FIx: Honor 8 SMS messages disapear in Android Nougat

Huawei Honor 8 is a high-end device with an amazing design that’s still worth your money even though its successor is on the way. One thing going for it is the well-optimized and clean Android Nougat version that Honor 8 received a few months ago.

However, besides the standard issues we already covered, there’s another distinctive problem that appeared after the system upgrade to EMUI 5.0. Namely, some users reported that their SMS messages are missing from the inbox under the default system app. That can be quite a pain since you can’t keep the track of your conversations.

For that purpose, we thought that is important to list some of the possible solutions to help you prevent the messages from disappearing. If you have exact or similar issues, follow the steps below.

Restart your phone

The first troubleshooting step you should take is always reset. It may strike you as an obvious move, but the restart can frequently resolve some of the minor, peculiar issues that are rare but not less annoying. This is how to restart your Honor 8 easily:

1.  Press and hold the Power button.
2. Tap Restart.
3. Navigate to the Messages app, send an SMS and look for changes.

If the problem is still there and the messages keep on disappearing, move down with your troubleshooting.

Restore default messaging settings

If there’s even the slightest chance that the update changed your default settings, you should look out for changes. Namely, some of the settings can affect the app’s behavior, and thus inflict an uncalled bug like this. You can easily retrieve the default settings by following these steps:

1. Tap Messaging app.
2. Tap the 3-dots menu at the bottom and open Settings.
3. Select Restore Default Settings at the bottom of the screen.
4. Restart your phone and check for changes.

On the other hand, if something greater is inflicting the bug, make sure to check the other workarounds presented below.

Clear App’s Data

Since Huawei’s default messaging app can’t be uninstalled, you can at least clear its cache and data. Due to changes inflicted with the upgrade to EMUI 5.0, app-related files can cause malfunctions of different kinds. Follow these instructions to clear the Cache and Data on Honor 8:

1. Tap Settings.
2. Open Apps.
3. Navigate to Messaging app and tap to open Settings.
4. Tap Storage.
5. Tap Clear Cache and Clear Data.
6. Restart your phone and look for changes.

Set as Default messaging app

Another thing worth addressing is the default app priority. Namely, some other apps may retrieve sent/received messages instead of the default messenger. Because of that, make sure to set the Messaging app as the default and check for changes. This is how to set the Messaging app as the default SMS/MMS client:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Find and tap on the Messaging app to summon Settings.
4. Tap Default SMS app.
5. Under Default Apps, tap Default app settings.
6. Open Messaging and toggle the Messaging app as the Default.

Update your device

Future system updates are confirmed for most of the Huawei flagship devices and the Honor 8 isn’t an exception. So, we hope that EMUI 5.1 is coming soon and it may solve your messaging issues. Once the system update becomes available you’ll be timely prompted, but it doesn’t hurt to check for the updates on your own from time to time. This is how to check for updates on Honor 8:

1. Tap Settings.
2. Navigate to System update at the bottom of the list.
3. Open System update and tap on Check For Updates.
4. If the updates are available, tap Download & Install.

If the problem isn’t gone, you can certainly perform the factory reset, but that’s the last resort and it can cost you a lot of time and nerves.

Use an alternative app

The last thing that’s not the solution but merely advice is related to the alternative apps. You can use various Instant Messengers to send and receive SMS/Text messages by setting them as the default SMS client. The best suited for the job is Google Messenger, but you can choose any other. And when we say other, we mean any other besides Facebook Messenger.

That should wrap it up. This is an unusual but quite nerve-breaking bug and we hope you managed to fix it with the presented steps. Either way, don’t hesitate to post questions or suggestions. The comments section is just below.