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Google Messages Resurfaces Old Texts and Delivers Them to Wrong Contacts

Google has escalated diagnostic reports to engineers with no public fix yet, leaving users to take manual steps to avoid accidental data leaks.

Overview

  • Users reported that Google Messages is inserting old messages, photos and verification codes into new conversations and that some of those items were actually sent to unintended recipients.
  • The bug has appeared on multiple phone brands, including Pixel and Samsung, and it has occurred whether Rich Communication Services was turned on or off.
  • Common troubleshooting steps such as clearing cache, restarting, toggling RCS and reinstalling the app have generally failed to stop the problem for most users.
  • Google Help Community representatives confirmed they collected screenshots and diagnostic feedback and escalated them to engineering but the company has not issued a public timeline or patch.
  • Some users say a factory reset without restoring backups stopped the behavior, but that step risks permanent data loss so the safest short-term defense is to inspect the message field before sending and avoid restoring old message backups.