How to Fix IMS Service Keeps Stopping Error on Any Samsung Galaxy Phones?

Have you been greeted with the “Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped” error on your Android phone? Well, it’s not just you. A lot of Samsung Galaxy owners have also got the same error. This article will tell you what this error means and how to troubleshoot this problem.

Reasons Why IMS Service Keeps Stopping on Your Samsung Phone

Network issues: The IMS service makes use of the cellular data network to function properly. So, when there’s an issue with your network, you are likely to face issues with the IMS service too. Therefore, You should ensure that the device has strong signal strength and that there’s no network instability.
Software issues: Your Samsung Galaxy phone could be running into software glitches which could be causing the failure of IMS service. A quick fix to this is to restart your phone.
Issues with third-party software: You may have many third-party applications on your phone. Though they can be useful, one of them could be the source of the problem. Thankfully, there’s a way to check if any third-party app is causing the problem without deleting them. We’ll talk more about this in the troubleshooting methods below.
Outdated software: Your Samsung phone may not be running the latest version of the software. Although the device should work just fine on an older version, it’s recommended to have the most up-to-date software version. It could bring new features, and improvements, and fix the issues that are troubling you.
Corrupted cache: All the applications on your Samsung phone save temporary data called cache. If the cache gets corrupted, it can cause many issues. Probably, the cache data for the messaging application has got corrupted and it can be fixed easily.
There are plenty of others reasons too. But, we’ll not go further as we will now jump into the troubleshooting methods.

Here’s How to Fix IMS Service Keeps Stopping Error

If you keep getting “Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped” on your Samsung phone, try the solutions we have mentioned below and get it fixed. You may not have to try them all. Simply work your way down until you find the one that works for you.

Fix 2: Change Messages App Settings

Tweaking the Messages app configurations has worked like a charm for a lot of users. Follow these steps:

For AT&T:

Launch the default messaging application.
Click the three-dot menu button in the top-right corner and select “Settings.
Tap on “AT&T Messages Backup & Sync.”
Select the “Disable the Sync” option.
Restart your Samsung phone.

For other users:

Open the “Settings” app on your phone.
Tap on “Connections” and click “More connection settings”.
Disable “Rich communications.” If you can’t see this option, disable “Advanced Calling & Messaging”.
Reboot your Samsung phone, and the issue should get fixed.

Fix 3: Clear Cache Partition

Android smartphones, including Samsung Galaxy, store cache to load apps quickly and perform several actions faster. These are automatically generated. While the system cache is useful, it can get corrupted and cause issues. You should therefore clear the system cache to check if it can fix issues with the IMS service.

Clearing the system cache does not remove any personal files. Hence, you can proceed without being worried about your data. Here’s how to do it:

Turn off your Samsung Galaxy phone.
Press and hold the volume up button and power button until you see the Android logo. The screen will show “Installing system update” for a few seconds. On the next screen, you’ll get the recovery options.
Use the volume buttons to navigate to the “Wipe cache partition” option.
Press the power button to select this option.
Use the volume down button to navigate to “Yes”.
Press the power button again to confirm your action.

Once the system cache is cleared, press the power button to boot your phone to the system.
So, that’s how you can clear the system cache on your Samsung phone. Once done, reboot your phone and check if the problem is fixed.

Fix 4: Reset Network Settings

If you are still getting the “Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped” error, there are probably some network settings issues. If the network settings are incorrect, it could result in the failure of the IMS service. Rather the going through each and every network settings one by one, there’s a quick way to fix all sorts of network issues. You can reset the network settings as follows:

Open the “Settings” app on your Samsung phone.
Tap on “General management”.
Click on the “Reset” option.
Select “Reset network settings”.
Click “Reset settings” to confirm.

Fix 5: Boot Your Phone in Safe Mode

As we mentioned earlier, third-party apps can misbehave and cause issues with the core functions of your phone. If the IMS Service keeps after you have recently installed an app, delete that app to check if that was causing the problem. Alternatively, you can boot your phone into Safe mode to verify the problem.

When your Samsung Galaxy enters Safe mode, all third-party apps are disabled. So, while you are in Safe mode, if the “Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped” error does not appear, it means one of the apps on your phone is behind the problem.

Here’s how to boot your Samsung Galaxy into Safe mode:

Press and hold the power button until the power options appear. On some Galaxy phones, you’ll have to hold the power button and volume down button.
Press and hold the “Power off” option until you see the Safe mode.
Click “Safe mode”. It might take a few seconds to enter the Safe mode. Do not press any buttons.
Check for the “Safe mode” text on the bottom-left side of your screen. It confirms that you are actually using your phone in Safe mode.

If the IMS service error does not appear in the Safe mode, reboot your phone. Now, delete a third-party app and check if the “IMS Service has stopped” error appears. Keep doing this until you fix the problem.

Fix 6: Clear the Cache for the Messages App

The cache for the Messages app might get corrupted and cause issues with the IMS service. You should therefore clear the cache for this app to check if it can fix the issue.

Here’s how to clear the Messages app cache:

Open the “Settings” app.
Scroll down to “Apps” and tap on it.
Find “Messages” or the third-party messaging app you use and tap on it.
Select “Storage”.
Tap on “Clear cache”.

If clearing the cache for the Messages app does not help, you can try clearing the app data. For this, go back to the app settings and click “Clear data”.

Fix 7: Update Your Phone

Samsung regularly releases new software updates to its fresh as well as slightly older models. Generally, the software updates address known issues and improve other aspects of the phone such as performance and stability. If you have not updated your Samsung Galaxy recently, consider updating it now to improve your experience.

Although Samsung notifies you when there’s a new update, you would want to manually check. Here’s how to do it:

Open the “Settings” app on your phone.
Scroll down to “Software update” and tap on it.
Now, tap on “Download and install”.

If an update is available, go ahead and install it. The update could be large in size. In such a case, connecting to a Wi-Fi network is recommended.

Fix 8: Reset App Preferences

The IMS service might be not working because of changes to the default apps. To rule out this possibility, reset all preferences on your Samsung Galaxy and check it if can fix the issue.

Here’s how to do it:

Open the “Settings app” on your Samsung phone.
Tap on “Apps”.
Click the tree dot icon in the top-right corner and select “Reset app preferences”.
Click “Reset” to confirm.

Once you have reset the app preference, restart your Samsung Galaxy once.

Fix 9: Factory Reset Your Samsung Galaxy

If you are still getting the “Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped” error, try factory resetting your Samsung phone as the last resort. This should fix all software issues, and eventually, the IMS service might work again.

Before we proceed, please keep in mind that factory resetting your phone may cause data loss. So, take a complete backup of your device beforehand.

Follow these steps to factory reset your Samsung Galaxy:

Open the “Settings” app on your phone.
Scroll down to “General management” and tap on it.
Click “Reset.”
Tap on “Factory data reset.”
Click “Reset.”
Confirm your lock screen (if prompted).
Click “Delete All” to begin the process.

After it is done, you can set up your device (the way you did after purchasing the device).

So, that’s how you can fix the IMS service that keeps stopping errors on your Samsung Galaxy phone. Do let us know which solution from this article helped you in fixing the problem. Share your thoughts or queries in the comment section below.