Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Fixing iPhone Texting Problem

iOS 7 has a known texting issue where a text will not go through to the recipient and, instead, you will get an error message that reads "invalid 10-digit number or short code." Here is how to fix that problem:

1. Delete the Contact you are trying to send the text to.

2. Delete all message threads with that Contact.

3. Open a new message and start typing in the Contact's name. When the Contact's name appears in the drop down list, tap on the "i" in circle icon and tap "Remove from Recents."

4. Type in full 10-digit contact number and send a test text. If it goes through, the issue is resolved and you can add the person back into your contact list. If the test did not go through, call your wireless provider and ask for additional help.

52 comments:

  1. Super helpful, thank you for saving me countless time (again) trying to deal with the bobble heads in the store who looked at me last time like I had ten heads. worked perfectly.

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  2. I've tried this solution but it did not work for me. Any other ideas before I call my wireless provider?

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    1. Sorry, I don't. It took me several times to find a knowledgeable rep at my wireless provider who knew the answer.

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  3. I had tried several things but this one worked like a charm. Thank You..

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  4. worked! finally fixed. Thanks!

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  5. This worked perfectly on my new iPhone 6+. Thank you!

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  6. Wha Do I do if theres no "i" next to the contact?

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    1. Sorry ... I don't know. All I can suggest is to contact your wireless provider.

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    2. It has to do with your phone identifying a particular number associated to the text. It may be trying to text their house number other land line that doesn't receive texts. If need be, re-arraing the contact so that the cell phone is first. Delete the texting thread and make sure your new thread is texting their cell number not the home or office line.

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  7. I have found that the fixes above may work for some, but it did not for me. However, deleting ALL previous communications with the number involved, and then resetting just "network settings" has worked for me.

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  8. I could receive a text, but could not answer it. I tried all combinations of these steps, to no avail. Finally, I added the area code (which I should not have needed) and made sure that the DIAL ASSIST was in the ON position (settings - phone), and magically the texts are NOW going through. (IPhone 6)

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  9. I have one cell number giving me a problem. I can receive a test and make phone calls to this one cell number but I simply cannot send a txt to this number, even if I reply back to the sender. I have tried all the above remedies, but to no avail. I get the same error code as the others above telling me the number is invalid and to use a 10 digit number. This is so frustrating! Any other suggestions or fixes? I have an iPhone 5S, IOS 8.3 software. My carrier is AT&T.

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    1. Same issue here after updating to 8.3. Called Apple and here is the solution: Delete the contact and all associated texts, etc. Power down your phone. Turn it back on and go here: Settings|General|Reset. Select: Reset Network Settings. Once this process is complete, re-add the contact and test it. It worked for me. I also have a 5S and use ATT.

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    2. Thank you! I had done everything you suggested - just not in that sequence. It worked!!!!! THANK YOU!!!

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    3. Thank you so much! I did as suggested above and it worked! Thank you so much!!

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    4. I have this same problem as well. I don't know how to find associated texts. I hesitate to delete things. I have never done it. I just now had it happen with a brand new number. It's a good ph number. I don't know if it goes to a cell or to a dialup landline, tho, but I get the same error that other numbers have given me. There are NO ASSOCIATED TEXTS with this new number. There is NO CONTACT. I just typed the correct ph# in and sent a text to it and got that error. Help?

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  10. I have exact problem that also began today 4/15. Any idea yet?

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  11. Ok. Someone please help me. I have one contact that this is happening with. I have done absolutely everything recommended above, even resetting network settings! it is still happening with this one contact! I am so frustrated! I am seriously going to smash this stupid phone into a million pieces! I cannot believe with everything that technology can do these days, this issue is even happening! Ridiculous!

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  12. Same here...ready to absolutely scream. Deleted contact, messages, message history, back ups etc. Still can text to one number! I can call the number, but texts will not go through. Any ideas...anyone...

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  13. I ran into this problem after accidentally entering a 7 digit number for a new contact. I tried everything listed on this thread and elsewhere on the net - deleting the contact, the message history, the phone call history; searching and removing from the recents list, resetting network settings, restarting the phone, and even resetting 'all settings' but nothing worked - whenever I would attempt to send to the 10 digit number I would get back the 'invalid number' text referencing the 7 digit number.

    Finally I came up with a work-around: you should be able to trick the phone by switching out one of the last 7 digits for the corresponding letter on the phone keypad - for example instead of 5121234567 use 512123456p. This at least lets me text the offending number, but it is not ideal as I can't reply back directly in the same text thread - I have to go back to the work-around number to send a reply.

    This was an INFURIATING problem and really puts a dent in my opinon of Apple that they have let this issue fester for years, apparently. How hard could it possibly be to simply use the number currently associated with the contact, or reply back to the same number received from?

    Anyway do try all the other fixes first, but switching out a number for a letter might just help as a last resort. Good luck.

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    1. In a million years I never thought this would work and yet it was the only solution that proved successful. Change the last digit to the corresponding letter. Who'd of thunk it

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    2. Great, it DID work, thanks so much for posting!!!

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    3. worked like a charm!!!

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    4. This was the only solution that worked out of all suggestions on this page and others.

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    5. After getting it to text successfully after changing final digit to a letter, I then used that number to create a new contact. Then I edited the new contact and changed the letter back to a number, and texting still works so it seems to be a permanent fix.

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    7. Rebecca make sure you delete the contact and the recent as stated in previous post. Then start new message and use a letter other than p at the end of the number.. send the number a text and then try to save it under contacts and edit.

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    8. Absolutely BRILLIANT. Thanks Phil Dennis. It works. Remarkable sleuthing and creative problem solving. Also, I tried changing other digits in the number, not just the last, and also using one of the alternate letter-equivalents, and that worked too. It seems that by "corrupting" the number (but in fact just expressing it in an alternative way), we overcome the apparent corruption suffered in the cache of the iPhone's messages and/or the iPhone contacts and/or the Carrier's cache [I lean towards the latter, given what did not work]. BTW, one can also make voice calls to the letter version of the number. What did NOT work were the seemingly good suggestions of deleting Message Conversations, deleting contact, rebooting, fiddling with iMessage vs SMS, etc (ok, I did not try the draconian full-phone-reset). iPhone 6, iOS 8.3. H2Owireless that is basically an AT&T reseller. H2owireless Tech support has twice failed to solve this problem for me.

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    9. It worked when I replaced a number with a letter, but when I added it as a new contact and edited it I received the same error message. Any suggestion on why it may not have worked

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    10. What is the last digit is a 1? There is no corresponding letter for that one. Can I change the number before the last?

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    11. Thanks! This one worked for me, even when the others hadn't!

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    12. Worked for me! Fixed two numbers I was able to text by making the last number the corresponding letter in the message screen. Replying to texts from those numbers is not as streamlined anymore as must reply by going into contacts, selecting the contact and selecting "Send Message".

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    13. Thank you!! Had tried everything and this worked!! Hope Apple can fix this with an update soon!

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    14. Thank you Phil! I read through dozens of messages from people with this problem on this and other blogs. I tried several fixes, none of which worked for me. I was speaking with an AT&T representative who had no idea how to fix it. I happened to stumble upon your suggestion while I was speaking with her, and it worked. I told her about your solution, and she said she added it to her troubleshooting toolbox. Thanks again!

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  14. I have this problem with just one number. None, repeat NONE, of these solutions solve the problem. If I had not paid $600 for this excellent phone which is burdened with SUCH COMPLETELY SHITTY SOFTWARE WHICH SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN RELEASED, I would be inclined to throw it into a river. Come on, Apple. A company which can develop the Watch cannot get something as simple as an address book right? If Jobs were alive he would have someone's liver on a plate rather than let this kind of shit out to an innocent public. It is absurd that people should have to resort to the kind of hackery described by Phil Dennis just to make a basic everyday utility work "properly".

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  15. None of the above has worked...with the exception of using a letter for the last digit.... which is only a band aid on a broken arm. Very frustrating. The last recommendation from AT&T was to reset phone to factory defaults. A tedious and feeling somewhat onerous task. The sh**heads at the Apple store were useless. First time in 4 years I am thoroughly fed up with Apple. Just venting...have a good day.

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  16. I continued to have this same problem even after deleting the contact info, all phone communication, and other suggestions as listed above. I then came across several text messages sent out to a group that could have included the problem cell number. Once I deleted those group messages, the problem was solved. I can now text without any issue. Good luck, all.

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  17. This is not an Apple issue, happens with all makes of phones on all carriers as well

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    1. Doen't happen with either of my GF's phones, neither are iphones.

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  18. Adding the correspondence letter as the last number is the only thing that worked for me. I can live with that I guess.

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  19. I have found if you send using [ ] instead of ( ) around the area code and send to the problematic number it will work and you can then add and save to contacts

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  20. I fixed mine by.....
    Deleting all current texts.
    Deleting the full contact of the person
    Turn off and back on Phone.
    Recreated contact without last name (just so it was different from the original)
    Sent text and it worked.

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  21. This worked but it's still frustrating:

    Do what "Anonymous" above said. Use brackets on the area code instead of parentheses. When this person replies back or starts a new text, you'll have to use the bracketed number instead of replying to theirs.

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  22. had this problem for the first time this morning. I tried creating contact without last name. no luck. brackets around area code worked for me. frustrating because it's my husband's number that this happened with.

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  23. I just fixed it by accident. The contact I was texting kept coming back to me as an error. After deleting and re entering his info numerous times and having nothing but failure I noticed next to his phone number in the contacts section it said "HOME". I simply deleted it and placed his number next to "MOBILE" and it worked like a charm. Hope this helps.

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  24. If it's only happening for one number, try having the other person reboot their phone and possibly reset their network settings. This was happening to me with one number and the issue was with the other person's phone.

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    1. In our case my wife and I have identical iphone 5s's there is a certain person that my wife is having the kick back problem with..me with the same info have no problem sending to this person.. Using the letter instead of a number on the last number fixed the issue for my wife but it is a half ass fix as you can't really text back forth in a normal fashion...

      Not everybody in this thread has identified their carrier but when I did a search of the thread I only found people mentioning AT&T..no mention of Verizon or T-mobile...Is this an APPLE issue or an AT&T issue..don't know as of yet but it is certainly an annoying inconvenience in this amazing high tech digital communication world we live in...Hope as a collective we can get to the bottom of this and a full fix of the issue...

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  26. I tried most of the suggestions, then tried turning off iMessage--and bingo, I was able to get through

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  27. I tried all of this PLUS turned off Dial Assit in settings. It worked!

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  28. iMessages work! Just turn it off, send a text to the contact and it should go through. I was able to turn iMessages back on again and still txt the number.

    Thanks M B!

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  29. Super helpful!! Worked great! Thank you!

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