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Huawei: Change the Default SMS Messages App

If a new messaging app you installed from the Google Play Store never actually receives your texts, the old app is probably still set as default. Huawei phones send every SMS and MMS through whichever app is marked as the standard, no matter how many others sit on your home screen. Switching that setting is the only way to make a new app take over completely.

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VersionAndroid 10 · EMUI

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Step 1 of 5: Open the **Settings**

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Android 10 · EMUI
Set Default SMS Messages App – EMUI: step 1 – Open the Settings
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Huawei

Set Default SMS Messages App auf Huawei

On a Huawei phone, only one app can handle SMS and MMS at a time. This is the default SMS app, and Android routes every incoming and outgoing text through it, regardless of which other messaging apps are installed.

If you download a new app from the Google Play Store and it does not automatically take over, the system is still pointing to your old app. Messages keep arriving in the previous app until you change the default manually.

To switch it, open Open the SettingsTap on AppsTap on Default appsTap on SMS appChoose the default SMS Messages app. Select the app you want to use going forward and confirm.

Once changed, new messages arrive only in the app you selected. The previous app stays installed but stops receiving new SMS or MMS unless you switch back the same way.

Keep the built-in Huawei Messages app as default if you rely on features tied to it, such as carrier-specific message backup. Third-party apps often add extras like scheduled sending or advanced spam filtering, but switching can affect how notifications and message backups behave.

Frequently asked questions

A newly installed app does not become the default automatically. You have to set it manually under Open the SettingsTap on AppsTap on Default appsTap on SMS appChoose the default SMS Messages app.