Why are my business texts not being delivered? What to check, in order

Business texts usually go undelivered for one of six reasons: the number isn't registered or verified, the recipient's number can't receive texts, the person opted out, the content trips carrier filters, your sending pattern or complaints look like spam, or you are texting Canadians from an ordinary local number. Check them in that order.

This guide walks through each cause, how to tell which one you have, and what to fix. It draws on carrier industry guidance and the registry the US carriers use, as read in October 2026, and is one part of our business texting rules for the US and Canada. Carriers don't publish their filters, so where we can't say exactly how a rule is applied, we say so. It is not legal advice.

Why do carriers block business texts at all?

To keep texting free of spam. CTIA's guidance for the carriers says "All Service Providers may filter or block Unwanted Messages before they reach Consumers", and that they "may suspend the exchange of messaging traffic" with another provider to stop unwanted messages (CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices, 2023, sections 7.1 and 7.2.4).

Carriers treat business texts as a separate kind of traffic from texts between people. CTIA calls them "Non-Consumer" messages, sent by "large-to-small businesses, financial institutions, schools, medical practices" and others, and says such senders "should adhere to the Non-Consumer Best Practices" (section 4.2). Most blocks come from a business text missing one of those practices: registration, consent, opt-out, clear content or a steady sending pattern.

A blocked text can look like several things from your side: a failed send with an error, a "sent" text with no delivery report, or a delivered text the person never sees because their phone or carrier sorted it as spam. Start with the delivery reports your texting service shows, then work down the list below.

The checklist, in order

Work through these from the top. The first ones are the most common and the quickest to rule out.

#	Check	Typical sign	Fix
1	Is your number registered (10DLC) or verified (toll-free)?	Every text to US mobiles fails	Register the brand and campaign, or verify the toll-free number
2	Do your texts match what you registered?	Delivery drops after you change what you send	Send what the campaign describes, or register a new campaign
3	Can the recipient's number receive texts?	Failures on some numbers only	Remove landlines, invalid and reassigned numbers
4	Did the person opt out?	One number fails every time	Stop texting them; keep one opt-out list
5	Does the content trip filters?	Texts with a link or certain words fail or vanish	Use your own domain for links, name the business, cut restricted content
6	Is your volume or pattern the problem?	Failures rise when you send in bursts	Send within your registered limits, from few numbers
7	Are people opting out or reporting spam?	Delivery falls over weeks	Text people who asked to hear from you, less often
8	Are you texting Canada from an ordinary local number?	Canadian numbers fail, US ones go through	Use a verified toll-free number for Canadian recipients

Is your number registered or verified?

Check this first. In the US, texts from ordinary 10-digit numbers need a 10DLC brand and campaign on file with The Campaign Registry. The registry lists AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon each as "Launched" with use of the registry "Required", and says US carriers "are moving away from unsanctioned long codes" (The Campaign Registry, August 2025, read 2026-10-17). Business texts from unregistered 10-digit numbers are blocked by the carriers' texting providers.

Toll-free numbers follow their own path: each one must pass toll-free verification before it can text US or Canadian mobiles.

If you are moving from a personal phone to a business texting tool, check this before anything else. Registration is filed by your texting provider, since businesses can't register with the registry directly. Our guide on how to register for 10DLC covers what to prepare and how long it takes.

Do your texts match what you registered?

They should. A 10DLC campaign describes one use case, how people opt in, and sample messages, and the carriers review those before your numbers can send. A campaign registered for appointment reminders that starts sending promotions is sending something it wasn't approved for.

Three common mismatches:

• A new kind of text under an old campaign, such as adding sales follow-up to a customer service campaign.
• Samples that don't look like what you send, for example samples with your business name and opt-out wording, and live texts with neither.
• A new audience, such as texting a bought list from a campaign that describes a website opt-in form. CTIA says senders "should not use opt-in lists that have been rented, sold, or shared".

The fix is a new campaign for the new use case, under the same brand.

Can the recipient's number receive texts?

Not every number on a list can. Three kinds fail every time:

1. Landlines. A text to a fixed home or office line can't be read. You can't tell from the digits, because people move numbers between landline and mobile carriers; a carrier lookup is the reliable way to know.
2. Invalid numbers. Mistyped numbers, and numbers that break North American numbering rules, such as an area code starting with 0 or 1.
3. Reassigned numbers. A number that belonged to your customer two years ago may belong to someone else now. The FCC's rules give a safe harbor to a caller who checks a number against the reassigned numbers database before contacting it (47 CFR 64.1200(m)). The older the list, the more numbers have changed hands.

Retrying a number that can't receive texts doesn't help, and repeated failures to the same numbers make your traffic look careless. Check numbers before the first text, and remove any that fail permanently. A phone type check tags each number Mobile, Landline, Office, Invalid or Unknown before you send.

Did the person opt out?

If one number fails every time while others go through, they may have opted out. When someone replies STOP to a business number, their texting network keeps its own opt-out list and refuses later texts from that number to them, whatever your own records say.

That is also why opt-outs must hold across your whole business. Under current FCC rules, replies such as "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" or "unsubscribe" revoke consent by themselves, and requests "must be honored within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days" (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)). If the same person is texted again from another number or another campaign, the text may go through on the network and still break the rule. Our STOP and opt-out rules guide covers what counts and how fast to act.

People can also block a number on their own phone. CTIA notes that providers "may provide tools for Consumers to manage the messages from specific telephone numbers they receive, filter, or block" (section 7.2.1.1). A block on the phone usually leaves no trace on your side.

Which content gets filtered?

Carriers don't publish their filters, but their industry guidance names what they look for. Four kinds of content cause most trouble:

Shared link shorteners. CTIA says that where a link shortener is used, senders "should use a shortener with a web address and IP address(es) dedicated to the exclusive use of the Message Sender", and that links and the sites they lead to "should unambiguously identify the website owner" and include contact information (section 5.3.2). Public shorteners are shared by many senders, including spammers, so links on them get filtered. Use a link on your own domain.

Restricted topics. CTIA's short code handbook lists "SHAFT (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, or tobacco), gambling, and sweepstakes and contests" as categories that are "either explicitly prohibited or [with] additional Wireless Provider requirements" (CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook v1.9, 2023, section 3.5). Texts in these areas need the right registration and age-gating.

Content that looks like a scam. CTIA asks senders to prevent content that is "unlawful, harmful, abusive, malicious, misleading, harassing", along with phishing and malware (section 5.3). Urgent payment demands, unexplained links and texts that hide who sent them all read that way.

Hidden phone numbers. Texts "should not contain phone numbers that are assigned to or forward to unpublished phone numbers" unless the owner is clearly named (section 5.3.3).

What helps instead: your business name in the first text, a reason that ties to something the person did, plain wording, a link on your own domain if you need one, and the opt-out instructions your campaign was registered with. Our guide on how to write a business text has examples.

Is your volume or sending pattern the problem?

It can be. Each 10DLC registration comes with limits on how fast and how much you can send, set by the carriers. The registry's guide for providers sets them out:

Carrier	How the limit works	Entry level	Highest level
AT&T	Messages per minute, set for each campaign	240 SMS a minute (classes E and F, vetting score 1 to 49)	4,500 SMS a minute (classes A and B, score 75 to 100)
T-Mobile	Messages per day, set for each brand and shared across its campaigns	2,000 a day (Low tier, score 1 to 24)	200,000 a day (Top tier, score 75 to 100)
Both, sole proprietor	Fixed	15 a minute (AT&T) and 1,000 a day (T-Mobile)	Same

Source: The Campaign Registry CSP User Guide, August 2025, read 2026-10-17. The guide notes that "Terms may be subject to change by MNOs at any time", and that verified brands outside the Russell 3000 start at the entry level and "can apply for Standard vetting to try and increase their throughput".

Two patterns cause trouble:

• Big bursts. Sending a whole list at once can run past what your registration allows. Spread sends through the day, and add new leads as they arrive instead of in one weekly batch.
• Spreading one message across many numbers. CTIA says senders "should not engage in Snowshoe Messaging, which is a technique used to spread messages across many sending phone numbers or short codes" (section 5.5.2). Adding numbers to get around filtering or limits is exactly what carriers look for, and T-Mobile's daily allowance is tied to the brand, so more numbers don't add to it. Use a few numbers, each for a reason, and keep each person on one number.

Are opt-outs and complaints hurting delivery?

They can, over time. Carriers take reports from the people you text: CTIA says providers "may establish and maintain a system to receive complaints identifying Unwanted Messages (e.g., 7726 (SPAM) reporting systems)", and may "block or filter message traffic" to protect consumers (sections 7.2.1.2 and 7.2.3).

We found no carrier page that publishes an opt-out or complaint rate that triggers filtering, so treat any number you see quoted as a guess. What you can do is watch your own rates. A campaign whose opt-out rate climbs, or whose replies turn angry, is telling you something about who you are texting or how often.

The usual causes:

• People who don't remember agreeing. An old list, a vague checkbox, or a form that didn't mention texts.
• Too many texts. Five texts in a week reads as pressure. Our guide to how many follow-up texts to send covers spacing.
• Texts that don't say who you are. A text with no business name reads as a stranger.
• Wrong hours. A text at 7 a.m. on the recipient's clock invites a report. See texting quiet hours.

Are you texting Canada from an ordinary number?

If texts to Canadian mobiles fail while your US texts go through, this is the likely reason. Canada has no 10DLC registry, and Canadian carriers filter business texts from ordinary numbers heavily. Business texts to Canadian mobiles usually go out from a toll-free number that has passed toll-free verification, or from a short code.

A US 10DLC registration covers US carriers. It doesn't register you with Canadian ones. Our guide to toll-free vs 10DLC covers which number to use for each country, and texting Canadian customers covers CASL consent and the French opt-out words.

What if every check passes?

Look at the pattern of failures, then ask your texting provider for the error codes on the failed texts. A few things to look for:

• Failures on one carrier only. Your registration may be in place with some carriers and not yet with another.
• Failures on one number only. That number may have a problem of its own, or be attached to a different campaign.
• Failures since a certain day. Line them up with what changed: a new template, a new link, a new list.
• Delivered but no replies. A delivery report means the carrier says the phone received the text. Silence may mean the text landed in a spam folder on the phone, or that the text gives no reason to answer.

If you can't find the cause, change one thing at a time and test on a small batch.

Where does Textually fit?

Textually builds most of these checks into every send. We register your brand and campaign for 10DLC and verify toll-free numbers for Canadian recipients, and every text goes from a number registered to your brand. A text step skips any lead without a consent record or a campaign-wide confirmation, any number tagged Landline or Invalid, and any number outside the US and Canada, before a text is used. A number the network reports as unable to receive texts, or as opted out, stops that lead at once, and the held text goes back to your balance. STOP and other opt-out wording mark the person opted out across your whole workspace. Each lead stays on the number that first texted them, and the Analytics tab shows each campaign's delivered share, failed texts and opt-out rate. See 10DLC registration, done for you, texting Canada, how the rules are built in, or apply for access.

Questions

Why are my text messages not delivering to some numbers?

Usually because those numbers can't receive texts or have opted out. Landlines, mistyped numbers and numbers that changed hands fail every time, and a person who replied STOP is blocked by their own network. Check the numbers with a carrier lookup and keep one opt-out list.

Do I need to register to send business texts?

Yes, in the US. Texts from ordinary 10-digit numbers need a 10DLC brand and campaign, which The Campaign Registry lists as required by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Toll-free numbers need toll-free verification before they can text US or Canadian mobiles.

Why are texts with links getting blocked?

Often because the link uses a public shortener shared with other senders. CTIA asks senders to use a shortener dedicated to their own use, and links that clearly identify the website owner. Use a link on your own domain.

What is snowshoeing in texting?

Spreading messages across many sending numbers, usually to get around filters or limits. CTIA says senders "should not engage in Snowshoe Messaging". Carriers look for it, so use a few numbers for real reasons and keep each person on one number.

Will adding more numbers fix delivery problems?

Usually no. T-Mobile's 10DLC daily allowance is tied to your brand and shared across your campaigns, so more numbers don't raise it, and spreading texts across many numbers is the pattern carriers filter. Fix registration, content and consent first.

Why are my texts to Canada failing?

Most likely because they go from an ordinary local number. Canadian carriers filter business texts from ordinary numbers heavily, so business texts to Canadian mobiles usually go from a verified toll-free number or a short code.