There’s always that one person who constantly texts in every group chat, even when they don’t have anything relevant or urgent to share. Apart from this situation, you may receive bombing notifications from other people in the group chat as the conversation continues.
Group messages may include content that is friendly, innocent, harsh, threatening or offensive, especially to children. But let’s face it. Nobody wants to receive a deluge of messages every two minutes, or overnight, whether good or bad. It can be annoying and disturbing. You may pick up your phone dozens or hundreds of times a day, making you less focused and less productive.
Unfortunately you can not block group text/messages on your default android messaging app. Since blocking specific senders or numbers also doesn’t work for group chats (as many websites claim), you can only block notifications. Texts remain and appear as unread in your default Android MMS/SMS app.
This article explains that it’s not possible to opt out of a group chat on the Stock Android Messages app or completely block the group chat – and it hasn’t been the case for years – and you shows what you can do to reduce the awkwardness of group messages.. Let’s start!
How to Really Block a Specific Group Text/Chat on Android Phone
You might think that there is nothing you can do to block group chat/messages on Android, but in most situations there is! To do so, you must meet the following criteria:
- You must not use an administratively controlled messaging app, such as an app under a Family Link for Kids account or a Verizon Smart Family profile.
- You should not have any third-party social apps tied to your default messaging app, such as using Meta Messenger for standard mobile messaging.
- You must be able to install a third-party app from the Play Store which you can set as your default messaging app.
An application, known as Textra SMS, can replace your default Android messaging app. If all other conditions are met, you can block group chats so that you don’t receive group messages that are sent.
Here’s how:
- Download and install the Textra SMS app.
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- Launch Textra SMS. The app will ask you to choose your default messaging app. To select “SMS text” from the pop-up window. Once set as the default app, it will automatically sync your messages.
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- Open group chat/message board directly. Do NOT long press it from the main messages screen (lists all other messages) or long press on a message in the group, as the option does not reside there.
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- In the group chat, tap the “down arrow” icon near the names/phone numbers in the top bar.
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- Tap the three little dots in the upper right corner and select “Block List” from the pop-up submenu to block all incoming messages in the group text.
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Now all messages sent by the group will not appear in Textra. They will still be sent, but the app won’t show them since you blocked the group.
In conclusion, there is no way to block group messages or chat in your default messaging app on Android, but there are third-party apps like Textra that do the job. You are not breaking any laws or rules when using the above method. It’s just that Android hasn’t yet devised or discovered a way to block group chats in the default messaging app.
It’s important to remember that there’s always the option to turn off notifications for the whole group. You can then open the conversation and resume later when you’re less busy.
But if you don’t want to be part of the conversation anymore, you can completely block the group chat. No one in the chat can get back to you unless they call or text you directly.
