Not receiving verification codes on android and iOS phones

We understand the impact of not receiving verification codes can have, jord930.

We just have a few quick questions:

- What are the make and models for your Android and Apple device?

- Have you had a Port In or Number Change take place recently?

We're asking because we want to provide you with a precise solution for those specific devices.

There are 3 primary reasons you may not be receiving verification codes, and we'll be providing steps to resolve each of them below.

• A customer has inadvertently opted out of receiving the codes (most common) - To resolve this issue, simply send the word "Help" to the code you are wanting to receive from.  You should receive a message back advising how to opt back in.
  • If you do not receive any response back, you may have blocked this number within your device.  You'll want to go to your blocked numbers list and remove it (on iPhone Go to Settings > Messages > Blocked.)
• Short Code Provider Issue (less common) - At times, the company sending the short codes can experience delays/outages when sending codes to customers.  I have experience this myself with a credit card company.  If you aren't getting codes after doing step 1 above, we recommend contacting the company sending the code to ensure there are no issues on their end.
• AT&T Short Code Network Issue (Rare) - If you are still having issues receiving these codes, and have tried all other steps, you can escalate your issue to us via customer care (or asking a question in the forums).  There may be a back end issue causing you to not receive these codes, but it is very uncommon.  We can file a ticket at this point to determine if it's an issue on our end.

Overall, most issues with Short Code problems can be resolved by texting "Help" to the short code to re-setup your ability to receive these codes.  The second most common is customers accidentally blocking the code via their device.

We also recommend view more solutions via our forums thread on short codes.

Please let us know how this helps and we can continue offering more support. Thanks again for reaching out to AT&T Community Forums!

Nelson, AT&T Community Specialist

This is not correct. The answer for this problem is to call 611, get to tech support, and have them re-provision your phone. I struggled with this for weeks, and hours on the phone with banks (that could not deliver codes) and ATT. I did all the resets, new SIMs, etc. 

AT&T Short Code Network Issue (Rare) tier 2 support provided the solution that fixed the short code problem on both iOS and Android phones. It was an AT&T network issue. 

Can you be a bit more helpful with:

 "....simply send the word "Help" to the code you are wanting to receive from....

How, exactly, would one identify "...the code you are wanting..."  when nothing is received to begin with?

We have had this issue lately on all our phones.  Talked to tech support several times for over an hour each time.  No one seems to be able to fix it.  We now get way worse internet no matter the phone or location.  This seems to be an ATT issue that they don't want to admit to or fix.  We are done and switching to a different carrier after having been with AT&T for more than 13 years. 

I've done chat sessions, been in the store, and 2 phone sessions.  No fix in sight.  This is total (Edited per community guidelines).  I'm locked out of my home security system.  I have no numbers blocked on my phone, I've reset network settings a million times, got a new SIM ((Edited per community guidelines) I got a new phone).

Experience this same issue. Can’t log into anything due to not receiving my verification codes to my phone. I receive everyone else texts even sms text. But not any codes. I unblocked all the numbers I had blocked and still nothing. I have seen multiple other forms saying the same thing about having att and not being able to receive text confirmation. I hope you guys fix this issue instead. Because the recommended “fix’s” on these forms do not work.