My phone was recently updated to 8.1. After the update, when text messages are sent when my phone is off, I no longer receive when my phone is turned on. Is there something in Settings that needs to be changed? I never had this problem before the updat

[MetsFanGirl]

My phone was recently updated to 8.1.  After the update, when text messages are sent when my phone is turned off, they no longer appear when I turn the phone on.  Is there something in Settings that needs to be changed?

[efrainm_vzw]

MetsFanGirl,

Help is here! The messages that don"t appear are they regular text messages or Imessages? Were these text messages sent out after the Software update or before?

JorgeO_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[MetsFanGirl]

The messages were sent out after the update. 

[lindseyt_vzw]

MetsFanGirl,

Thanks for verifying. Are you having issues receiving both iMessages and standard text messages when they are sent when the phone is turned off? Try this and test... http://vz.to/1qjiOs7

LindseyT_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[op2388]

Why would you direct a WP user to a page about an iOS device? They aren't even using the same software...

[primortal]

That's VZW Supprot for you...  Utterly clueless and useless.

[primortal]

MetsFanGirl wrote:

My phone was recently updated to 8.1.  After the update, when text messages are sent when my phone is turned off, they no longer appear when I turn the phone on.  Is there something in Settings that needs to be changed?

Have you done a soft reset?

Press and hold the power button and volume down button for about 10 seconds will do the trick; the phone should vibrate and reboot your phone.

[MetsFanGirl]

I tried this and it didn't work.  And obviously being directed to a site with iPhone information was no help either.  Windows phone, Verizon, WINDOWS phone!

[primortal]

Go to Settings and select notifications+actions and make sure Messaging is there.  Tap on Messaging and make sure it's On and that Show notification banners is checked.

Is quite time active? You'll see a moon icon at the top.  If so turn it off.

Last recourse is doing a hard reset.

[MetsFanGirl]

My Messaging notification was on and it wasn't on quiet time.  What's the hard reset?

[primortal]

A hard reset will reset the phone to factory settings for Windows Phone 8.1; it will wipe all data and applications from the device.  As-long-as you are using the built in backup feature (and it's enabled) your contacts, photos and such will be restored; might want to review this first, Learn about Windows Phone backup | Windows Phone How-to (United States). If you are using VZW's nightmare Backup Assistant you'll have to update the app first before you can restore anything.

To do a hard reset; go to settings, tap on about and tap on reset your phone.  Make sure you know the account you used to setup the phone (along with the password).  You'll need it when setting up the phone again.

Before doing so I'd would give support a call directly to see if there isn't any issues with network settings or SIM.

[MetsFanGirl]

Think I'll give them a call first.  Thanks for your help!

[Exelsior5]

Your post exactly describes the problem my wife & I are BOTH having on our Nokia Lumia 928 phones. We just noticed it the last couple days, but presumably it's due to the 8.1 update around the start of the year since I know this used to work fine. Simple test is to turn one of our phones off, send it a text from the other phone, turn it on again, and you get... nothing... ever. Same result regardless of which of our two phones is turned off & which is sending.  Texts transfer just fine as long as both are on.

Per the advice here, I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Verizon tech support this evening. First with a level1, who verified the problem also happens when VZW sends a text message while either phone is off.  Comes in fine when on, lost forever when off. I then spent most of the phone support time with the level2 tech, who reset a bunch of network settings through various tests.  Eventually my phone did show notification & receipt of a text message from VZW immediately after powering on, but not my wife's phone. Then the support tech had me pull out the sim card from my wife's phone while she reset some more settings, after which powering on my wife's phone again finally did get notification & receipt of a VZW message after power on too.

So after 45 minutes with tech support, everything appeared to be working and I figured all was well.  Then after I hung up I tried my simple 2-phone test again.  Back to being broken.  Whatever network settings were reset appear to have been a one-time deal.  Guess I'll call again tomorrow & try all over again.  Regardless, I did nothing with either mine nor my wife's phones but power them on & off numerous times and send occasional texts.  No settings changes at all.  Beyond that, it was all Verizon network setting resets.  That appears to be where the problem is - some sort of Verizon network glitch or incompatibility with WP8.1, or at least WP8.1 on the Lumia 928.

[MetsFanGirl]

Thanks for these details.  It confirms that I didn't cause this problem with changing any settings, etc.  I have a Nokia 822 phone, so it's obviously the 8.1 update and not the phone, either.  I was planning on bringing my phone into a Verizon store and having them take a look at it and I still may do it.  The only other option is to leave my phone on all the time, which I really don't want to do. 

[primortal]

Very strange.  I upgrade my wife's 822 during Christmas and she has no problems with getting text messages if the display is off or on.

@Exelsior5 when you do contact VZW again have them conference someone from Microsoft as well to see if they have any insight.  Personally I don't have a high confidence level with VZW support and Windows Phones.  Also when you said they reset things, was the things on the phone or something they did on their end and things started working?  Just curious if it's a VZW issue instead of a device issue.

[Exelsior5]

There was nothing "reset" or changed on either phone.  Only resets/changes were on Verizon's end, and as I said this actually did make things work once on both phones - while I was on the phone with them.  But, still not working again today.  I'm about to call again.

BTW, this is not a problem when just the "display is off or on."  It's literally when the entire phone I powered off, and then restarted later.  My wife and I work in buildings that get pretty poor wireless network reception.  If we leave them on during work hours, vs. power them off or switch to airplane mode, our batteries get sucked down extremely fast with the constant attempts to reestablish connection with the network due to drops.  So powering them off during the day is often the best choice to conserve battery power.  Only problem is, any text messages sent during that time are lost forever.

[primortal]

Sounds like a network issue on VZW side not storing the text messages until the device is found.

[Exelsior5]

OK, round two with Verizon tech support. I eventually ended up in a three way conference call between Verizon & a woman from Nokia.  She suggested doing a soft reset, which according to Nokia and my own experience is NOT the same thing as powering off & back on again.  After doing this, both phones appeared to be working fine again at first, even after my own back & forth testing between the two after getting off the line with Verizon.  BTW, to soft reset you hold the power & volume down buttons at the same time for a few seconds until the screen goes black & it restarts w/o going through the "goodbye" screen - ignoring the "Slide Down to Power Off" half-screen (just keep holding the two buttons instead).

But... now they've stopped working again.  The soft reset allowed me to go back & forth between my two 928 phones a couple of times with intermediate power off, send a text, power back on cycles, then it was back to not working again.  Further soft resets now do nothing.  Verizon called me back a little bit ago to find out if subsequent testing on my end confirmed the problem went away, but I told them it stopped working again.  Next suggested step from Verizon is to go to the local Verizon store and get a new SIM card.  If that doesn't work, go the hard reset to factory settings route, and if that doesn't do it the rep said they'd replace the phone. Before I go to the Verizon store, I guess I'll go ahead and go through the whole backup thing, and try the hard reset anyway, especially if they might replace the phone anyway.  Stay tuned.

While on the phone the Verizon rep & Nokia rep were going back & forth pointing fingers... ("it's the network".. "no, we did XYZ so it's the device"... "no...").  Given that something I did to the phone itself on my own (I soft reset my wife's phone after they hung up & made it work a couple times), all things considered I'm thinking it's the device - or at least something to do with the WP8.1 update.  That's when it all appeared to start anyway.

More thoughts on this after more playing around with two broken phones, and a semi-workaround, in another post (this one is getting long )...

[Exelsior5]

So, another reason I think it's the phone is that I turned on "SMS delivery confirmation" on both phones, under Messaging settings.  When I send a message from one to the other with both turned on now, I get an immediate message from "Mobile operator" that it was supposedly delivered to the other phone.  However, when I send a text message to the other phone if it's off, I do NOT get this feedback message.  Until that is, I turn the other phone on.  As soon as the other phone connects to the LTE network, I get a "Mobile operator" confirmation message on the sending phone that it was supposedly delivered.  But, of course no indication of any text message on the phone it was supposedly delivered to.  Lost in the ether I guess.  Regardless, the network seems to be well aware that the phones are connecting in & out, and it claims the message was actually delivered to the target phone even if it didn't show up.

And now for a semi-workaround. One of the first tests the Verizon tech did today was have me turn off one of my phones, at which point he sent me two messages from VZW - a normal SMS text message as well as an MMS multimedia message with a Verizon logo in it.  When I turned my phone back on again, I of course did NOT get the SMS message but I DID get the MMS message with the logo picture attached.

Subsequent tests on my own between my two 928 phones show that MMS messages work just fine through a power cycle.  It's just the text-only SMS messages that are broken.  So, tell your friends & family that if they REALLY want to make sure to get a text message through to you if they suspect your phone might be powered off (e.g., if it's during work hours), then be sure to attach a picture to the message.  Sad workaround I know.

[KathyH_VZW]

MetsFanGirl,

We want to make sure you have a working device! Save yourself a trip, we can help here.

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AmberF_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[Ann154]

amberf_vzw

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