If your Fairphone 5 is refusing to send pictures or group messages, it's almost always a quick setting that needs adjusting.
Paige Roberts
Senior Smart Home & IoT Editor
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If your Fairphone 5 is refusing to send pictures or group messages, it’s almost always a quick setting that needs adjusting. The most common culprit is that MMS requires mobile data to be active, even if you’re on WiFi. Let’s start there.
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Pull down the quick settings shade from the top of your screen and make sure the mobile data icon is turned on. You can also go into Settings > Network & internet > Internet and tap the gear icon next to your mobile network to confirm data is enabled. If you see a weak signal, try moving to a different spot, as poor reception can stall messages.
Open your default messaging app, which is likely Google Messages on the Fairphone 5. Tap your profile picture in the top right, then go to Messages settings > Advanced. Here, make sure “Auto-download MMS” is enabled. You should also check that “Auto-download MMS when roaming” is on if you’re traveling.
Sometimes, a message gets stuck trying to send over WiFi. In the same Advanced settings, you can try turning off the “Send as SMS when typing” option temporarily, as this can occasionally interfere with the initial MMS send attempt.
This is a very common fix. The Access Point Name (APN) tells your phone how to connect to your carrier’s multimedia service. If these settings are wrong or missing, MMS won’t work.
Go to Settings > Network & internet > SIMs. Select your active SIM card and tap Access Point Names. You should see a list, with one selected (usually your carrier’s name). Tap it to view the details.
You need to look for specific fields: MMSC, MMS proxy, and MMS port. If any of these are blank, you’ll need the correct info from your carrier. A quick web search for “[Your Carrier] APN settings Fairphone” often works, or you can contact support directly. Once you have the right details, enter them, save, and restart your phone.
Corrupted temporary files can break MMS sending. Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps. Find and tap on Messages (or your preferred messaging app). Select Storage & cache.
Tap Clear cache first. This is safe and won’t delete your messages. If the problem persists, you can tap Clear storage or Manage space > Clear all data. Be warned, this will erase your entire message history, so only do this if you’re okay with that loss or have a backup.
This is a deeper fix that clears all your network configurations and can solve stubborn issues. It will forget all WiFi networks and Bluetooth pairings, so you’ll have to reconnect to them afterward.
On your Fairphone 5, navigate to Settings > System > Reset options. Tap on Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth and confirm. Your phone will reboot. After it comes back on, you’ll need to re-enter your WiFi passwords, but this often clears up any underlying network glitches blocking MMS.
Your phone needs a bit of free space to process and store incoming MMS messages before you see them. If your storage is critically low, it can fail silently.
Go to Settings > Storage to see how much space you have left. I’d recommend having at least a few hundred megabytes free. You can free up space by clearing old downloads or offloading photos to Google Photos or another cloud service.
Fairphone promises excellent long-term support, so keeping your phone updated is key. An outdated system can have bugs that affect messaging. Go to Settings > System > System update to check for any available Android or security patches.
Also, open the Google Play Store, tap your profile picture, and go to Manage apps & device > Manage > Updates available. Look for updates to “Carrier Services” and “Google Messages.” These apps handle core communication functions and an update here can resolve MMS problems.
If the issue seems isolated to one app, trying another can tell you if the problem is with the app itself or a deeper system/network issue. Google Messages is already on your Fairphone 5, but you can also try apps like Signal or Textra from the Play Store.
After installing a new app, make sure to set it as your default. The system will ask you this when you first open it, or you can set it manually in Settings > Apps > Default apps > SMS app. Test sending an MMS from the new app.
If you’ve tried everything here, the issue might be on your carrier’s end. Give them a call or use online support. They can check if there’s an outage in your area, if your line is properly provisioned for MMS, and they can often “refresh” your connection on their side, which can magically fix things.
Have your account information ready and let them know you’ve already checked your APN settings. They may provide you with a new, specific configuration to enter on your Fairphone 5.
Sometimes, a battery-saving feature or a third-party app can restrict background data, which MMS needs. First, go to Settings > Network & internet > Data Saver. Make sure it’s turned off, or if it’s on, tap Unrestricted data and add your Messages app to the allowed list.
Also, think about any recent apps you’ve installed that manage calls, texts, or security. These can sometimes interfere. Try booting your phone into Safe Mode by pressing and holding the power button, then long-pressing the “Power off” option on-screen until you see the Safe Mode prompt. If MMS works in Safe Mode, a recently installed app is likely the culprit.
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