Turn on SMS delivery reports, clear the Messages app cache, or turn off RCS chats
Published on September 5, 2023
In This Article
In This Article
- The Causes
- Solutions to the 'SMS via Server' Message
There’s no need to be concerned if you see ‘Sent as SMS via server’ beside the text messages you sent. This article explains what ‘Sent as SMS via server’ means on Android, what causes it, and what you can do to get rid of it.
Causes of ‘Sent as SMS via Server’ Message
You’ll sometimes see ‘Sent as SMS via server’ when you send a message using Google Android’s RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol. Traditional SMS texts are sent directly from one device to another via cellular networks. RCS messages go through a server, which acts as a switchboard between different mobile networks and SMS gateways to deliver messages as quickly and efficiently as possible.
RCS allows sending messages that include multimedia (such as images and videos) to many recipients over Wi-Fi. The downsides of RCS are it only works for Android devices and requires an internet connection.
When you send an RCS message to a device that doesn’t support it, the message will be sent as an SMS instead, and you’ll see ‘Sent as SMS via server.’ Think of it like the status notifications you’re used to seeing next to SMS messages, such as ‘Sent’ or ‘Failed.’
Text messages that can’t be delivered as RCS are automatically sent as SMS, and any multimedia is converted to MMS. You may see ‘Sent as SMS via server’ in the following cases:
- The recipient has an iPhone.
- The recipient has an older Android or a non-smartphone.
- The recipient has RCS chats turned off.
- The recipient isn’t connected to the internet.
How to Turn Off the ‘Sent as SMS via Server’ Message
‘Sent as SMS via Server’ is not an error message, so fixing it is unnecessary. However, you can revert to regular delivery notifications if you don’t want to see it.
Regardless of the manufacturer, these fixes will work for all Android devices, but the menu options may differ slightly depending on your phone.
Turn on SMS delivery reports. In the Messages, tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner, then go to Settings > Advanced > Get SMS delivery reports to turn it on. You should stop getting ‘Sent as SMS via server’ and start seeing ‘Sent,’ ‘Delivered,’ or ‘Failed.’
Clear the Message app cache. There's an off chance that your phone can't send RCS messages due to a temporary bug. Clearing your device cache can resolve such issues.
Turn off RCS chats. In the Message app, go to Settings > RCS chats > Turn on RCS chats to turn it off. Turning off RCS chats means that your messages are not end-to-end encrypted, and sending multimedia messages will consume more mobile data. Therefore, it's not recommended.
If you don't see RCS chats in Settings, first tap Chat Features.
Turn on RCS chats. On the other hand, if both you and the recipient(s) turn on RCS chats, no one has to worry about seeing ‘Sent as SMS via server.’
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