Samsung Galaxy S4 - How do I stop call logs & SMS syncing to Gmail?

[Jessica Smith]

After googling and youtubing, I can't find the answer. Some say to go to android phone and stop syncing on gmail acct. I find the gmail acct sync settings and I only have options to sync:

Calendar
Chrome
Contacts
Drive
Gmail
Google Fit data
Google Play Movies & TV
Music
People details
Play games & clouds

There is no mention of call logs or SMS.

 

[SpookDroid]

That would be in the Backup and Restore section of your phone (might be called different depending on your brand/OS Version). There's a very general switch called 'Back up my data' (that includes logs and sms for devices that support it) and also an 'Automatic Restore' should you want the process to be seamless when you activate a new device.

 

[Jessica Smith]

Thank you. So I would go to 'Backup and Reset' in settings, then it has under 'Google Account', I can select to uncheck "Back up my data'. Should I deselect that and it will stop sending SMSs and call logs to gmail?

Will it also stop updating the contacts and photos? What all will happen if I deselect 'back up my data'? Would my contacts still be updated and syncing?

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm having a hard time finding the solution and no one on the Gmail forums respond at all so I really appreciate your help.

 

[methodman89]

Are you saying that you get an email, which when you open has your call logs and message log? Does it have the message also?
Have you installed any backup apps or cleaners that offer backing up on your phone?

 

[SpookDroid]

Yup, it is that setting, and it only includes general phone data (settings, WiFi passwords, call logs, texts (MMS are usually not allowed by the system), some app configuration data, etc.). Contacts, Photos, E-Mail, etc. are handled separately and those you can control through the Account Sync section.

If you want to test it out, just de-select the Backup and Restore option, make sure that the Contacts option is still active in the Account section, and add a test contact to your list (make sure it's being saved to Google). Wait a bit for it to get synced, go to Contacts.Google.Com, log in with your account, and check to see if the new contact is there.

 

[Jessica Smith]

I am saying my call log and SMS text messages I make on the android phone are going to my sent file in Gmail. I have over 18,000 in Gmail in SENT folder.

I can read all my text messages and see all the people I have called in Gmail. I want to stop all these going to the Gmail SENT folder. All I want in GMail SENT folder are emails that I have sent. These other things are clogging up that folder as I don't need them to go to that folder and want to stop it.

Thanks so much for the reply. I think I have stumped people with this issue as no one can figure it out.

 

[SpookDroid]

Oh, wait... if it's showing in your actual GMail account then that might not be it. The Backup option is for your Google account, but if your texts are showing up in your e-mail that comes from somewhere else. Do you have any other e-mail accounts set up (like Exchange accounts) or did you set up the GMail account in a different app than the Gmail app? If so, check to see if the app doesn't have an SMS Backup option; I know Exchange accounts do have his option most of the time and could cause your texts to be going to e-mail.

 

[Jessica Smith]

Thanks Spook Droid for hanging in with me. I really appreciate it.

This is for a Time Warner acct....sc.rr.com. This acct was added to Gmail. It was made as default acct so extension still shows as sc.rr.com (Time Warner) when emailing.

On the phone, the email is accessed via Gmail app only. No where in the gmail app is there a setting for SMS anything (see my first post) of what all I can sync or backup. No mention of SMS or call logs anywhere that I can find.

If I can't stop them from coming into Gmail, I'd like to be able to at least maybe redirect them out of my Gmail SENT folder but can't find a way to do that either. This has been quite frustrating.

You can see how these calls and SMSs are filling up my SENT folder.

There are no extra apps on phone for backup.

 

[SpookDroid]

OK, first things first. Are these SMS coming from your phone? Is your phone in any way connected to Time Warner (not sure if they own carriers or anything)?

Do you have any other Google account set up in your phone? If so, what happens when you switch accounts in the GMail app? Do you still see the texts/calls? Or do they stay with the TW account?

 

[Jessica Smith]

Yes, SMSs are coming from text messages sent via the android phone. Phone is in no way connected to Time Warner. They are just the cable and internet provider.

Gmail has Time Warner acct and Work acct within the same gmail acct. Each can be accessed by simply clicking on which acct I want to view. I go back and forth between them in Gmail.

texts/calls are only showing in sc.rr.com (Time Warner acct) and not the work acct.

 

[Jessica Smith]

Hi SpookDroid,

Let me tell you what I did. Since I don't know why these call logs and texts are going into her Gmail SENT folder, I first went in and deleted all of those type files/emails in her SENT folder. That got rid of about 17,000 line items in that folder. Thankfully there was a bulk delete option.

I then again went looking around in the Gmail settings and looked around in 'Filters and Blocked Addresses'. I then poked around at the filters to see what all it did. I was able to set one such that each time a email/notification comes in with subject 'call with' or 'SMS with' to delete. See pic. I have no idea if this will work but I set it and we'll see.

Thanks for your help and if you know why these are coming into Gmail please let me know. It's a mystery. I'll post back if filter doesnt' work. Thanks so much for your help. I really really appreciate it.

 

[SpookDroid]

I was going to suggest the filtering to at least temporarily not see them, but there's still the issue of why they're going there in the first place. And since it's account-specific, it HAS to be something about the settings with that TW account.

What happens if you remove the account from the phone completely? Do you get the SMS log elsewhere (I'm guessing no)? Now reboot (just in case), and re-add the account. Is there anything there that has a setting about call logs/texts you might have missed the first time?

 

[Jessica Smith]

All I did when adding her TW acct to Gmail was to enter in her email and password and everything came over.

I then imported all her emails from Outlook. Those texts and call logs imported also. After import, I removed the email from email app so am just using the gmail app.

Can I just remove the app and reinstall it from the phone. I really don't want to remove her acct as it was a bear to get it just like she wanted.

 

[methodman89]

From a computer, log in to your time Warner email and check your sync settings. Do the same for outlook. Did you disable forwarding synching/linking after you set it up as in your previous post?

 

[SpookDroid]

Yeah, it seems the issue is the server settings for the TW account. Some Outlook/Exchange accounts do have the SMS/Call sync option, and that is all in the server settings. I believe you should still be able to access those from the GMail app (not entirely sure as I only use that app for GMail accounts), but if not, you should be able to see them from Outlook on a desktop computer or, if the account allows it, Outlook's web interface.

 

[Jessica Smith]

But if she is no longer using outlook on desktop, we wouldn't be able to see settings right? Her mail is strictly on Gmail.

How would I go about seeing the setting via the app? I can go to the app and then go to settings, and then how would I get to where I'd need to go to turn SMS off and call logs off? Should I call Time Warner? Is that something they could do from their end?

 

[methodman89]

But if she is no longer using outlook on desktop, we wouldn't be able to see settings right? Her mail is strictly on Gmail.

How would I go about seeing the setting via the app? I can go to the app and then go to settings, and then how would I get to where I'd need to go to turn SMS off and call logs off? Should I call Time Warner? Is that something they could do from their end?

See my above post. You need to use a pc. Preferably windows 10.

 

[methodman89]

If you need to ghost me to say my advice matches your thinking, thank you.
Advising to do what you state you are not up to speed on does not help solve the problem.

Yeah, it seems the issue is the server settings for the TW account. Some Outlook/Exchange accounts do have the SMS/Call sync option, and that is all in the server settings. I believe you should still be able to access those from the GMail app (not entirely sure as I only use that app for GMail accounts), but if not, you should be able to see them from Outlook on a desktop computer or, if the account allows it, Outlook's web interface.

 

[Jessica Smith]

I still don't get what you're saying. Why are we checking setting in Outlook. We're not using outlook. There is no time Warner email in Outlook. We're just using strictly Gmail. Don't even have Outlook on PC. Thanks though.

 

[SpookDroid]

The reason you're checking in Outlook is because the Time Warner account seems to be an Echange-based one, and you might not have all settings available through the GMail app. Outlook, on the other hand, does. It doesn't matter if you don't use it or remove it afterwards, what you are doing is accessing the full settings on the server, and once changed, you can remove from Outlook and continue to use in GMail. If the account allows it, you might be able to access it through a web interface (Outlook Lite, if you will) and won't need to re-set it up in the full-fledged Desktop Outlook app.