Samsung Galaxy S9 “Unfortunately, IMS Service Has Stopped” Error Solution

At our site, you’ll only find unbiased reviews. However, we do earn profit from our affiliate links.

If you’ve been experiencing an IMS service error with your S9 phone lately then you may be wondering exactly what it means. IMS stands for IP Multimedia Subsystem and it is the process that our phones use to interact with other apps. Odds are that you have been experiencing this “Unfortunately, IMS Service Has Stopped” error when trying to send or receive a message from a communication based app.

You’re certainly not the only person who is experiencing this issue and many potential solutions have already been identified. If you want to fix this error and get back to your usual messaging routine then follow our advice below.

1. Clear Your Messaging Apps Data Cache

When an issue is occurring that is related to messages or apps then a very good place to start will be clearing your data cache. Sometimes the phone’s cache acquires a data packet that can cause unforeseen issues with other apps and clearing this cache often resolves a variety of error codes.

Here’s how to do it. From your Samsung Galaxy S9’s Home page, swipe upwards so that you can access the Apps menu. Tap on the “Settings” App icon which should look like a cog or a gear. On this new page, head down until you see “Applications”, tap on this then tap on “Applications Manager” next.

Swipe to the right to reach a page titled All. Scroll down and then tap on “Messages”, then “Storage” Next, you will see the option to “Clear Cache”. Tap this, then tap “Clear Data”.

Now test to see if the “Unfortunately, IMS Service Has Stopped” error persists. If it still does then move onto our following troubleshooting tips.

2. See if the Error is caused by an Installed App

Some people don’t know this but much like with computers, sudden errors can be caused by a recent download that is interfering with the machine’s basic processing abilities. If you’ve recently downloaded and installed an app before this error appeared then you may have
found your culprit. Luckily, there is a method of figuring this out.

First you will need to power off your Samsung S9. Then hold the power button again to turn it back on but keep on holding it. You will release the button as soon as you see the Samsung logo appear. Immediately after this, hold down the Volume Down button. Keep it held down during the boot up process and your phone will boot up in Safe Mode.

Safe Mode allows you to disable most or all apps on your phone. If the “Unfortunately, IMS Service Has Stopped” error no longer appears then it must be because the app that is the source of the problem has been temporarily disabled. Start uninstalling your most recently downloaded apps or files and then check to see if the error is gone.

3. Hard Factory Reset

This final option is a last-resort that will restore your phone to its original condition when you first got it. This is by far the most serious of all solutions on this list as it will delete everything on your phone so we highly recommend you backup all of your data before doing so.

First turn off your S9 phone. Then hold down both the Volume Up and Bixby buttons, then hold down the Power button to turn it back on. Release all three of these keys when the green Android logo appears. After a few seconds you will be brought to a system menu. Scroll down and select Wipe Data or Factory Reset.

This will completely restart your S9 device and all of its settings, and it’s very likely that it will remove the IMS error if the previous tips did not help. If the error somehow still manages to persist even after a hard factory reset then your issue will require professional assistance. We recommend you contact Samsung over the phone or email, or visit a local Samsung smartphone repair shop and see what can be done.

Conclusion

We hope that one of these solutions has helped you get rid of the annoying “Unfortunately, IMS Service Has Stopped” error and that you are already back to using your phone as you normally do. We understand that smartphone errors can be quite the nuisance and can put stress on people’s patience, so we thank you for reading and we hope you’ve received the help that you needed.