How to troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can’t send / receive SMS or text messages [Troubleshooting Guide]

• Understand the problem why your Huawei P9 (#HuaweiP9) cannot send and receive text messages (#SMS) and learn how to fix it.

• How would you fix your phone that can’t send messages but can receive them.

• What you should do if your P9 can send SMS but can’t receive them.

 

In this post, I will be troubleshooting texting issues with Huawei P9 that some owners reported. Of course, the most common problems are not being able to send and receive SMS.

These issues are very common and not just exclusive to the P9 but all across Android. You may be able to encounter them at any time and while this post is clearly for the Huawei P9, the troubleshooting procedures I cited are universal so they may work with your other devices, although the menus, options and settings may differ.

• Troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can’t send and receive SMS
• Troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can’t send text messages but can receive
• Troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can send SMS but can’t receive them

For those who have other issues, you may visit our troubleshooting page and find problems that are similar or related to yours and use the solutions we already suggested. You may also contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire and hitting submit. It would be very helpful for us if you provided us with more information about your problem.

Troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can’t send and receive SMS

For newly purchased phones that can neither send nor receive text messages but can go online through mobile data or Wi-Fi, the problem isn’t with your phone but on the provider’s side.

New phones have to be provisioned and entered into the system so that it can receive the basic services the provider is offering like texts and calls. If your provider already told you that the phone has already been set to work, then you should wait it out until services get activated. There are times when provisioning takes longer time than usual.

More often, it would take just an hour or two but if you still don’t have a service after you finished talking with the rep, give it 24 hours before calling again. The rep may not tell you but there might be some minor issues with the system or the network.

On the other hand, if you already have a service but the got lost after a day, call your provider immediately. The rep will be able to fix it in one click.

Moreover, if this problem occurred after months of using the phone without issues and if there was a recent update that got installed, then you should wipe the cache partition to fix it.

1. Make sure you phone is turned off.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Power keys for 10 seconds.
3. Once the Huawei logo appears, release both keys.
4. Use the Volume Down button to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’ option and press the Power key to choose it.
5. Once the cache partition is wiped, highlight ‘reboot system now’ and press the Power key to accept it.

Troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can’t send text messages but can receive

Now here goes another common issue–phone can’t send text but can receive. It may occur to a newly provisioned unit or to one that’s already been used for months. It could be an issue with the phone itself or the network.

There were some owners who reported that their phones got updated one day and then this problem started. So, I tried read as many testimonies I can and was able to zero in on one common denominator–majority of them bought their phones from third-party retailers and got their provider set it for them.

We did receive a message from our reader that best explains this issue…

“Hi! I have the Huawei P9 I bought online. I got it activated in the US and it actually worked for weeks. I downloaded a lot of apps into it that it started to become slow. Considering the fact that it’s a powerful phone, I don’t want a hint of sluggishness. So, I decided to reset it. Sure enough it became fast again but now I won’t be able to send a text message but I can receive them. I don’t understand why it had to act like like all of the sudden. Can you guys enlighten me please?”

There’s one thing that’s very important when sending text messages–the Message Center Number. Every device that can send text messages have this and it varies from carrier to carrier. For phones that were purchased from a third-party retailer, they don’t come with default Center Number but during provisioning, your provider will fill it up for you so the phone can have service.

Now, in the description, our reader said that he did reset his phone then the problem started. Here’s what I think happened…

The Message Center Number got deleted during the reset since it wasn’t embedded in the firmware. That’s the reason your phone can no longer send a message but can receive them. Majority of the owners don’t know the Center Number so I suggest you call your provider for it.

Troubleshoot Huawei P9 that can send SMS but can’t receive them

Glitches happen all the time and if your phone started not being able to receive text messages, reboot your phone first. Then, try to see if there’s enough storage space left because it might end up a storage issue rather than text messaging problem.

If all else fails, a reset might be necessary to fix this problem…

1. Make sure you phone is turned off.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Power keys for 10 seconds.
3. Once the Huawei logo appears, release both keys.
4. Use the Volume Down button to highlight ‘wipe data/factory reset’ option and press the Power key to choose it.
5. Once the cache partition is wiped, highlight ‘reboot system now’ and press the Power key to accept it.

I am hoping this troubleshooting guide can help one way or the other.

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