatible phone. If the same problem occurs in the second phone, there must be something wrong with the SIM card. Have it replaced to fix the issue.

If, on the other hand, the problem won’t occur in the other phone, the problem must lie with the phone. Do a factory reset to check if it’s due to a software issue. If nothing changes after a factory reset, have the phone repaired or replaced.

To factory reset your Note 5, do these steps:

Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 completely.
Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home buttons first, and then press and hold the Power key.
Keep the three buttons pressed and when ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
Once the Android logo shows, release both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
The notice ‘Installing system update’ will show on the screen for 30 to 60 seconds before the Android system recovery screen is shown with its options.
Use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ and press the Power key to select it.
When the process is complete, use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.
The reboot may take a little longer to complete but don’t worry and wait for the device to become active.