My message arrived in several pieces

An SMS only carries 140 bytes. Beyond that, the message is broken into segments transmitted independently and then reassembled by the recipient's mobile. This reassembly almost always succeeds, but it relies on the handset, which is what explains displays in several pieces.

The causes, from the most common to the rarest

1. 1

   The text exceeds the capacity of a single SMS

   160 characters in GSM-7, or only 70 as soon as a character outside the alphabet is present. Beyond this threshold, splitting triggers by itself.

2. 2

   Each segment sacrifices a little space

   The header used to reassemble the parts takes 6 bytes per segment: only 153 usable characters therefore remain per piece in GSM-7, and 67 in UCS-2.

3. 3

   The recipient's mobile did not reassemble the parts

   Some older handsets, or an incomplete reception, show the segments one by one instead of a single text.

4. 4

   The segments showed up in the wrong order

   The pieces each travel on their own. If one is delayed, the display can stay partial for a while.

Steps to follow

1. 1

   Gauge your message before sending it

   The character counter states the exact number of segments and the encoding chosen, even before the message departs.

2. 2

   Remove what forces UCS-2

   A single emoji lowers the limit from 160 to 70 characters for the whole message, which multiplies the number of segments.

3. 3

   Trim it down instead of letting it split

   A text that fits in a single part arrives as one block and depends on no reassembly operation.

4. 4

   Split it yourself if needed

   Two short messages sent one after the other read better than one long text whose reassembly failed.

Commonly asked questions