How to Disable Multimedia Messaging on a Samsung Galaxy

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MMS messages can grind your phone's data to a halt; here's a quick guide on avoiding them
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Do you want to block MMS on your Samsung Galaxy? While this isn't exactly a one-setting toggle, there are ways that you can prevent receiving and sending multimedia messages from your phone.We worked with electronic repair expert Brehima Traore to write this guide. Read on to learn more.

Preventing MMS on Samsung Galaxy

Since you cannot completely block MMS from your phone without blocking whatever phone number is sending you those messages, you can instead take preventative measures to avoid using that data. Toggle off the MMS features in your texting app including "Group conversation" and "Download automatically."

Section 1 of 2:

Disabling MMS Features

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  1. This app usually looks like a speech bubble icon. You can find it on your home screen or Apps menu.
    • Since you can't completely block MMS, there are steps you can take to avoid automatically converting an SMS to MMS including disabling these features. You'll want to turn off the toggles next to "Group Conversation" and "Download automatically".
  2. It will open a drop-down menu.
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  3. This will open your message settings on a new page.
  4. It's at the bottom of the menu.
  6. This toggle controls if you can text and MMS multiple people simultaneously in a group conversation.
    • Skip this step if you don't normally use group conversations in your text messaging app.
    • Once you turn this toggle off, all group conversations will remain SMS messages instead of looking like a group chat, which are MMS messages. If you're in many groups in text messages, know that you'll get a direct SMS for every chat in the conversation and won't be able to chat back to the entire group, only single individuals.
  7. While you can't block MMS from coming to your phone, you can prevent your phone from automatically downloading the data.
    • You can still open the message in the Messages app, and manually download its contents.
    • Google Messages Alternative: Open up the Messages app and tap the ⁝ , followed by Settings and then Chat Features . Then, switch the toggle on the “Automatically resend as text (SMS/MMS)” option off. [1]
    • Note that your phone might automatically convert longer texts to MMS. In that case, turn on "Show text counter" in Messages > Settings > More settings and keep your texts short.
    • Avoid using emojis and images in your texts so they aren't automatically converted to multimedia messages.
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Section 2 of 2:

Disabling MMS Access Points

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  1. Tap the wrench or gear icon on your Apps menu, or swipe down the notifications bar from the top of your screen and tap
    Android 7 Settings
    .
  2. It's the first option at the top of the Settings menu.
  4. This will open a list of your SIM card's saved mobile network access points.
    • If you're using multiple SIM cards, you'll see multiple SIM tabs at the top. You can switch between your different phone accounts' settings here.
    • These settings must be editable in order to manually block MMS service.
    • If these settings are grayed out, you don't have the option to manually block your MMS access points. You will have to approach your mobile service provider.
  6. This will open the selected option's current setting.
    • You will have to repeat this process for each of these three options.
  7. Tap the beginning of each line, and insert an asterisk or pound sign. This will manually disable your MMS access point.
    • If you want to reactivate your MMS service, just remove the " * " or " # ".
  8. You will have to tap each option on the Settings menu, and insert a "*" or "#" at the beginning of each line.
  9. Some mobile providers do not allow you to manually change MMS access point settings on your phone. In some areas, you will need to contact your service provider to block MMS service for you.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    What is the difference between MMS and SMS?
    Jada Alexander
    Community Answer
    MMS stands for multimedia messages which are files (e.g. images, audios, hyperlinks) while SMS stands for short message service which is a text message with up to 160 characters.
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      Expert Interview

      Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about mobile phones, check out our in-depth interview with Brehima Traore .


      References

      1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayR45Qfd28&t=0m28s

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