Samsung Galaxy S10 can’t send / receive text messages. Here’s the fix.

A premium smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy S10 should be able to send or receive text messages without any problem but it seems like that’s not the case with some owners. Some of our readers contacted us because they can no longer send text messages. Most of the time, it’s just a minor problem that you can fix on your own. 

So, in this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy S10 that can’t send or receive SMS. We will try to look into each possibility and rule them out one after another until we can determine what the problem is and hopefully fix it. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently being bugged by a similar issue, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another. 

Before we move on to our troubleshooting, if you happen to find this post while looking for a solution to a different problem, then visit our Galaxy S10 Help Guides page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this device. We may have already published articles that could help you fix your problem. Find issues that are similar to yours and feel free to use our solutions.

How to fix Galaxy S10 that can’t send / receive text messages

Highlighted below are some more inputs on what to do whenever you’ll have trouble sending or receiving SMS or text messages on your Samsung Galaxy S10. Feel free to use these subsequent walkthroughs when necessary.

First solution: Restart your phone (soft reset).

Minor software glitches that might have prevented your device from sending or receiving SMS are often dealt with by a simple restart on the phone also referred to as a soft reset. It clears up the internal memory and refreshes the system without affecting any of your important data on the phone. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Press and hold the Power button.
  2. Tap the option to Power off.
  3. Tap Power off again to confirm.
  4. After about 30 seconds, press and hold the Power button again until your phone boots up.

Alternatively, you can perform a simulated battery removal equivalent procedure or soft reset using the hardware keys. It’s used to reboot a frozen or unresponsive device and works similar to the usual restart.

To do so, press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously for up to 45 seconds. Release both buttons when the Samsung logo appears.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy S10 keeps showing “No SIM card detected” error

Second solution: Remove and reinstall the SIM card.

Sometimes SMS sending and receiving failed due to random SIM card issues. A quick simple solution to this is to reseat the SIM card on the phone. Here’s how:

  1. Turn your phone completely off.
  2. Press the card insertion or removal tool into the combined nano SIM/microSD card tray pinhole and then gently push it in until the tray pops out.
  3. Slide the nano SIM/microSD card tray out of the slot.
  4. Remove the SIM card from the tray and check for any signs of damage. If the SIM card looks good, place it back into the tray with the gold contacts facing the back of the phone.
  5. Press the nano SIM/microSD card tray back into its slot until it clicks.
  6. Once the tray is secured in place, press the Power button to turn your phone back on.

Third solution: Clear cache and data from the messaging app.

Corrupted caches or temporary files in the messaging app can also cause conflict to SMS messaging function of the phone. In this case, clearing cache and data on your messaging app will likely fix it. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Swipe up or down from the Home screen. Doing so will open the Apps screen.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Apps.
  4. Tap to select your Messaging app.
  5. Tap Storage.
  6. Tap Clear Cache to wipe out temporary files from the messaging app.
  7. Tap Clear Data to delete all temporary data saved in the app’s memory.
  8. Read and review the message prompt, then tap Delete to confirm.

Restart your phone then open the messaging app afterwards. Create a test SMS message to see if  sending and receiving are already working.

Deleting old and unwanted messages and conversations can also help if the problem is somehow tied to a corrupted message thread or conversation. 

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy S10 shows “Warning: Camera failed” error

Fourth solution: Reset network settings on your phone.

Network options or relevant settings that aren’t properly configured may also be the underlying cause. Network settings can be altered automatically by some updates be it for apps or Android. If you have enabled auto-update on your device, then this is possible. To fix the problem you can try a network settings reset with these steps:

  1. Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap General Management.
  4. Tap Reset.
  5. Select the option to Reset network settings.
  6. If prompted, enter the PIN or password for your device.
  7. Tap Reset settings to confirm action.

Fifth solution: Master reset or factory data reset your Samsung S9 Plus.

As your final option, perform a factory data reset or master reset. The problem could be due to a major system error that can only be rectified by a full system reset. Please note though that you will lose data in the process so creating a backup would be necessary. Here’s how it works:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory by navigating to Apps-> Settings-> Cloud and accounts-> Backup and restore, then select the desired option like Back up my data or Automatic restore.
  2. After creating necessary backups, proceed to a master reset with these subsequent steps.
  3. Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps screen.
  4. Tap Settings.
  5. Tap General management.
  6. Tap Reset.
  7. Select the Factory data reset option.
  8. Scroll to the bottom of the screen then tap Reset.
  9. Select the option to DELETE ALL.
  10. If prompted, enter your credentials for screen lock and Samsung account verification.
  11. Tap Confirm to continue.
  12. Wait for the reset to finish and your device to reboot.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy S10 keeps showing the error “Phone has stopped”

Ask further assistance

Contact your carrier or network service provider to escalate the problem and likewise ask further assistance and options if you still cannot send or receive SMS or text messages on your Samsung Galaxy S10 after exhausting all possible means on your end. There might be some issues on your carrier’s end or account-related issues that need to be settled to get your services back up and working as intended. If all is good with your account status and network services but still the problem isn’t fixed, then you may contact Samsung Support for other options and recommendations. There might be a more intricate software error that’s preventing your phone from carrying out messaging services and requests.

Connect with us

We are committed to helping our readers fix the problems with their phones as well as learn how to properly use their devices. So, if you have other issues, you may visit our Help Guides page so you can check by yourself the articles we’ve already published that contain solutions to common problems. Also, we do create videos to demonstrate how things are done on your phone. Visit our Youtube Channel and please subscribe to it. Thanks. 


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