Users have seen the “Unable to send message – message blocking is active” error on android or iPhone quite often, but it can be frustrating when sending an urgent message. Our everyday communication relies on text messaging, so any delays in getting information across could be heartbreaking.
Users of iPhone (iOS) or Android can see the “unable to send message – message blocking is active” error immediately after sending a text message. Users on other carriers may also find this guide helpful. T-Mobile has been the carrier with this issue for most users, but we’ve tried to explain it in a way that other carriers can understand. When the error “unable to send message – message blocking is active” occurs on android or iPhone, we will explore the options available to us.
Table of Contents
How can you tell if message blocking is active?
Your iPhone or Android device will display a message that says “unable to send message – message blocking is active.”. To resolve “message blocking is active” error, you must first check whether the receiver has blocked you or whether you have blocked them.
An outage unexpectedly occurred
There may be a service outage when you see error messages such as “unable to send message – message blocking is active.”. You should wait a few minutes or hours before trying again since your network provider might be performing maintenance.
Problems with shortcodes
The shortcode could also be the cause, according to T-Mobile. There were some “unable to send message – message blocking is active” errors on on android or iPhone caused by inactive or incorrect shortcodes. As long as this isn’t a problem on your end, it is a T-Mobile issue, so you need to contact them so their technicians can resolve it.
Text message restrictions for apps
The message “Recipient cannot receive message – message blocking is active.” means that a certain group of users cannot send messages to the recipient. Not all applications are seamless to integrate with your carrier. These applications might need to be manually allowed if you used any of them. You may not be able to resolve the issue on your own if there is no option to allow these applications.
Problems with data plans
It is also important to be sure that you are subscribed to the right plan. There may be a chance that your text message won’t go through if you’re on a Data only plan. An error message will appear stating that “unable to send message – message blocking is active”.
It is possible that you can send premium messages
If you are sending a premium message, make sure that the service you are using supports it. You mentioned earlier that you cannot send the message because your carrier does not support a premium text messaging service. It is important to ensure that the problem with the recipient is not the source of the problem here.
The following steps describe how to fix and unblock the “unable to send message – message blocking is active” issue on Android and iPhone.
Try any of these possible solutions if you want to fix “unable to send message – message blocking is active” error message. You are welcome to share your experience if you have succeeded with them.
How to resolve the “unable to send message – message blocking is active” error
Fix 1: Make sure the coverage of your network is adequate
In areas where the coverage is listed as None, no texts or calls will be able to be sent or received.
Fix 2: Does your phone seem to be active?
Visit the device settings section of your account to confirm your phone is active. Sending and receiving texts will be impossible if your account is listed as Suspended or Still Porting.
Fix 3: Can you send and receive text messages with your plan?
An earlier discussion was held about this. Check that Can Send/Receive Text Messages is enabled in your account device settings. If it isn’t, enable it. A number that cannot be enabled either has an inactive number or does not include text messaging in your plan.
Fix 4: Verify your country code
If the error was on an international text, you can check the country code using a Google search.
Here’s what you need to do to turn off “unable to send message – message blocking is active” on Android or iPhone
Fix 5: Start the process from scratch
There might be a problem with that number if you receive the “receiver unable to receive message – message blocking is active.” error on just one phone. It might need to be updated. Retry after deleting and resaving the number.
Fix 6: Swapping the SIM cards after ejecting them
Your Samsung phone can be used to send messages with a different SIM card if you switch SIM cards. When this works, it is probably the SIM card that has failed. If you are unable to send text messages, check with your SIM provider to see if that is the case.
How can I turn off “unable to send message – message blocking is active” problem message on Android or iPhone?
Fix 7: The recipient should unblock you if they’ve blocked you.
If you still receive the “unable to send message – message blocking is active” error on android or iPhone, you may want to ask the person to unblock you. It’s possible to find out whether you are blocked or not by calling the number. When it doesn’t connect, you may have been blocked or you may have blocked the person. The other solutions in this article might have to be used if the calls fail to go through.
How to fix the error message that says “Unable to send message – Message blocking is active” on Android or iPhone
Fix 8: Check the content of your messages
The problem has been resolved for some users by sending only plain text in messages. Perhaps the other non-plain-text parts of the message were responsible for this error. If the message has any attachments, emojis, images, or graphics, you may want to remove them and re-send it.
Having problems receiving messages on Android or iOS (iPhone)? Which one of these solutions fixed your “message blocking is active” error on android or iPhone? Let me know in the comments.
Fix 9: Reset Your Device To Factory Settings
As a last resort, we could do a complete factory reset of our device. You can accomplish this by going to Settings >> selecting Reset >> selecting Factory Data Reset >> filling out all the required information and perform a complete factory reset of your phone. This should work if you try it, though you should be very careful not to try it before the end.
This guide explains how to disable message blocking is active on iPhone 6, 7, 8, XR, 12 and 13
In the following section of this article, we’ll talk about how you can disable message blocking on your iPhone.
As we tested and fixed, we discovered a few things iPhone users should review [in addition to the ones we recommend for Android users; you can also take a look at those]. As there are a few things that we didn’t mention here that could be helpful] if they see the following error: Unable to send message – Message Blocking is active on android or iPhone. They could involve anything from tweaking an option in the settings to updating the entire software. Since we organized the fixes from the simplest to the most advanced, you should try them in the order we arranged them. Make sure the issue occurs again by restarting your phone.
Fix 1: Make sure the recipient information is entered correctly
As many issues relating to messaging and emailing result from incorrectly entering the recipient’s information, we recommend trying this first. Text messages or emails won’t reach their intended recipient if they miss a number or a letter. Sending an email or phone message should only be done after verifying the recipient’s email address or phone number.
Fix 2: Swapping SIM cards after ejecting them
Your Samsung phone can be used to send messages with a different SIM card if you switch SIM cards. The SIM card may also be faulty, in which case it may be the cause of your problems. If you are unable to send text messages, check with your SIM provider to see if that is the case.
Fix 3: iMessage should be turned off
You can isolate the problem and fix it by turning off iMessage. Turn off iMessage and test with regular texting, and the culprit in this case will be iMessage, as your iPhone has both.
You can turn iMessage off by navigating to Settings >> Messages >> Turn iMessage OFF. The person can send you a text message if you are unable to communicate with them via telephone. Next, if this fix does not work, try another.
Fix 4: Send text messages using iMessage
In order to troubleshoot iMessage, we will attempt to send a message using it.
To accomplish this, make sure your iPhone has a strong internet connection (you can turn off your iMessage feature if you don’t have an internet connection or a data plan) >> go into Settings >> select Messages >> select Send & Receive >> tap on your Apple ID >> and select Sign Out >> restart your iPhone >> go into Settings >> select Messages >> and tap Use Your Apple ID for iMessage.
Fix 5: Check the network quality and coverage
The iMessage app relies on an internet connection, so it’s important to have a good connection. If other internet-based apps on your phone are functioning properly, you don’t need to reset your network settings. This is often recommended. You may need to check the internet connection by trying any other applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Google Chrome. If they can’t send a message, it has less to do with your text messaging and more to do with your phone.
Fix 6: Do They Have Blocked Access? Or Are You the Blocked One?
The most recommended method to get rid of Message Blocking is Active on iPhone and Android is by using this method. Both of you will receive this message if your messages are blocked: Unable to send messages – Message Blocking is active.
Fix 7: Check the iOS version on your iPhone and update it to the latest version
Check to see if you have the latest software on your device. The iPhone software updates are more important than Android updates. It is the software updates that separate the first three iPhones from the last three.
If your iPhone is old or if you haven’t updated in quite some time, you may not be receiving new OTA (over-the-air) updates. Check for Apple software updates by going to Settings >> General >> Software Updates and installing any available updates.
Fix 8: To Fix Message Blocking On iPhone, Do A Complete Factory Reset
In the end, a complete reset of our device would be the best option.
You will be prompted to enter your Apple ID password and PIN code to turn off Find My iPhone service > the screen will go blank, an Apple logo will appear, and a progress bar will appear – when the reset is complete, you will be greeted with “Hello” flashes in different languages.
How to Disable Message Blocking Is Active on Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S20, Galaxy S22, Galaxy A20, Galaxy J3, Galaxy J7
You can apply all the fixes we recommend for android phones on a Samsung smartphone, and here are some that are specifically designed for Samsung Galaxy phones.
Fix 1: You can fix this by turning on premium SMS on your Samsung Galaxy phone
There is no premium SMS feature on the Samsung phone, so if you’re trying to fix the “unable to send message – message blocking is active” error, you’ll want to look there.
You can do this by going to Settings >> selecting Apps >> clicking the three dots in the upper right corner of your screen >> choosing Premium Text Message Services >> selecting your APP and selecting Always Allow if you receive a popup about allowances.
Fix 2: Ejecting the SIM cards and swapping them
Try switching the SIM cards in your Samsung phone so you can message with a different SIM card. If you still experience the problem, it may be an issue with your SIM card. If you are unable to send text messages, check with your SIM provider to see if that is the case.
In the unlikely event that all else fails, it may be necessary to do a complete factory reset of the phone. Go to Settings >> select Reset >> click Factory Data Reset >> enter the required information and do a complete factory reset of your phone to return it to default settings. If you try this, things should work, but you should be aware that it has to be your last resort.
Messages are blocking issue on Lycamobile with “Message Blocking is Active” error on Android or iPhone
When you experience the message blocking is active message problem on Lycamobile, we have a few different fixes. Beginning in 2020, Lycamobile will block messages when your plans expire and you have not recharged.
- Lycamobile’s Message Blocking Is Active Text Messages Problem can be solved on android or iPhone by purchasing a plan on their website. After purchasing a plan for as little as $19, users haven’t seen this issue anymore.
- If you want messages to start sending, you should turn off the Wi-Fi. Disabling Wi-Fi seems to have resolved this issue for some users and they are now able to send messages on Lycamobile
- As well, we recommend using another smartphone with the Lycamobile sim card. Sim-related issues can be device-specific, so in some cases, it has been helpful to switch sims to another device.
- Lycamobile’s text message problem can also be resolved by isolating the issue. If you are unable to send from your phone to email, we recommend seeking help from Lycamobile. This is found by going to Settings >> Networks >> Mobile Networks >> Access Point Name >> Input and Save the recommended settings from Lycamobile.
- You can also check if your device has Lycamobile’s preferred message center settings to get rid of this Lycamobile text messages problem. Message Center >> Messaging >> Message Settings >> Sending Profiles >> Tap on the first profile to see if it is compatible with the latest Lycamobile message center.
The following steps are to be taken on a Metro PC when Message Blocking is active:
- The most common cause of Message Blocking is Active on Metro PCs is that you’re not allowed to use a feature included in your plan. This issue can most likely be resolved by upgrading or subscribing to your plan if you cannot make international calls from the US, Canada, United Kingdom, or Australia.
- Checking the SIM card is another way to determine if the problem exists. See if you can use your sim on another device by switching devices. It might be a good idea to check to see if something is wrong if that is the case. Also, you might try a network reset, as your message preferences or network might be malfunctioning.
- If you would like to have your smartphone and sim card’s message features updated, you can contact Metro Pcs. Many customers have found this to be the solution for their issue.
- The recipient should also be considered. Metro PCs might show message blocking if the recipient does not have their phone bill paid for.
On Metro PCs, can your phone still send and receive text messages if it’s disconnected?
Getting your Metro PCS phone service disconnected will not allow you to receive or send direct calls or texts. Whenever someone tries to text you, they will receive an error message saying either ‘Subscriber unavailable; service blocked’ or ‘Message blocking is on’. Additionally, their messages are stored on the provider’s computer system for a limited period.
Use of apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage, Instagram, and the like, which require a data connection, entitles you to only receive texts. Additionally, you can use apps such as Google voice, sidekick, pinger, textplus, textnow, burner, wickr, backchat, Twilio, or textfree to communicate with secondary numbers.
Why you should use Premium Message Blocking
Shortcode or service codes, such as *1804#, 920318, etc., can be intercepted with premium message blocking. These codes usually consist of five to seven digits. Reverse billing content can be blocked using this feature. This includes content such as;
- Firstly, you can download SMS ringtones, wallpapers, etc.
- Secondly, you can donate by texting xxx (text donation).
- Thirdly, you can vote by texting xxx.
- Provides subscription services, such as daily news, jokes, and weather reports.
Furthermore, a variety of standard messages such as one-time pins, fraud alerts, promotional codes, and security codes will be blocked.
Shortcodes that send information or respond STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, or CANCEL to unwanted shortcode content should be whitelisted to avoid blocking essential standard messages.
In most cases, you are charged for premium content. While premium messages cost more than any other type of message, the price varies according to the content and provider. A premium message could cost you anywhere between 45 cents and $7.
When texts are blocked, do they say they were delivered?
You won’t see Delivered in iMessages if you’re blocked – you’ll see Not Delivered instead. Messages sent in this manner reach the server, but will not reach their destination. Messages are sent and delivered in the same way for WhatsApp; a single tick indicates that a message has been sent. A single tick will appear if you are blocked; otherwise, a double tick will appear.
The iPhone does not indicate if texts (SMS) have been blocked, so regular texts cannot be detected if they have been blocked. The recipient’s device must be connected to the internet, otherwise your texts will not appear as delivered – they will be marked as Not Delivered. So, you should ask yourself directly whether you have been blocked.
What is the most best way to see if a person has blocked texts from you?
The person blocking your iMessage messages will instead show Not Delivered or the device will sit there with no confirmation or automated response instead of Delivered or Do Not Disturb. Your recent texts to the person may indicate Delivered, but prior texts may indicate Blocked. Due to the fact that SMS texts on iPhone are not usually confirmed, you cannot know if they have been blocked.
When your WhatsApp messages are blocked, they will only show as a single tick, indicating that they were sent but not delivered. In some cases, the person’s picture might also be missing when this happens. You can check if they are blocking your texts on an Android device by deleting their contact and seeing if it reappears as a suggested contact. If it does, they haven’t blocked you.
You can also call someone to find out if they are blocking your texts. The only time you hear a ring if you have been blocked is a brief one, barely a full ring, before getting disconnected or going to voicemail. A voicemail left for a recipient will be sent to Blocked Messages, a separate section of that recipient’s voicemail, and they will not be notified.
When Someone Blocks My Text Messages, How Do I Know?
When a text message is sent, does that mean it is blocked?
You are not blocked if a text message is sent. This usually indicates a poor network connection, no internet access, or an inability to use iMessage. If Send as SMS is enabled on your iPhone, the message will be sent automatically as a text message. Messages>Settings>Messages can be toggled on/off to enable Send as SMS.
Does it matter if someone has blocked me if I want to text them?
A free texting service, social media, or internet messaging are the best ways to send a text to someone who has blocked you. You can use Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, or Viber to contact the person who blocked you if you are not blocked on those platforms. An anonymous email can also be sent to the person’s phone through an online text messaging service. Sending a regular email, spoofing your number, or texting them with another number is possible if you have the recipient’s email address.
There are other alternatives, such as sending a letter or using a burner phone or an anonymous messaging service such as flash SMS, sendanonymoussms, pinger, Twilio, textmagic, infobip, nexmo, text plus, textem, textforfree, or txtdropanontxt.
When a message is sent unsuccessfully, is this a sign of being blocked?
I’m not sure which way it goes but you may be blocked if you do not send any messages. Not Delivered messages instead of Delivered or Read messages indicate that you have been blocked. There is also a possibility that the message is too large, that the device is not connected to the internet, that iMessage is disabled, or that the device has been turned off. Android users may encounter similar issues.
An Android phone can block an iPhone message, but how does that work?
It will not be possible for you to see an iPhone’s SMS blocked on an Android device. Since regular texts (SMS) on iPhone often do not indicate whether they have been blocked, there is no way to determine if they have been blocked. When you send a WhatsApp message, you will only see a single tick on the message that indicates that it was sent, but not delivered. In addition, the person may not be able to post a status update or change their profile picture.
Is It Possible To Unblock Premium Messages On The iPhone?
Your service provider will need to activate or deactivate premium message blocking on your iPhone before you can unlock premium messages. Currently, you can only disable SMS, MMS, and iMessage for premium messages on the iPhone. Verify that you haven’t blocked the shortcode or service code if you are experiencing problems with premium messages. In addition, make sure you have sufficient airtime to send premium messages on your iPhone and that SMS is enabled.
Your iPhone’s blocked number management can be found in Settings >> Phone >> Blocked Contacts. The blocked numbers will appear here. iMessage, Send As SMS, and MMS Messaging must be enabled to use SMS on iPhone.
Here’s how you can see your blocked messages on iPhone and Android
Android users can see messages from blocked contacts by following these steps:
- Navigate to your messaging app
- In the above right end of the screen is a menu symbol consisting of three vertical dots.
- From the list, select Blocked Messages.
- A list of messages you have received from blocked contacts will appear.
- The message can also be deleted or restored by pressing and holding it until some options appear, then choosing either Delete or Restore
Messages sent from blocked contacts are not visible on your iPhone. A blocked contact can never text you, call you, or send you iMessages, so you cannot retrieve their messages. It is only possible to view them on the person’s phone through the Messages app.
Find out how to turn off the message blocker on Android.
You can either unblock the contact you are attempting to contact or enable premium SMS to turn off message blocker on Android.
Here’s how to unblock contacts:
- Go to the Settings app.
- Locate the phone icon and click on it.
- Then, click on the option for calling blocking and identification
- The contacts you have blocked will appear on screen
- By clicking Edit or swiping left on the contact you are trying to contact, you can unblock them
Another Way:
- Open up your messaging app
- Select the menu icon (three vertical dots) on the top left corner
- You can remove the spam numbers by selecting Settings >> Spam filter
- To contact the contact, hold down the contact’s name
- Click the Delete button
Unblock the contact in other messaging or phone apps where you may have blocked them.
Steps for enabling premium SMS:
- Navigate to Settings, then click More
- Scroll to Application Manager, then tap Messages
- Tick Always allow premium SMS in the box
Next to What are the Best Apps to Block Text Messages?
The following apps can be used to block text messages on Android:
- Caller ID – phone dialer, call blocker
- Text blocker
- Blocking SMS
- Calls Blacklist
- Truecaller
- Call blocker and SMS blocker
- Firewall call & SMS blocker
- Mood messenger
- Call control
- Google Messages
- Hiya caller ID & block
- Phone by google
- Blacklist
- Root call SMS manager
- SMS Blocker
- Block calls & block SMS
You can use the following apps to block text messages on your iPhone:
- SMS shield for iPhone
- Truecaller
- SMS blocker for iPhone
- Call bliss
- VeroSMS
- Mr. number lookup & call block
- Hiya caller ID and block.
Is It Possible To Stop A Sending Message From Being Sent?
Turn on airplane mode before a message is sent to stop it from being sent. When it doesn’t send, delete it and disable airplane mode. When there is a picture or a video attached to a message, or when the message itself is a picture or video, it is easier to stop it from sending. You may not be able to stop it unless your network coverage is poor since texts tend to transmit faster than pictures.
If you send the text before you have time to stop it, then you can’t recall it – but you can rush over to the phone you sent it to and delete it before the recipient sees it.
It is the same for WhatsApp messages – if you want to prevent a WhatsApp message from sending, simply turn ON airplane mode to cut off the internet connection, causing the message to fail. The Delete for Everyone option in WhatsApp lets you delete the message for all parties after it’s been sent. The recipient will nonetheless know that the message was deleted.
Alternatively, you can stop a text message from sending on an Android phone by following the exact same method or by going to Menu >> Settings >> Manage applications >> All >> Messages and tapping Force stop.
How To Send An Anonymous Message On An Android Phone
Here are some options for sending anonymous text messages on Android:
- Signal
- Textme up
- Phoner
- Anonytext
- SpoofCard app
- Anonymoustexting
- Cover me.
- Whisper app
- Text me
- Anonymous SMS
- Mustache anonymous texting
- Linphone
- Private text messaging & calls
If you want to send an anonymous text, you can use apps like Google voice, sidekick, pinger, textplus, textnow, burner, wickr, backchat, Twilio, or textfree. You can send anonymous texts online without downloading an app or software by visiting sites such as anonymoustext.com, pinger.com, textem.net, textforfree.net, txtemnow.com, sendanonymoussms.com, textport.com, txt2day.com, textsendr.com, opentextingonline.com, and globofone.com.
An anonymous email can also be sent. Follow these steps:
- Sign up for a new Gmail account using a random name
- Look up the person’s carrier on carrierlookup.com with their phone number.
- You will need the carrier’s domain along with the number. The domain would be @tmail.net, for example, if the number is 000123789 and the carrier is T-Mobile. Your address would therefore be 000123789.
- Your new email address would be [email protected]
- If you want it to look like a standard text message, leave the subject blank
- blank
- blank. Click Send, and the person will receive an anonymous text message
Wrapping Up
You start to wonder if you have been blocked when you see the ‘message blocking is active’ error. If you get blocked, it’s a lot less fun than blocking someone. Read through this article to learn how to determine if you are actually blocked and how to fix the ‘message blocking is active’ error.
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