“Those dreaded MMS messages are so frustrating! I can't them to automatically download, and even when I manually try to download it, sometimes it still doesn't even work!” This is the problem that many smartphone users go through. MMS messages not automatically downloading is widespread and extremely frustrating. There's no telling as to why MMS messages just won't work how they're supposed to without any tinkering, but with just a few minutes of your time, you can get your favorite text messaging app retrieving and downloading MMS without a hitch.
It's not a difficult process, and in most cases, it's the same series of steps for any text messaging app. And without further ado, here's how to get MMS messages to download automatically.
Setting up MMS auto-retrieval
Setting up MMS messages is pretty quick and easy, and we'll show you how that works with Google's default Android Messages app. Other apps may be slightly different, but the general idea is the same, so you should be able to follow along with this guide for whatever device you have.
When the app opens up, you're going to want to tap the three dots in the top right corner, then tap settings. This will take us into the regular settings for your messaging app.
Here, you'll want to tap Advanced and make sure Auto-download MMS is turned on. Also, check the setting right above it and verify that group MMS is turned on, just like you see in the screenshot.
Doing this should encourage your MMS messages to automatically download. However, even after following the prior steps, some people still have trouble with getting MMS messages to download properly. Here are a couple of ways to fix that problem:
1. Shut down, power on
The problem could be that your smartphone just needs to be restarted. It's normal for technology to get hung up and error out, and while it can happen quite frequently, it can be fixed by quickly restarting or powering your smartphone on and off. To do this, hold down the power button for a few seconds and select Power off. Once powered off, hold down the power button again for a few seconds and let it boot up. Alternatively, hold the power button down for a few seconds. When the menu appears, select Restart. Both of these messages should fix any errors or hang-ups your smartphone is having.
If that didn't work, you may need to move onto the next step.
2. Out with the old
Sometimes you just have way too many messages saved on your Android device. This can easily clog up your smartphone and cause it to experience some hang-ups. Head on through your list of saved messages and start clearing out text and MMS messages that you no longer need. This will not only free up some space on your Android device, but could fix the problem of having some MMS messages refuse to download as well.
If this didn't work, it might be time to take some more drastic measures.
3. Try a different app
If you're struggling with the built-in messaging app on your phone, try downloading Android Messages from the Play Store and set that up. Sometimes apps can just be weird, while a similar but different app will do the same thing with no issues.
There are tons of alternative messaging apps available to download, but if you think you can live without the limitations of MMS, you might try something that doesn't use your carrier's messaging network at all. Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and more all allow you to send text, pictures, videos, GIFs, and all kinds of files with significantly fewer restrictions. You'll have to set an account up at first, but you'll have a much better experience, too.
4. Clear the app's data
If using Android Messages does work, while Samsung's messaging app doesn't, or vice versa, you might just need to clear the malfunctioning app's data. This is easier than it sounds, don't worry.
First off, you'll want to go to Settings > Apps then scroll through the list to find whatever app is acting weird. This screen can look different depending on your phone and software version, but you're generally looking for a button that says Clear Data or Clear Cache. On newer versions of Android, that's usually accessed by tapping Storage on the app's page here.
From here, clearing the cache first is a good place to start. If that doesn't work, you can clear data for the entire app, which shouldn't delete your text messages, but you might want to make a backup first, just in case.
5. Hard reset
If the above methods haven't worked, it might be time to reset your smartphone. Before continuing with a factory reset, you'll want to make sure all of your data is backed up first. Go ahead and read this handy step-by-step guide on how to backup to the cloud we put together. Alternatively, in most cases, much of your app data is backed up to Google's servers. You might want to double check on that by going into Settings > Backup and Reset and making sure Back up my data is checked. If so, you can go ahead and follow the below steps.
Head into Settings > Backup and Reset and select Factory data reset. Follow the steps that the reset wizard takes you through, and then when initializing your smartphone again, make sure to select the option for restoring your device over starting fresh.
Closing
These steps should have fixed your woes with MMS messages. One thing to keep in mind is that some MMS issues have to deal with your carrier. For instance, sending an MMS message over 1MB on T-Mobile's network just won't work. Likewise, MMS messages sent to you over 1MB will have trouble downloading. If you have a particular picture or video you really want to share, it might be worth uploading it to Facebook or another social networking service and sharing it with your friends and family there.
If you're still having trouble retrieving and sending MMS messages, it might be worth contacting your carrier to see if there are any deeper, underlying issues at hand. Otherwise, if we helped you fix your issue, be sure to leave us a comment below!
Updated July 2019 to reflect newer versions of Android.
For me it was atuo-download MMS while roaming that was off, once I turned that on everything was perfectly fine!! Thanks for the walkthrough it worked
“Those dreaded MMS messages are so frustrating! I can’t them to automatically download, and even when I manually try to download it, sometimes it still doesn’t even work!”
I cant them to automatically download… I Just dont understand..
Doesn’t work if you have disabled Mobile Data. I suspect that is intentional, as the cell companies want to gouge you for EVERY penny they can get, and allowing you to do anything over your own home WiFi is forbidden. This is even with Google’s core-app-of-the-month Messages.
how to dl mms using wifi?
ThAnk you all for your suggestions. I have just got a Nokia 3 1 and could not receive picture messages. I finally tried APNs and changed from contract wap to paygwap and hurrah it worked.
Should have mentioned that you need to have data plan.
Xiaomi M1 A1 – network mobile required to send/receive MMS…
Finally! My MMS settings were OK, but just for fun I went to Settings/DataUsage and scrolled down to Messaging. A long-press gave me another page. At the very bottom was a checkbox for Restrict Background Data. I unchecked … problem solved! I had checked that box because my phone has limited data. Now I check/uncheck as needed.
none of this works for my particular problem. ironically unlike everyone else in the known world my mms wont download unless i have wifi turned on. forced downloads, updates that kill my battery, apps i dont want, im going back to a flip phone, f all this unnecessary horse sht.
Brad,
Any idea why on my new Moto E4 (with latest Nougat update), MMS wont work with data turned off?
The last five or six phones I’ve owned
(including a dirt cheap $20 Alcatel) automatically toggled data on and off in the background when sending or receiving an attachment, I now have to manually do it. Very frustrating. I’m using the stock messaging app and also tried Textra because someone said there was a setting for allowing automatic data toggling, but there is no such setting now. Any idea?
Thanks,
Eddie
Tried all that…still wont download picture messages
For some reason I cannot retrieve MMS msgs IF my Wifi is on. My old phone would automatically switch to 4g/lte and download it. Now if someone sends me anything I usually have to turn my Wifi off and have them resent it. It’s a pain in the ass. I have went thrust text settings and auto retrieve and all that but it doesn’t work. Brand new phone LG K7. Anyone else have this problem? I have AT and never had any issues till I got this phone.
Same problem with T-Mobile. I have to manually turn off Wi-fil.
downloaded the google messaging app for android…. problem solved
the wife has a STK phone 3g has received mms video`s but cant retrieve them even after trying your way ,do I just bin this piece of crap and buy her a new phone ???????????.
Your problem is probably AT&T. They almost never get MMS from other carriers because they have their own way of interpretting the file and it seldom works
I finally got mms message to download on my Tracfone LGL22C just by changing from wifi to mobile , hooray! I didn’t have to make any other changes.
How can I hear my phone text
I have a g5 and can not download my picture from massager and have tried all of these and still not working
Thank you. These tips helped way better than the last ones I searched thru.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone (got it about a month and half ago) I can received mms multimedia texts and they download but they wont open once they are downloaded. This is frustrating… I need to know how to get to the mobile data settings someone said that I should do this but I cant find it. Can someone help me, PLEASE!!
I have an LG adriod phone but i do belive if giving you the basic steps, i think you can get to the mobile data part. first, go to settings and go to wireless network. There should be a caption of mobile data. Activate that on and that should work.
Thank you so much angi this article didn’t help but your comment fixed my issue,thanks again
I didn’t really believe this would work since I have good wifi at home, but it worked immediately. Bravo Angie.
i have a galaxy 3, in the app info, should i clear data and cache? If anyone can answer this I will name my first born son after you, or (girl)!!!
I got my Nexus 5X this week and I was able to receive images on the default messenger, but I downloaded Go SMS pro [and I love it], except it won’t download pictures. If I go back to the default app, I get them just fine. I tried fiddling with the settings and restarting, but still can’t download any images. Is there anything else I’m missing?
Hi, i have been having probelms recieving photos and downloading them on my samsung galxcy s6 edge plus from the begining (i got it 7 months ago) and have only been able to download one photo from my text messaging ive done it all except factory reset and i dont have a sim card and i have a hard time trusting google to back up everything. And i have deleted many files all catche and junk NOTHING ELSE can someone please help me!!!
Just to put what solved this for me out there – I have a galaxy and could not get any mms or group texts. I solved it by going into my APN settings under “APN type”. Before I only had “default” in there. I changed it to “default,mms,fota,hipri,supl” and that worked! No spaces in between the commas. I had a flood of MMS messages come through that had been waiting this whole time.
Thank you Brian for taking the time to offer what worked for you. I was only able to select “APN types” from a list and only three of the types you mentioned were available {default,mms,supl}. I wasn’t able to change just the APN type, I also had to re-enter the other values provided by my network carrier. The new settings didn’t override the APN settings I’d been provided with by NET10 and I now have two APNs. The APN I created thanks to your solution did the trick. Not only did the MMS message come through, a large SMS downloaded as well.
my apn page lists “not set” after each titile
Brian thanks you so much, I have had this problem since I bought my new galaxy edge and it fix it using your recommendation. This was very frustrating. All of my messages are floating in now. Thanks
Thanks Brian!! Your tip helped me!!
The only tip that actually worked, thank you Brian you’re a legend!
Thanks a lot!!!! It’s worked with my family 3 Galaxy phones. Thanks again.
Why doesn’t ANYTHING in ‘technology’ work properly? I’m an engineer, and if engineering went wrong like computer/phone technology does, everyone would go mad! I can never get these mms pictures, and why should I have to do all the above to get them – they should just work! I can’t get Channel 4 catch up to run – and they say I should clear my temporary files cache. WHY? Why should I have to do that to get it to work? Their adverts run fine, but as soon as I try to watch a programme, it breaks up. Everything ‘tech’ is crap.
Also enable cellular data.
sorry, but this should work over WiFi. I don’t want to get constantly reamed by the cell provider, so I disable mobile data unless I absolutely need it. Then I shut it back off immediately afterwards.
If you device is vulnerable to the stage fright mms exploit, consider disabling mms auto-retrieval.
How come when I send a text message from my LG 4g phone to multiple people they continue to come back as single messages that I have to open, read and reply individually. This sucks! When I am communicating with a group I don’t want to have to reply to each person separately. Is this an LG thing?? If so, their phone, based on this alone, is not worth having.
I already have the auto retrieve button clicked and I still receive mms messages that refuse to download no matter how many bars I have.
Same.
I’m assuming that you still need to have mobile data switched on to receive MMSs even if this guide bypasses the ‘download’ button.
My last phone was an old Ericsson flip-phone, made before modern touch-screen smart phones had even been invented. I didn’t have a single byte of data on my plan for that old phone and it would always receive MMSs just fine over the standard messaging network. Now that I’ve got a Galaxy S3 I’ve opted for a cheap plan with only a tiny shred of data for emergencies, as I really don’t have much use for it otherwise. Is there any way to get my S3 to receive MMSs without having data on, like my old phone used to?
I turned on the mobile data, per the first line of your reply, even though I was on wifi. It instantly open the attachment. Thank you!
Did u ever find a solution to ur problem because i have the same… virgin carer (sprint)
I have the “factory” version of mms on my Galaxy 4 phone.
When I receive photos, they are always fuzzy. There is no adjustment for mms on the phone.
Any help is welcome
There is no autoretrieve button
Thank you, Rachel! I, too, downloaded Go SMS onto my Galaxy S4 and can now get the photos from my granddaughter! Why doesn’t the installed software work like it’s supposed to????
Downloaded GO SMS on my Samsung Galaxy S4 and I can get the messages now! Thanks so much!
I’ve followed all your instructions and I still can’t receive MMS on my Galaxy Note 3. So frustrating. I can send ok.
Hi I have a question?? I can’t find an answer anywhere please help!? If I’m the primary account holder with at&t, I have 2 phones, my phone is a galaxy note 3, my kid has a galaxy5,, shit I’m not sure, thus the need for help :) I want too be able to receive his old ,New, and future texts( and call logs if possible) without his knowledge, I’ve heard it’s possible I just can’t fight it out! Please, thanks in advance, Heather hwhitworth1216@gmail.com
Don’t spy on your kid
Did this,
still does not work
Thank u – was wondering how to fix this!
I have a question. I’m asking it here because this is the only place on the web I could even find a picture of and icon that keeps popping up on my lg optimus f3. Scroll up and look at the icon in the left corner. It’s a black and white box with a mountain looking picture in it. What is it? What does it mean?I have had my phone about 2 months with a new number. Every single time anyone sends me a text, I mean anyone in my contacts that box appears in the upper left corner. I can only access it in the drop down screen. When I do there is a phone number there I don’t know. The same number every time. Messages from my contacts or anyone go right where they are suppose to. In the screen drop box I try to clear the number and it won’t go away. I have to keep my finger on it and go to apps and force it to close or stop. It goes away until I receive another text. Also if it’s not there when I turn my phone off it quickly appears when I turn it back on. I called the number from another phone and the person on the other end didn’t know anything about it, but they said the phone number I have was the the number for one of their old phones no longer in service.BTW I have service with metro and they were clueless as to what it means.
Its a screen shot, go to ur photo gallery & u will find the screenshots in it.
Didn’t have this problem on my old phone, but got the new Galaxy Note 3 and was having this issue. This totally fixed the problem within 30 seconds. A+++++++++
thanks this helped me a lot. It was really annoying to download the multimedia message.
For weeks….had to make everyone send pics to email!!!!! No more!!!! THANKS GENIUS….sooo simple…..dumb people shouldn’t have smart phones!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you. This has been an issue for years (of course I need a new phone) but the app really is perfect.
Hello !!! Thanks
This worked perfectly for my new Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate. I just started using Net 10 as my provider and am happy with the service. The Handcent app was easy and I am able to download media. Don’t ask me how it works, it does. Thank you for the tips.
And if that doesnt work???
yes, if that doesnt work….
yeah, doesn’t work for me either. I already had mine set like this and I still get MMS download buttons and sometimes they don’t work
If the message is there and stuck on downloading uncheck auto retrieve enable mobile web or wifi and manually click download in the message it will then appear be sure to go back and recheck auto retrieve when done so other messages will come thru when mobile web or wifi are active thats the only time you can recieve a mms is when you have a internet connection
thanks I final
y got my mms working. YOUR MY HERO!!!
Hi Im concerned that my mms messages are being forwarded to a 3rd party with out my doing….is this possible and is there a way to find out?
Anyone have any ideas?
stop sending naked pics of yourself then it doesnt matter :)
I would like to know this, too. I don’t care if it’s just a pic of my kid, I don’t want it being distributed to a third party!
Thanks so much for this…I hated seeing that “download” box in a msg!
Hey, how about the next article describes how to turn on wifi to avoid those costly network data charges!