8 Ways to Fix MMS Messages Not Downloading on Android Phone - MiniTool (2024)

You may choose to transfer multimedia files across your network via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) but you may be unable to download MMS. What should you do to fix MMS messages not downloading? Follow the solutions mentioned in this post given by MiniTool Solution.

Android MMS Not Downloading

MMS, short for Multimedia Messaging Service, is a feature that allows sharing multimedia files including photos, videos, and audio over a network. At present, most users have switched to other messaging applications, for example, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. But the fact is that there are still many persons using MMS.

According to Android users, the only annoying issue when using MMS is the download problem. When downloading MMS messages, some errors appear, for instance, “Media file unavailable” or “Couldn’t download”.

It may be caused by a slow Internet connection, a setting issue, interfering apps, corrupt cache, etc. Fortunately, it can be solved easily. If you also encounter the issue, follow these solutions below to get rid of it.

How to Fix MMS Messages Not Downloading Android

Restart Your Phone

In many situations, a simple restart can be used to fix some issues. This is the basic thing you can do. Just press the power button until you see the power menu and choose Reboot or Restart. After your phone restarts, check if you can download MMS.

Check the Network Connection

If there is no stable Internet connection on your phone, the issue of MMS messages not downloading will occur. Make sure your mobile data or Wi-Fi on the Android phone is turned on. Then, go to search for something via a browser to check the connectivity.

Disable Android MMS Auto-Retrieve Setting

In your Android phone, there is a built-in feature called auto-retrieve that allows you to automatically download multimedia and you don’t need to tap on the media to download. Sometimes, you are unable to download MMS due to the setting of this feature. To fix the issue, you can try to disable it.

1. On your phone, open this messaging app.
2. Click the menu button and choose Setting.
3. Go to find Auto-retrieve. If it is enabled, disable it.

And MMS messages won’t download automatically but you can download them manually.

Delete Old Messages

If there are many old messages on your phone, new messages won’t download. This may be because of the limit of the messaging app. To fix MMS messages not downloading, you can delete those old messages to free up storage space. Just have a try.

Clear Cache and Data

You know each app includes cache files that are used to save data. Sometimes cache files are corrupt, leading to Android MMS not downloading. To fix this issue, it is necessary to clear the cache and data for the messaging app.

To do this:

1. Go to Settings > Apps to tap on your messaging app.
2. Tap on Storage and you can see two options – clear data and clear cache. Click them and check if MMS messages can be downloaded.

Uninstall Problematic Apps

If you can’t download MMS, one of the reasons for this is that the third-party apps. Firstly, you can boot your phone to safe mode to eliminate the reason. In this mode, all the third-party apps are disabled. Just test the ability of MMS. If messages can be downloaded, a third-party app is a culprit.

Usually, some cleaner apps or antivirus programs interfere with the normal working of your phone. The best way is to uninstall them.

Reset the APN Settings

This way is worth trying and see how to do:

1. Open Settings and choose Connections.

2. Go to Mobile networks >Access Point Names.

3. Tap on the three-dots menu and chooseReset to default.

Android Factory Reset

If all of these methods fail to work, the only solution is to perform a factory reset. This can delete all your files, apps, and data. Before you do, you should create a backup for your device.

Final Words

How can you fix MMS messages not downloading if you encounter this issue on your Android phone? Follow these solutions above and you can easily get rid of it. If you have any other methods, let us know in the following part.