Quick fixes for the most common issues with the Messages portal.

I don't see any conversations in the inbox

If the Messages page shows "Two-way SMS is not enabled":
You haven't enabled two-way SMS yet. Click the Enable two-way SMS button. See Enabling Two-Way SMS.

If the Messages page shows the inbox but the list is empty:
You haven't exchanged any SMS messages with leads yet. The list only shows conversations that have at least one message. Send a message to any lead with a phone number, or wait for a lead to reply to a campaign.

If conversations were previously visible and now aren't:
Try refreshing the page (Cmd+R on Mac, Ctrl+R on Windows). If the issue persists, the system may be temporarily unable to connect — wait a few minutes and try again.

I can't send a message

Compose box is hidden, replaced with an opt-out notice:
The lead has opted out of SMS. You cannot send to them until they text START to opt back in. See When a Lead Opts Out (STOP).

Send button is greyed out and says "Sending...":
Your previous send is still being processed. Wait 1-2 seconds and the button should return to normal.

Error: "Rate limit: 10 messages per minute. Try again shortly":
You've sent 10 messages in the past minute. This is a safety limit. Wait a minute and your sending capacity will reset.

Error: "Two-way SMS is not enabled for this account":
Two-way SMS has been disabled. See Enabling Two-Way SMS to turn it back on.

Error: "Lead has no phone number":
The lead's record in your lead database doesn't have a phone number. Add a valid phone number to their profile and try again.

Error: "This number is a landline and can't receive SMS":
The lead's phone is a landline (confirmed by carrier lookup). Landlines don't receive text messages. There's nothing to fix — you'll need to reach this lead by phone call or email instead.

Error: "This lead has been auto-blocked due to repeated carrier filtering":
The system tried to send to this number multiple times and the carrier rejected each attempt (usually because the number is invalid, on a do-not-text list, or being filtered as spam). To protect against wasted spend, the system has blocked further send attempts. Contact your administrator if you believe this is a mistake.

I'm not receiving notification emails

Check that the recipient is added:
On the Messages page, look at the "Notify on reply" row in the toolbar. Each recipient should show as a chip. If your email isn't there, add it.

Check your spam folder:
Notification emails come from [email protected]. They can occasionally land in spam, especially the first few times you receive them. Mark one as "Not Spam" and your email client should learn to deliver future ones to your inbox.

Check if a notification was already sent recently:
The system throttles to one notification per lead per 5 minutes. If the same lead sent you 3 messages in 2 minutes, you'd only get one email (about the first message). The next email for that lead won't fire for 5 minutes.

Confirm two-way SMS is enabled:
Notifications only fire when two-way SMS is on. If it's been disabled, no notifications will be sent.

I want to message a lead but they don't appear in the inbox

Use the + New conversation button at the top of the conversation list. Search by name, email, or phone number — leads in your database that we can actually send to will appear. Click their result, send your first message, and they'll show up in the regular conversation list going forward.

If the lead you're searching for doesn't appear in the results, one of these is likely true:

They've opted out of SMS — previously texted STOP (or any opt-out keyword) or are on Twilio's opt-out list
They don't have a phone number on file in your lead database
Their phone is a known landline — landlines can't receive SMS, so they're hidden from the picker
Their phone failed format validation at intake — the number is malformed (wrong length, all zeros, sequential digits like 1234567890, etc.)
They're auto-blocked — the system flagged the number after repeated delivery failures from carrier filtering
They're not in your lead database at all yet — the picker only searches leads that have already been imported
Your search term is too narrow — try just a first name, or just the last 4 digits of a phone number

If you believe a lead should be sendable but isn't appearing, contact your administrator and provide the lead's name + phone number so they can investigate which filter is hiding them.

A lead replied but their message isn't in the inbox

The lead may not be in your lead database:
The Messages inbox only shows conversations from leads that exist in your lead database with their phone number on file. If someone texts your number but isn't a lead in your system, their message is captured but won't appear in the inbox.

The lead may be opted out:
Opted-out leads' messages still appear in their conversation thread (you can scroll through history), but their conversation might be lower in the list if it's been a while. Search by name to find them.

Wait a moment for real-time to catch up:
New messages usually appear within 1-2 seconds. If you've been on the page for a long time and the connection is stale, refresh the page.

When I click Enable, I see "Please add a payment method to enable two-way SMS"

This message appears on add-on plans (where two-way SMS isn't included in your contract) when your account has no card on file with Stripe.

The error includes an Open billing portal button right next to the message. Click it — a new tab opens to your billing portal where you can add a payment method. Once you've added a card:

Close the billing portal tab
Go back to the Messages page
Click Enable Two-Way SMS again
The Confirm & Enable modal will appear — click it and the subscription will activate

If your account already has a card but it isn't set as the default payment method, the system will auto-promote it during the enable flow — no manual action needed on the second click.

When I click Enable, I see "We couldn't activate your subscription"

The payment attempt failed on Stripe's side. Common reasons:

Card was declined (insufficient funds, fraud check, expired card)
Card issuer requires verification (3D Secure, additional auth) and the flow didn't complete

The error message includes an Open billing portal button. Click it to review your card on file, update it if needed, and try again. If the issue persists with a card that should work, contact your card issuer to ask if they're blocking the charge — then retry.

Same lead shows up as 2 (or more) separate conversations

If you see the same person twice in your conversation list with different messages in each, this is legacy data from before a recent fix. Here's what happened:

When the same person signed up for multiple events, they had multiple records in your lead database. Previously, an outbound message from the portal could go to one record while their reply went to another, splitting the conversation. This is now fixed — going forward, all messages with one person thread to a single conversation regardless of how many event signups they have.

The old split conversations stay as they are (they're not automatically merged). To work around them:

The most recent conversation will be the active one going forward — that's where new replies will arrive
The older split conversations are historical and read-only in practice
If you want them merged, contact your administrator — they can run a one-time database update to consolidate

I see a red "Realtime" status indicator

The portal shows a small red indicator in the top-right of the SMS box only when real-time updates aren't working. This usually resolves on its own within a minute. If it persists:

Refresh the page
Check your internet connection
If the issue continues, contact your administrator

When real-time is working, this indicator is hidden — so if you don't see it, everything is fine.

I see a conversation but the lead's name is just a phone number

The lead exists in your lead database with this phone number, but their name fields are empty. The portal falls back to showing the phone number when no name is available. Update the lead's profile in your lead database (first name, last name, or full name) and refresh the page.