Text messages are displayed as if coming from a different number.

[joshisanonymous]

I recently created a new contact in my phone, entered their name, and messaged them with the default messenger. I then realized I entered the wrong phone number so I deleted the contact then created a new one using the same name but the correct phone number and texted them. Now, when they text me, it shows up in its own thread as if it came from the incorrect number I originally entered but when I reply I have to do so in a different thread that displays the correct number. In effect, this contact now has one thread for their incoming messages and one thread for their outgoing messages.

I've tried pulling my battery and SIM but that did nothing. I've tried deleting either or both of the threads and nothing. I've tried deleting them and pulling the battery and SIM afterward and nothing. I've found solutions for merging existing threads but that doesn't help at all for any new messages that are sent or received. I've searched all over the internet for solutions and only found one other person with a similar problem. Does anyone know how to fix this? It's a bit tedious having to go back and forth between threads just to talk to one person.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hard to say if the problem is with Contacts or with the texting app. Two things you could try:

1. Try going to Settings/Apps/All, selecting Messenger (or whatever your texting app is called), and first Clearing Cache. If that doesn't work, Clear Data (this will erase any texting threads you might have in storage).

2. Are all of your contacts in Google Contacts (and therefore backed up in the cloud), or if they're phone contacts, are they backed up using some other software? Because then I'd suggest going to Settings/Apps/All, selecting Contacts (or People, depending on the phone), and Clearing Cache. If that doesn't work, then Clear Data. The latter will, of course, erase all of your contacts from the phone, but as long as they're backed up, you should be able to restore them by simply syncing with Google afterwards or restoring from whatever backup software you might use.