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One of the big changes to Google Messages in 2026 was smarter group chat functionality. Well, group chats are anything but smart right now; a recent Google Messages bug is keeping the group chat feature from working properly. Many users are simply not seeing their group chat messages at all, and it’s understandably driving everyone crazy.
Here’s why your group chat messages are not coming through: Google Messages is currently splitting group chats into separate threads. If your conversation is affected by this bug, every new message you send may create a duplicate conversation with the same participants. The new message only appears in the duplicated thread, and even if you delete that thread, more clones will likely pop up every time someone tries to send another text in the chat.
One user on Reddit received a response from an official Google customer support representative confirming that the company is aware of the Google Messages issue. Engineers at Google are reportedly working to remedy the bug, but considering that the problem has seemingly been around for months, there’s no telling when a fix will finally come.
Is there a solution for the Google Messages group chat bug?
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A separate Reddit comment theorized that the Google Messages group chat bug may stem from a sync error between the contact list on Samsung devices and the Google Messages app. The user suggests deleting any contact cards you might have saved for other participants in your group chat. This trick has allegedly fixed the “splitting thread” issue for some people.
If this method doesn’t work, your only choice may be to wait for Google to roll out a fix itself. Moving your conversation to a different messaging app isn’t a particularly viable option anymore, now that Samsung Messages is officially discontinued. Carrier-specific messaging apps from the likes of Verizon and AT&T are also a thing of the past. It’s a shame, because there are still features that Samsung users miss after switching to Google Messages. But most of all, users miss having an app that doesn’t suffer from longstanding group chat bugs and other RCS issues.
