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Firebase Cloud Messaging errorFCM “messaging/registration-token-not-registered” (UNREGISTERED, 404)

Your server sends a push notification and Firebase Cloud Messaging answers messaging/registration-token-not-registered, or UNREGISTERED with a 404 in the HTTP v1 API. The token you saved for that phone no longer works. Here’s why tokens stop working, in Firebase’s words, and what to change, or hand it over at a fixed price.

Short answer

The device token you sent to is no longer valid: the app was uninstalled, the token expired or was refreshed, or the app unregistered. Firebase says to delete that token from your server and stop sending to it. Then make sure the app sends its current token to your server every time it gets one, so each user has a fresh token on file.

Why the token stopped working, and the fix

  1. 01

    The app was uninstalled or unregistered

    “For all these cases, remove this registration token from the app server and stop using it to send messages.” Firebase, FCM ErrorCode

    When someone deletes the app, or the app unregisters itself, its token is dead for good. On Apple devices it also happens when Apple’s push service reports the APNs token as invalid. There is nothing to fix on the phone: remove the token from your database.

  2. 02

    The token expired or was replaced

    “The registration token expired. For example, Google might decide to refresh registration tokens or the APNs token may have expired for Apple devices.” Firebase, FCM error codes

    Firebase can refresh a token, and an APNs token can expire on Apple devices. If the app only saves its token once, at sign-up, your server keeps sending to the old one. Save the token whenever the app receives a new one, and keep a timestamp so you can tell fresh tokens from stale ones.

  3. 03

    A new app version isn’t set up to receive messages

    “If the client app is updated but the new version is not configured to receive messages.” Firebase, FCM ErrorCode

    Firebase also lists an app update whose new version isn’t configured for messaging. If tokens stopped working right after a release, check that the push setup in the new build still matches the old one. We also check that the build sends a fresh token after the update.

Checked against the vendor’s docs on : Firebase docs: FCM error codes (Admin SDK); Firebase docs: FCM HTTP v1 ErrorCode; Firebase docs: Best practices for FCM registration token management.

Rather hand it over?

Fixed scope, fixed price, paid upfront. The work happens in writing; no call needed.

Related: Expo push notifications not working · Flutter APNS token has not been set

Questions

More on this error

Is it safe to delete the token?

Yes, for UNREGISTERED. Firebase says that if you are certain the message payload is valid and you get UNREGISTERED or INVALID_ARGUMENT for a registration, it is safe to delete your record of it.

What if every token fails, not just a few?

Then it’s less likely to be uninstalls. Check the request actually contains a token, since Firebase says missing tokens can cause this error too, and check the new build’s push setup. A bad APNs key is a different error, THIRD_PARTY_AUTH_ERROR (401).

Can you fix it for me?

If one bug is the whole problem, the App Fix Ticket covers it: a written diagnosis first, then the fix. If the app has more going on, the Launch Check is a written check of the whole app. Each issue found is rated critical, high, medium or low, with where it is and how it was confirmed. No issues worth fixing, no charge. If the Launch Check finds nothing rated medium or higher, Simon refunds the full $450. You keep the report either way.

A different error?

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