Troubleshoot incoming text message problems

Wireless network signal strength can vary by location due to a number of factors including distance from the nearest cell tower and obstacles in the environment.

If you have low signal strength, try moving to a location with better coverage. Concrete and steel buildings may interfere with the reception, especially in elevators and underground locations like basements, subways and tunnels.

Check our

coverage maps

to ensure you are covered by our network.

At times your device can lose its connection to the network. To re-establish a connection, place a call from your phone to any number. You can call your own number (this will access your voicemail) or another number. If you are able to make a call successfully you will re-establish your connectivity to the network. Undelivered text messages will be delivered in the next 5-10 minutes.

If you have access to another phone, place a call to your number to ensure receiving calls functionality is working as well.

Restarting your device, similarly to restarting a computer, helps clear minor glitches often resolving various issues.

Turn your phone off and on again then attempt to place a call.

If your device has a removable battery, remove the battery and put it back in before turning your phone on again.

Spam Filters and Blocked Numbers may cause your device to not receive text messages from certain numbers. You can check blocked and spam settings by following the instructions below:

or

Some devices may encounter glitches due to a large history in the messaging application.

On Apple devices, deleting some messages and messaging conversations can help with some issues.

On Android, you can also clear the messaging application cache (usually found in – – select the messaging app and ).

If you are a former iPhone user and have switched to another device you may experience problems receiving SMS or text messages from iPhone users. This is because Apple continues to route these text messages through iMessage.

To solve this problem, you can de-register your phone number from iMessage. Just follow the instructions on this page:

If text messages work, but picture and video ones are failing,

verify that your data is working

by opening a web page.

The TELUS network will store up to 100 text messages, and will attempt to deliver them for up to 5 days. If the messages are not delivered within that period they will be permanently deleted from the network.

Check for more help on our

Support Forums

.

Certain issues may need to be resolved through a TELUS Support Agent.

Contact us

for support using the chat window, or your preferred contact method.