How to Enable Chat Features (RCS) on Android

If you have an Android phone, your texting app is capable of much more than the 160-character SMS messages of twenty years ago. Rich Communication Services, or RCS, is the modern upgrade to plain texting. In Google Messages it is called Chat features, and once it is switched on, your everyday text conversations gain read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality photo and video sharing, and the ability to send messages over Wi-Fi — all inside the same app you already use for SMS.

Why bother enabling it? Because SMS is limited by design: blurry compressed photos, no group chat controls, no delivery feedback, and no messaging without cellular coverage. RCS fixes all of that. It works over your mobile data or Wi-Fi connection, so you can keep texting even when cell signal is poor. Messages between two Android users with chat features turned on are also encrypted end to end, so they stay private while traveling between phones. And with Apple adding RCS support to the iPhone, the feature is finally becoming a true cross-platform standard instead of an Android-only perk.

This guide walks you through everything: checking that your phone and carrier support RCS, turning chat features on in Google Messages, handling the stuck “Setting up” screen, using RCS on Samsung’s app, adjusting settings for individual conversations, and — critically — how to turn RCS off before you switch phones so you never lose messages. Let us get started.

Step 0: Check That Your Phone and Carrier Support RCS

Before diving into settings, make sure RCS can actually run on your device. You need three things:

1. A compatible Android phone. Almost every Android phone made in the last several years supports RCS, whether it ships with Google Messages or Samsung Messages. If your phone runs Android 9 or newer, you are covered. You also need a current version of the messaging app — open the Play Store and update Google Messages before you begin.
2. A carrier that supports RCS. Nearly all major carriers worldwide now support RCS, either through their own infrastructure or through Google’s Jibe service, which provides RCS to carriers that do not run their own. If your carrier is very small or regional, RCS may not be available — your messaging app will tell you during setup.
3. An active phone number. RCS verification happens through your phone number, so you need a SIM card (physical or eSIM) that can receive text messages. You only need cellular coverage for the initial verification step; after that, RCS works over Wi-Fi too.

One more note: Google Messages has been the default messaging app on most new Android phones since 2024, including Samsung’s Galaxy line. If your phone still opens Samsung Messages by default, the steps below include a section for both apps.

Method 1: Enable Chat Features in Google Messages

Google Messages is where most Android users will turn on RCS, and the process takes about two minutes:

1. Open the Messages app on your Android phone.
2. Tap your profile icon (your account photo or initial) in the top corner of the screen.
3. Tap Messages settings.
4. Tap RCS chats. (On older app versions this section is labeled Chat features — it is the same setting with a new name.)
5. At the top of the screen, toggle Turn on RCS chats to the on position.
6. The app will now attempt to verify your phone number. This usually happens automatically in the background and takes a few seconds to a few minutes. You may see a status like “Setting up…” followed by “Status: Connected”.

Once the status shows Connected, you are done. Open any conversation and look at the text box: it should now say “Chat message” or “RCS message” instead of “Text message”. That label tells you the conversation is using RCS, and you will see typing indicators (the three bouncing dots) and read receipts (check marks) appear as you chat.

If the person you are texting does not have RCS enabled, Messages automatically falls back to plain SMS or MMS for that conversation — you will see “Text message” in the compose box, and everything works as it always did. You never lose the ability to reach anyone.

Method 2: What to Do When RCS Gets Stuck on “Setting up” or “Trying to Verify”

Sometimes verification does not complete right away, and the settings screen sits on “Setting up…” or “Trying to verify your phone number…” for far too long. This is the most common RCS headache, and it is almost always fixable. Work through these fixes in order:

1. Wait a little longer. Verification can legitimately take up to a few hours in rare cases, especially after a SIM swap. Give it at least 30 minutes before troubleshooting.
2. Check your connection. RCS verification needs an internet connection. Make sure you have either mobile data or Wi-Fi turned on, and try loading a web page to confirm data is actually working.
3. Turn off battery saver and VPN. Battery saver modes and some VPN apps can interfere with the verification handshake. Temporarily disable both, then go back to Messages settings → RCS chats and wait for the status to update.
4. Update Google Messages and Carrier Services. Open the Play Store, search for Google Messages and Carrier Services, and install any available updates. Both apps are involved in RCS, and an outdated version is a frequent cause of stuck verification.
5. Clear the app cache. Go to Settings → Apps → Messages → Storage and tap Clear cache (not Clear data — that would delete your message history). Then reopen Messages and check the RCS chats screen again.
6. Toggle the switch off and on. In Messages settings → RCS chats, turn Turn on RCS chats off, wait a minute, then turn it back on to trigger a fresh verification attempt.
7. Check your SIM and number. Make sure the phone number listed in the RCS chats screen matches your actual number. If you recently changed numbers or ported your number to a new carrier, verification may take up to a day to catch up.

If none of this works after 24 hours, contact your carrier. Some smaller carriers still have provisioning issues on their end, and only they can fix it. As a last resort, you can also remove and re-add your Google account on the phone, which forces a full re-verification — but try everything else first.

Method 3: Enable RCS in Samsung Messages vs Google Messages

Samsung phones used to ship with Samsung Messages as the default texting app, and the RCS setting lives in a different place there:

1. Open Samsung Messages.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top corner and choose Settings.
3. Tap Chat settings (on some versions it appears as RCS settings).
4. Toggle Chat features on and wait for your number to verify.

Important caveats about Samsung Messages:

• RCS in Samsung Messages only works if your carrier supports it on Samsung’s app. Carrier support here is patchier than with Google Messages, because Google’s Jibe backend covers far more carriers. If the Chat features toggle is missing or refuses to verify, your carrier likely only supports RCS through Google Messages.
• Since 2024, Samsung sets Google Messages as the default messaging app on new Galaxy phones sold in most regions. If that is the case on your phone, just use Method 1 above — there is no reason to switch back to Samsung Messages for texting.
• You can only have one default SMS app at a time. If you use Google Messages as your default, RCS in Samsung Messages stays dormant, and vice versa. Pick one app and enable RCS there.

Our recommendation: use Google Messages. It gets RCS features first, works on every carrier that supports RCS at all, and is the app Google keeps updating. Switching is easy — open the Play Store, install Messages if it is not already there, open it, and tap Set as default when prompted. Your existing SMS history carries over.

Step 4: Adjust RCS Settings for Individual Conversations

RCS is enabled globally, but you can control how individual conversations behave. This is useful if one contact has spotty data coverage, or if you want to force plain SMS for a particular person:

1. Open the conversation in Google Messages.
2. Tap the contact’s name or photo at the top of the conversation to open conversation details.
3. Look for the option “Only send SMS and MMS messages” and toggle it on. That conversation will now use plain texting even though RCS is enabled everywhere else.
4. To reverse it, return to the same screen and toggle the option off.

A few more per-conversation behaviors worth knowing:

• The compose box label is your live indicator: “RCS message” means chat features are active for that thread, “Text message” means it has fallen back to SMS/MMS — for example because the other person turned RCS off or has no data connection.
• Read receipts can be toggled globally under Messages settings → RCS chats → Send read receipts. Turning it off stops sending “seen” ticks to everyone, though you will still receive theirs.
• Typing indicators, message reactions, and high-resolution media only work when both sides are on RCS. If either side drops to SMS, those extras disappear for that conversation.

Step 5: Turn RCS Off Before Switching Phones (Avoid the “Lost Messages” Problem)

This is the step most people skip — and the one that causes the most grief. RCS ties your phone number to Google’s servers. If you move to a new phone or switch to an iPhone without disabling chat features first, other people’s phones may keep trying to send you RCS messages that route to your old device. You will silently stop receiving texts from Android contacts, with no error on their end. It looks exactly like your messages vanished.

Prevent it with this 30-second ritual before you remove your SIM or factory-reset the old phone:

1. On your old phone, open Messages.
2. Tap your profile icon → Messages settings → RCS chats.
3. Toggle Turn on RCS chats off.
4. Wait until the status confirms chat features are disabled (this can take a few minutes — stay connected to Wi-Fi or data).
5. Now it is safe to move your SIM, reset the phone, or hand it to someone else.

What if your old phone is already gone, broken, or reset — and you suspect messages are being lost? Use Google’s deregistration page:

1. On any computer or phone, go to messages.google.com/disable-chat.
2. Enter your phone number and request the verification code.
3. Enter the code you receive by text. This disables chat features for that number on Google’s servers, so senders fall back to plain SMS immediately.

Two special cases:

• Moving to an iPhone: disable chat features on your Android first (steps above), and also make sure iMessage is set up on the iPhone. Because iPhones now support RCS too, Android contacts with RCS enabled will reach you over RCS — no messages lost, as long as chat features were cleanly disabled on the old device. If texts still do not arrive after the move, use the deregister page.
• Moving to another Android phone: disable chat features on the old phone, set up the new one, then re-enable chat features with the same number. Verification will run again and complete within minutes.

Troubleshooting Common RCS Problems

RCS worked, then suddenly stopped. This usually follows a carrier update, a SIM swap, or a major Messages update. Go to Messages settings → RCS chats and check the status. If it says “Setting up” again, run through Method 2 above — toggling the switch off and back on resolves most cases.

Messages to one specific person always send as SMS. That person likely turned chat features off, switched phones without disabling it, or uses an app or carrier without RCS. Ask them to check their own RCS chats status. There is nothing wrong on your end — fallback to SMS is by design.

Photos arrive blurry. Blurry media means the message went out as MMS, not RCS. Check that the compose box says “RCS message” and that you have a data connection. If RCS drops mid-send, Messages may silently fall back to MMS.

Dual SIM confusion. RCS verifies against one phone number. In Messages settings → RCS chats, check which number is listed — if you have two SIMs, make sure it is the number you actually text from. Some phones let you choose the active number for chat features; others default to the SIM in slot 1.

“Your carrier does not support chat features.” Take this message at face value. A few carriers still do not offer RCS. Your options are to wait (carrier support keeps expanding), or use a data-based messaging app for rich chats with specific people.

Group chats are a mess. RCS group chats require every participant to have RCS working. If one member’s chat features break, the whole group can behave oddly — messages arriving out of order or as individual texts. Ask the affected member to re-verify their chat features using Method 2.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of RCS

• Keep Messages updated. Google adds RCS features — better encryption, message editing, improved reactions — through app updates, not Android OS updates. Enable auto-updates in the Play Store so you do not miss them.
• Use Wi-Fi freely. RCS rides on any internet connection, so texting works on airplane Wi-Fi, in basements with poor signal, and abroad without roaming charges for the messages themselves.
• Star important messages. Long-press any chat message and tap the star to save it. Starred messages are easy to find later from the conversation menu.
• Try message reactions. Long-press a message to react with an emoji — the same quick acknowledgment you are used to from other chat apps, now in your texting app.
• Schedule messages. Long-press the send button to schedule a text for later — handy for birthday wishes across time zones.
• Pair with Messages for web. Go to messages.google.com on your computer and pair it with your phone to text from your desktop. RCS features, including encryption, carry over to the web interface.
• Review your read receipts setting. If you do not want people to know when you have read their messages, turn off Send read receipts under RCS chats — you will still see typing indicators and delivery status.
• Remember the pre-switch ritual. Any time you change phones, swap SIMs, or port your number: turn chat features off first, then back on after. Thirty seconds of prevention beats days of missing texts.

FAQs

Is RCS free?

Yes — your carrier does not charge per-message fees for RCS. It uses your mobile data or Wi-Fi connection instead of the SMS network, so it consumes a tiny amount of data (or none, on Wi-Fi). There are no subscriptions or in-app purchases involved in Google’s chat features.

Does RCS work with iPhone?

Yes, since Apple added RCS support in iOS 18. You can now get typing indicators, read receipts, and high-quality media in chats between Android and iPhone — a big upgrade from the old green-bubble SMS experience. Both phones need updated software and a carrier that supports RCS, and end-to-end encryption between Android and iPhone is rolling out through newer RCS standards and OS updates, so keep both devices current.

Why is RCS stuck on “Setting up” or “Trying to verify”?

Verification needs a working internet connection and an up-to-date Messages app. The most common fixes are: wait 30 minutes, confirm mobile data or Wi-Fi works, turn off battery saver and VPN, update Google Messages and Carrier Services from the Play Store, clear the Messages cache, and toggle chat features off and back on. If it still fails after a day, your carrier may need to fix provisioning on their end.

Can I use RCS without a SIM card?

No — RCS verification requires a phone number with a SIM (physical or eSIM) that can receive texts. Once verified, you can keep chatting over Wi-Fi, and you can pair Messages for web on a tablet or computer, but the phone itself must have an active number to enable chat features in the first place.

Does RCS use mobile data?

Yes, RCS messages travel over mobile data or Wi-Fi rather than the traditional SMS network. The data usage is minimal — text messages are a few kilobytes, and even photos are far smaller than streaming a short video. If you are on Wi-Fi, RCS costs you nothing at all in data.

Are RCS messages encrypted?

One-to-one chats between Google Messages users are protected with end-to-end encryption, and Google is extending encryption to group chats as well. However, when a message falls back to SMS/MMS — for example, when texting someone without RCS — that fallback is not encrypted. RCS between Android and iPhone is also gaining encryption through newer standards, but the safest assumption is that only Google Messages-to-Google Messages chats are fully end-to-end encrypted today.

Will turning off RCS delete my messages?

No. Disabling chat features only stops new messages from using RCS; your existing conversation history stays exactly where it is in the Messages app. Turning it off is also fully reversible — toggle it back on and verification runs again. This is why disabling it before a phone switch is safe and strongly recommended.

Enabling chat features is one of the highest-value two-minute upgrades you can make on an Android phone. You keep the same app and the same phone number, but your texts gain everything modern messaging should have: read receipts, typing indicators, crisp photos and videos, and messaging over Wi-Fi. Just remember the two habits that keep it trouble-free — keep the app updated, and always turn chat features off before you switch phones. Do those, and RCS will quietly make every conversation better.