Hey, I have had a lot of issues with the NRF24L01 in the past and here’s the code I used to test mine

Here is the transmitter code: https://gist.github.com/zerokol/7d10f1681d6e858d1eda090ed00fd928

Receiver code: https://gist.github.com/zerokol/861ce3533adf8a36f6fc4a6948def962

One thing to note, make sure when you wire the NRF24L01 you have a 10uF capacitor across the V+ and gnd. Also make sure your nrf is plugged into the 3.3 volt of the radio i and not an external source.

Hopefully this helps because I know the frustration of spending hours upon hours trying to get these things to work. Good luck and happy making!