What to do if Galaxy J3 can’t receive texts from one contact only

Today’s article covers an issue about a Galaxy J3 that is unable to receive SMS or texts from a single contact. This is a tricky issue that requires patience to troubleshoot. Find out what you can do if you are in a similar situation.

Problem: Galaxy J3 can’t receive texts from one contact only

I have been unable to receive texts from one contact. I can send texts to this contact & get a delivery report back. I am able to send texts & make calls to other contacts & likewise receive them. I have updated my phone. I have visited the Vodaphone forum, followed their trouble shooting advice & cancelled diverts and also phoned *#105# to check for time/date stamps and they are no more than 2 hours old which is apparently all fine. I have spoken to Vodaphone. They checked my Sim had refreshed then they reset my messages from their end. I cannot try a soft reset as I cannot get the back off my phone. It can only be removed by Samsung apparently. Any advice as how to remedy this would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you.

Solution: There a number of factors that can play a role in this situation. Learn what to do by following our troubleshooting steps below.

Delete old conversation

Sometimes, old threads can become too big that it can lead to slow downs and bugs for the messaging app. If you’ve been conversing with this contact for a long time, delete the current conversation and start anew. This will do two things. One is the obvious effect of making room for your messaging app to operate and the other is the refreshing effect for the app as it tries to retrieve messages from the servers.

Check date and time

Using incorrect system date and time can lead to sorting issues of your messages. If your device has incorrect date and time, new messages may actually be received but become buried deep the thread or in other messages.

Make sure to use your network’s date and time all the time. Here’s how:

Open Settings app.
Tap General management.
Tap Date and time.
Enable Automatic date and time.

Ask contact to re-add your number on his/her end

If you are positive that you’re supposed to receive a reply from another number but you nothing reaches your phone, that’s probably because the issue is on the sender’s end. Ask that contact to make sure that your number is formatted properly on his/her phone. If possible, let him or her add your number again on the device, before sending a text message.

Verify if contact can call you

If the contact is also unable to call you, there must be a problem on either your carrier’s system or that contact’s network. Work with your network operator if the problem lies on your end. Afterwards, tell your contact to do the same on his or her end. Remember, text messaging is a two-way street. The problem can lie on your carrier or your contact’s.

Reset network settings

To further troubleshoot on your end, you can try to refresh the network setup of your device by clearing its network settings. Here’s how:

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings > General Management > Reset > Reset network settings.
Tap RESET SETTINGS.
If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
Tap RESET SETTINGS. Once complete, a confirmation window will appear.

Text on Safe Mode

In case there’s a problem with one of your downloaded apps blocking text messages, you can observe what happens when trying to wait for a reply from that contact when the phone is on Safe Mode. while on this mode, all third party apps are suspended. If you’ll receive texts from that contact on safe mode only, you can bet an app is behind it.

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
Check for the problem by asking your contact to send you a text.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your device is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Clear cache and data on your messaging app

If the problem is still occuring at this point, you should consider clearing the messaging app’s cache first. If that won’t work, return the app to its default state. This will erase all your messages so be sure to back them ahead of time if you don’t want to lose them.

To clear an app’s cache:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear cache button.
Restart your device and check for the problem.

To clear an app’s data:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear data button.
Restart your device and check for the problem.

iPhone user?

If the contact you’re having a problem with has an iPhone, make sure to ask him or her to check whether or not the message is being sent as iMessage. If the messages being sent to you appear as blue bubbles, that means that his or her iPhone is detecting your number as using iMessage. Ideally, iOS devices automatically sends messages as text messages (green bubbles) if the number is not associated with iMessage. Sometimes, a bug may occur causing a confusion. This is not an issue on your end but more likely a problem with the iOS device.

Or, if your number was previously tied to iMessage (for example, if you switched from iPhone to Android), you need to deregister it first. Learn how to deregister your number from iMessage by following the steps in this link.