Tip: Turn Off RCS “Chat” When You Switch Phones or Else…

Now that Verizon has committed to RCS with Google, the three major US carriers are all onboard. RCS is here (unlike 5G) and will be a big part of your messaging experience going forward, assuming you have an Android phone. And while RCS is great and a big improvement on traditional text messaging, moving from one device to another is now a thing you have to think about if you want uninterrupted messaging.

What I’m trying to tell you is that Google wants you to turn off RCS or “Chat” on your old phone before you move to your next phone. If you don’t you could see up to 8 days of issues, according to Google Support. Issues like not receiving text messages on your new phone in Google Messages is the biggest and the one you need to know how to fix.

Thankfully, turning off RCS or “Chat” is super easy and there are a couple of ways to do it, including one that’ll help if you forgot to turn it off on your old phone.

How to turn off RCS or “Chat” in Google Messages

Option 1: If you remember, the best thing to do is turn off RCS on your old phone before you switch to your new phone. Google says that if you don’t, “Chat” may continue to work on your old phone for up to 8 days, even if you pull your SIM card out. Since that would be bad, do this.

1. Open Google Messages
2. Tap the 3-dot menu in the top right
3. Tap Settings>Chat features
4. Toggle “Enable chat features” to the off position

And that should do it! Once you fire up your new phone and toss in the SIM card, feel free to enable “Chat” and enjoy the benefits of RCS messaging.

Option 2: Now, if you forgot to turn off “Chat” on your old phone and are having issues with messaging on your new phone, Google has a web deactivation portal that’ll help you get the ball rolling on fixing your issues.

1. You’ll head over to this link, enter your phone, then enter a 6-digit code that will arrive to verify your switch to a new phone.
2. It still could take some time to fix everything, but this is the step you need to take to get a fix started.

Go enjoy RCS.