How to Fix the “Message Blocking is Active” on Android and iOS

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Did you receive a notification on your phone saying “Message Blocking Is Active” while trying to send a text? Or maybe someone falsely assumed you had blocked them and got upset with you because they got the same notification?

Many users have seen the “free msg: unable to send message – message blocking is active.” error a couple of times, which could get tiring, especially when we need to send an urgent message. And the fact that text messaging is a very vital part of our communication every day, any issues with getting information across in a short time can be frustrating.

This article will explain what “message blocking is active” means and walk you through the solutions.

What Does “Message Blocking is Active” Mean?

When “message blocking is active” displays when you attempt to send a message on your phone (Android or iPhone), one of the most typical reasons is that you have blocked the other person or vice versa. You could try to verify this by contacting each other and seeing if the call goes through or not. In addition, you might have inadvertently enabled parental controls in some cases. As a result, you’ve blocked your phone from sending messages, or the recipient has added your phone number to the block or blacklist.

COPYRIGHT_NOVA: Published on https://www.novabach.com/i/message-blocking-is-active/ by Daniel Barrett on 2022-09-25T00:41:13.000Z

Why is Message Blocking Active?

Here’s a list of the possible reasons why the “message blocking is active” notification might show up.

Blocklist

A blocklist is one of the most typical reasons for message blocking is active notification popping up. It’s essentially when either the sender or the receiver is a part of the blocked contacts lists of each other. You could try to verify this by contacting each other and seeing if the call goes through or not. In addition, you might have inadvertently enabled parental controls in some cases.

Service Outage

The “free msg: unable to send message – message blocking is active.” error message could mean you have a service outage. So you’d want to give it a few minutes or hours before retrying as there is a chance that your network provider is doing maintenance and might have paused the messaging service.

Short Code Issue can Cause the “Message Blocking is Active” Error

The Short Code issue seems to explain why a lot of T-Mobile users are experiencing this issue. However, you will need the guidance of experienced technicians to solve this problem.

Text Message App Restrictions

The “free msg: recipient unable to receive message – message blocking is active.” error would mean that the recipient has restricted messages coming from a specific group of users. In addition, some messaging applications might have issues working seamlessly with your carrier. If you use such applications, you might have to check to see if you can manually allow these applications. If there isn’t an option to enable these applications, you might not be able to resolve this issue independently.

Unsuitable Plan

In this case, you might have picked an option that doesn’t allow your phone to receive or send premium messages. Even though this feature used only a couple of messaging apps, it’s still a required prerequisite for them to work effectively.

Data Plan Issues can Cause the “Message Blocking is Active” Error

You also want to be sure of your data plan subscription. For example, if you are trying to send text messages from a Data only plan, then there’s a chance that the message wouldn’t go through, and you’ll get this error message.

Basic Troubleshooting Steps:

Restart your device.
Turn off Wi-Fi to make sure you’re using your device network.
Check whether the number you’re messaging is on the device Block or Spam List. If it is, you won’t be able to text that number.
Update the time and date on your device and enable auto-update.
Uninstall any downloaded messaging apps.
Contact your carrier and ask them to guide you to ensure the short message service center (SMSC) setting is accurate.
(Android only): Clear the messaging app cache a & b steps is a guess, not knowing what device is having the trouble. Check your device settings for device maintenance or device care.
App cache: Choose Email & Messaging > Manage messages.
SMSC setting: Choose Apps & Accessories > Manage apps.
(Apple only): Check the following: Is the text being sent through iMessage? If so, see iMessage Help instead. If you or your contact had an iPhone and switched recently, turn off or unregister iMessage & FaceTime. iPhones continue sending via iMessage until it’s turned off, so you’ll miss these texts if your phone doesn’t have iMessage.
Update your device software to the latest version.
Delete texts and text threads. You can back these up beforehand using apps from the app store.
If available, try texting the same number using another device or other means other than your cell phone. This test will help determine if the person on the receiving end of the text has turned on a feature returning blocking active.

Check if the Number or Email Address is Correct

Make sure that you’re using the correct phone number or email address. If necessary, delete the contact entirely from your phone, and re-add the recipient as a new contact with the valid phone number (including the area code). Next, go to Settings > Messages > Blocked and ensure they’re not on your block list.

Check if Coverage is Available in Your Area

If you’re in an area where coverage is listed as “None,” you won’t be able to make calls or send texts. To make sure that voice service is available where you are, plug your address into our map and check your voice coverage.

An area with no coverage will show up in white.

Confirm That Your Phone Number is Active

To confirm that your phone number Is active, you can check the status of your phone number by going to the Device settings page in your account and see if the status of your phone is listed as “active.”

If your number is suspended or still porting, those statuses will show up here, and you will not be able to send or receive text messages.

Try to Send Plain Text to Fix the “Message Blocking is Active”

To test whether you can send a text message, send a message with just plain text. That means taking out emojis, graphics, pictures, ringtones, wallpapers, signatures, sounds, symbols, or attachments.

Try Calling the Number in Question

If there’s a specific number that you’re having trouble texting, try calling that number. Voice and text messages travel over the same part of the network, so if you can call the number you’re trying to text, you should also be able to text. If you can reach that number by calling but not with a text message, this may indicate that the receiver has a block of some sort in place. If you get a “message blocking active” error when you try, they may not have had messaging enabled or have a block in place.

Conversely, if someone can call you but they get a “message blocking active” error, you may have their number blocked for texting, or you may need to check that you have text messaging enabled.

Are Messaging Services Enabled on Your Account?

To confirm that text messaging is enabled on your account, go to the Device settings page for your phone and make sure that “Can send/receive text messages” is “Enabled.”

If there is no edit icon at the top of the Messages section (i.e., you can’t update your text messaging settings), the number is not active.

If someone texting you is getting a “Message Blocking Active” error, this may also mean that you don’t have text messaging enabled.

Confirm the Country Code for International Texts

If you’re texting internationally, ensure you enter the country code correctly. A quick online search will help you find the correct country code.

Confirm Your Email-to-text Address with any Senders

If someone is trying to use email-to-text to contact you, ensure that they’ve entered your address correctly. It should be @tmomail.net (i.e., 5555555555@tmomail.net).

Remember, email-to-text only supports regular text messaging, so if someone is trying to send you a picture or video message, it will not come through via email-to-text.

Power Cycle or Soft Reset Your Phone and Remove the SIM Card

Shut your phone down by holding and pressing the power button on a smartphone or the Call End button on a feature phone. If you have a removable battery, remove it and the SIM card for about 30 seconds after shutting the phone down. If your battery is not removable, then remove the SIM card. Then reinsert the battery and SIM card and power the phone back up.

How do I Know if Someone Blocked Me From Text Messaging on Their Phone?

If you don’t get replies from whoever you’re texting, it doesn’t mean they blocked you.

First, look for the delivered text right below your message:

If that appears, then chances are your friend or whoever you’ve been messaging is not near their phone or doing something else. If they blocked you, your phone knows not to carry the text, so you will not see that delivered.

Now, if you are texting with someone on an Android device while you have an iPhone or vice versa, the messages are called SMS messages, and as well as the messages themselves, the send button will also be green:

If you’re sending an SMS Message, it will take significantly longer to deliver the message, so don’t count on it delivering immediately. If it takes a while to deliver, there’s just a lot of traffic between iOS and Android phones sending text messages to each other.

Also read: How to Fix “Message+ not Working” on Verizon

However, if you see the error sending a message and you have all of the following:

Adequate Wi-Fi
Data at three bars or more
Your friend has adequate Wi-Fi
You know they have good data

Then, there is a chance that they may have blocked you. Don’t fret; however, this chance is slim compared to the circumstances of the other possibilities. When you see this: “Couldn’t send” or “Not Delivered.”

Then there is a chance that the intended receiver has blocked you. However, here are some other things that may have happened:

You send a text to the wrong number.
You do not have service.
Not connected to Wi-Fi.
Your friend is not connected to Wi-Fi.
Your friend does not have access to data.
You are attempting to text an android user or vice versa.
Your phone is outdated (at this moment, iOS 8 or below doesn’t support text to other devices).

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