Having trouble sending out SMS messages? Here are some important things to know

Technology is great and one of the best inventions in recent history is text messaging. It is still a great and useful way to communicate today.

It has paved the way for other messaging technology such as WhatsApp and Viber. As great as SMS technology is, it’s not always foolproof, and some mistakes can pop up from time to time.

From trouble with receiving and sending messages, to typos and autocorrect, plenty of things can go wrong with text messages.

Whether you’re looking to learn more about the technology or figure out why your SMS didn’t go through, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know about text messaging to help you figure out why you’re having trouble with them.

The recipient’s phone is off

One of the main reasons why a message you sent has failed to go through is because the recipient’s phone is turned off. If a text message doesn’t get delivered the first time around, it will automatically get re-sent again for a certain period of time.

If after some time has passed and the message has still failed to deliver, you can assume that the recipient's phone is off. There’s not much you can do in these situations except wait for the recipient's phone to turn on again, so your message will go through.

The recipient is roaming or off the grid

If the recipient's phone isn’t turned off, the second most common occurrence is that it is off the grid or roaming.

If your recipient is in a place where they can’t get a signal, their phone is as good as dead. They will continue to not receive any of your messages until they get back onto the grid and get a signal.

In the case of roaming, you will often come across problems if you’re trying to message a number that’s abroad. Many cell phone companies offer their users the option of blocking messages when they’re not in the country.

By doing this, they won’t receive your message, but neither of you will get charged an extra roaming fee.

Network problems

Nine times out of ten, messages failing to go through are a sign of network problems. If both phones are on and connected, messages may still not go through if there are network problems.

These problems can be caused by a variety of things and can last from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Maintenance is the most common cause of network problems, but bad weather and highly crowded areas can cause problems too.

To check if this is the case, try to message people outside of your network to see if you run into similar issues.

Your message may be flagged as spam

If it’s not a technical issue with the network or the phone, your message may not be going through because it may be flagged. Someone may choose to block your number or flag it as spam for a few reasons. A recipient may mark your number as spam for protection, personal preference, or by accident.

This can be standard practice for many phones and providers that block messages and calls from unknown numbers. So long as your number is blocked or flagged by another number, your message is not getting through.

You’ve got the wrong number

Last but not least, one of the most common reasons why your message hasn’t gone through is because you’ve got the wrong number. It’s easy to make a mistake when sending a text message and it can happen to anyone.

A mistake as small as changing a single digit can send your message into the abyss and not to the desired recipient. Messaging a landline instead of a mobile number will also result in the message not going through.

To stay on the safe side, always double check the number you’re sending to.

So there you have it! Now that you’re all caught up, it’s easy to understand why your messages sometimes don’t go through when you send them.

If you’re having trouble sending an SMS message, the first thing you can assume is that the recipient's phone is off. If it’s not switched off, it may be a combination of the number being roaming or off the grid with no signal.

Another common reason for problems with messaging could be problems with the network. Maintenance, bad weather, or crowded areas could make it temporarily harder to get messages to a recipient.

A less common but still frequent reason could be that your number or message content may be flagged or blocked by the recipient. Finally, if you can’t seem to send a message to a particular number, you may have gotten the number wrong.