An important text message arrives on your phone, but you missed checking it because you didn’t receive the notification. I can imagine how angry you will be. Even I would start swearing at my phone. If it makes you feel better, you’re not alone. Some other Android users are also not getting notifications for their SMS. Let’s see how to fix this.
The problem occurs on all types of Android phones. All phones may experience notification issues for their messages. Be it from Samsung, Google, One Plus, Xiaomi etc. But don’t worry. Check out the solutions mentioned in this post to fix it.
Let’s start with the basic solutions, then those that require some settings to be changed.
1. Reboot Phone
The first thing you should do is restart your Android phone. You can use the Restart option on your phone or you can turn your mobile phone off and on again.
2. Check the Volume
If you have a Samsung phone, your phone supports separate volume control for notifications and ringtone. Sometimes the ringtone volume is high but the notification is kept at zero. So, you should check this out.
To do this, press one of the volume buttons. Tap the small down arrow when you see the sound panel on your screen. You will see the notification volume. Increase.
You can also access the same panel from Settings > Sound. If you don’t see the volume sliders, tap on Sound.
Note: If your phone does not have a separate volume control, increase the volume of the ringtone.
3. Check the Connected Bluetooth Headset
Are you using a Bluetooth headset with your phone? If you do, you may have forgotten to disconnect them. When this happens, notifications will go to the headset. You might think something is wrong with your phone as you should have had it replaced. So disconnect your bluetooth headphones if you are not using them.
4. Check Silent Contacts
Many messaging apps like Samsung Messages let you mute individual chat threads. If you are not receiving messages from only certain contacts, you should unmute them.
For this, open your messages app and long press the required contact. Tap Volume Up or press the bell icon to allow notifications. On some phones, you may need to open the chat thread and tap the three-dot icon at the top. Then select mute notifications or allow notifications.
5. Check Notification Setting
Newer versions of Android have made it a bit difficult to change basic settings like notification settings. Basic settings are buried under various layers. That’s why users can’t find or replace them, which is why problems arise.
Incorrect notification settings are one of the main reasons why SMS notification sound does not work on Android phones. To fix it, you need to enable the necessary notifications. For this, you can open the message notification settings in the following ways. You will reach the same screen from all methods. After opening, follow the tips outlined below for optimum results.
Method 1: From Phone Settings
Stage 1: Open Settings on your phone and go to Apps.
Step 2: Under All apps, tap your messaging app.
Stage 3: Tap on Notifications.
Method 2: App Shortcuts
On phones running Android 7.1 Nougat and higher, long press the Messages app icon on your home screen or app drawer and tap the app info or i icon. Tap on Notifications.
Method 3: From the Messages App
Open your phone’s messaging app and tap the three-dot icon at the top. Select Settings, then Notifications.
Message Notification Tips
Here are some tips you should use.
Enable Notifications
First of all, make sure the main toggle next to Show notifications is enabled. If it is off, you will not receive message notifications.
Enable Other Notifications
When the main notification toggle is enabled, the General, Incoming messages, Behavior, others, etc. Tap all notification categories like Any setting with a bar to the right includes more settings. Activate them too.
For that, turn on the Show notifications toggle inside each setting. Then select Alert instead of Silent. Also enable ‘Show popup on screen’ option.
Fly: The same settings may also be responsible for the ringer issue. Learn how to fix Android ringtone not working issue.
Change Default Notification Sound
Sometimes the sound you keep for your message notifications may have some issues. So try replacing it with a different melody. For that, inside all settings under Notifications tap on Sound. Choose a new tone.
6. Check Battery Optimization
You should also take a look at your battery optimization settings. If the Messages app is added to the list, you will receive delayed notifications or no notifications at all. To fix this, you need to remove the app from the battery optimization list. For this, go to Settings > Battery. Tap on Battery optimization or Sleeping apps and uncheck Messages. The steps may vary from phone to phone, but the basic concept is the same.
7. Check Do Not Disturb Settings
Most of the time, Do Not Disturb (DND) mode is enabled on the phone and therefore you may not receive notifications. A simple way to check if it is active is to look at the status bar. If you see a half-crescent icon or a bell or circle icon with a bar, it means DND is active.
To disable it, open Settings on your phone and go to Sound or Notifications. Disable the toggle next to Do not disturb. Sometimes, the programmed DND mode is activated. Disable it too. Also have a look at other settings in DND.
8. Check for Third-Party Apps
If you have third-party apps on your phone that can control notifications, you should disable them. These apps include security, battery saver or Clean Master, Notisave etc. such as antivirus applications.
9. Clear Cache
Clearing the cache and data for the default messaging app can also come in handy. It does not delete any of your messages.
To clear the cache, follow these steps:
Stage 1: Open Settings on your phone and go to Apps.
step 2: Tap the Messaging app, then tap Storage.
Stage 3: Tap on Clear cache and then Clear data. Restart your phone.
10. Reset App Preferences
Finally, if nothing works, you need to reset the app preferences for your phone. Doing so will not delete any of your data. A much better option than resetting your entire device. Only your settings will be reset to their default values. Find out in detail what happens by resetting app preferences.
To reset app preferences, open Settings on your phone and go to Apps. Open the All apps screen and tap the three-dot icon at the top. Select Reset app preferences from the menu.
Switch to Different App
If you’re still not getting notifications for your messages, switch to a different messaging app for a while. There are several third-party options available that offer great features at no extra cost. You can switch to Pulse, SMS Organizer or Textra.
Next: Wondering what RCS messaging everyone is talking about? You can find the answer in our next article.
Support our work ❤️
If you enjoyed this article, consider leaving a tip to help us keep publishing great content.
