One of the big changes to Google Messages in 2026 was a smarter group chat feature. Well, group chats are anything but intelligent right now; A recent bug in Google Messages is preventing the group chat feature from working properly. Many users simply don’t see their group chat messages, which naturally drives everyone crazy.
Here’s why your group chat messages aren’t coming through: Google Messages currently divides group chats into separate threads. If your conversation is affected by this bug, each new message you send may create a duplicate conversation with the same participants. The new message only appears in the duplicate thread, and even if you delete that thread, more clones will likely appear every time someone tries to send another text in the chat.
A user on Reddit received a response from an official Google customer support representative confirming that the company is aware of the Google Messages issue. Google engineers are reportedly working to fix the bug, but given that the problem appears to have existed for months, it’s unclear when a fix will finally be available.
Is there a solution to the Google Messages group chat bug?
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A separate Reddit comment speculated that the Google Messages group chat bug could 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 may have saved for other participants in your group chat. This tip reportedly solved 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 another messaging app is no longer a particularly viable option, now that Samsung Messages is officially discontinued. Carrier-specific messaging apps, like Verizon and AT&T, are also a thing of the past. This is a shame, because there are still some features that Samsung users miss after switching to Google Messages. But most of all, users miss having an app that doesn’t suffer from long-standing group chat bugs and other RCS issues.
