Google Messages has a bizarre bug that’s sending old texts to random people

Google Messages is getting some welcome attention with custom chat themes and selective text copying finally becoming available, but the app’s recent run of bugs is taking some shine off those additions. Besides broken RCS messaging and conversations turning into multiple threads, users are reporting a more worrying problem: Messages appears to be pulling old texts from unrelated conversations and attaching or sending them with new messages.

Several Reddit reports describe the same basic nightmare. A user starts a new conversation, only for Messages to insert a message from a completely different chat, sometimes from months or even years ago. In some cases, the stray text appears alongside a photo or group message. In others, users say the old message actually reaches the unintended recipient.

That turns an annoying glitch into a serious privacy concern. One Pixel 9a owner said an attempt to confirm a dog’s vet appointment instead sent an old message containing a sensitive family matter. Another user reported that a message about sex from a past conversation was attached to a message sent to their mother. Other reports mention verification codes, personal conversations, and messages sent to colleagues.

Google has acknowledged at least one report and asked the affected user for screenshots and an in-app feedback report. The company said it had submitted the issue and feedback directly to its engineering team for review.

The reports don’t appear limited to one phone or setup. Affected users have mentioned Pixel and Samsung phones, while some say the behavior occurs with RCS both enabled and disabled. Clearing the cache, restarting the phone, toggling RCS, and reinstalling Messages have also failed to consistently fix the problem.

Some users claim that a factory reset, without restoring old messages, stopped the behavior. Others say reinstalling Messages helped. These are community-reported workarounds, however, rather than fixes confirmed by Google, and a factory reset can result in lost data without a proper backup.

There’s also a separate, harder-to-verify video in which text appears to change into something the user didn’t type. Because the footage can’t be independently verified and may have been staged, it’s too early to link it to the broader bug.

Android Authority has reached out to Google to find out whether it is aware of the wider reports, what might be causing the issue, and whether affected users can expect a fix. We’ll update this article if Google provides more information.