Text messages I send through Phone Link later disappear from both my phone and Phone Link

Question

Text messages I send through Phone Link later disappear from both my phone and Phone Link

Julian 30

The title basically says it all. All of my messages sync well between my Samsung Galaxy Flip5 and my Windows 11 laptop. When I try to send a text message from Phone Link, it sends correctly, the recipients receive the message, and the message shows up on Phone Link. But then after a few minutes, it disappears from Phone Link and I don't see the message on my phone. This has been going on for months at least so I've just stopped sending text message via Phone Link. Everything is up to date. If that's helpful, I use Google Messages and Google Fi.

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Answer 1

Hendrix-V 20,700 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Julian,

Thank you for sharing the details about your experience with Phone Link on Windows 11 and your Samsung Galaxy Flip5. I understand how uncomfortable it can be when messages disappear after sending, please let me explain what’s happening and how you can resolve it.

Phone Link supports SMS/MMS, not full RCS features. Google Messages uses RCS (Rich Communication Services) for enhanced messaging. When you send a message from Phone Link, it sends as SMS, but Google Messages later syncs via RCS and removes the SMS entry. This is a known behavior when using Google Messages with RCS enabled.

Here are a few ways to keep your messages from disappearing:

1 - Turn Off RCS in Google Messages

Open Google Messages → Settings → Chat features → Turn off RCS.

This ensures all messages use SMS/MMS, which Phone Link can sync reliably.

2 - Switch to Samsung Messages

Set Samsung Messages as your default SMS app (Settings → Apps → Default apps → SMS app).

Samsung Messages integrates better with Phone Link and supports RCS in some cases.

3 - If you want to keep RCS, use Google Messages for Web on your PC for full feature support.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Julian 30 Reputation points

2025-09-12T17:34:04.5133333+00:00

Ah that makes sense, thank you! Do you know if there are plans for Phone Link to support RCS?
Hendrix-V 20,700 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-12T23:39:22.3633333+00:00

Hi Julian,

Currently, Microsoft has not announced any official plans to add full RCS support for Google Messages in Phone Link. This is considered a feature request, and the best way to influence future development is to share feedback through the Windows Feedback Hub app (Windows + F).

Thank you for accepting the answer in this thread. Your acknowledgment helps others facing similar situations find useful references and contributes to building a stronger community.

I hope the insights shared in the forum help address your concerns effectively. If you have any updates or further questions, please feel free to share them with us.
Julian 30 Reputation points

2025-09-13T05:30:47.3066667+00:00

Thank you, I will do that.
Will 0 Reputation points

2025-10-16T19:20:13.7833333+00:00

curious if Microsoft will update it to work better with Google messages with RCS. even Samsung phones default to using Google messages instead of their own messages app recently. I assume they'll get rid of theirs at some point