Go through these 18 possible solutions if you can’t send or receive iMessage in the Messages app on your iPhone or iPad.
iMessage is a convenient messaging service for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users. It is end-to-end encrypted, offers fun screen effects, has app support, and much more.
But if all of a sudden, iMessage is not working for you, messages are failing and showing red exclamation marks, and texts, photos & videos are not going through, the following solutions should help fix the problem.
What are blue and green chat bubbles in the iPhone Messages app?
If you are new to iMessage, it is essential to understand a few things.
1) iMessage is only for Apple users on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. So, if you are trying to send one to your buddy on Android (or Windows), it won’t go through. It will be sent as a regular carrier SMS.
2) For iMessage to work, both you and the person on the other end should have activated it. Usually, when you set up your iPhone, iMessage and FaceTime are enabled automatically. Still, we will show you how to check this below.
3) Both iMessage, SMS, and MMS are sent through a single app on your iPhone called Messages.
4) When you send someone a text, and the chat bubble color is blue, that means the person has an Apple device, and you just sent them an iMessage.
5) When the chat bubble is green, that means the person does not have an Apple device or has turned off iMessage. Green chat means you sent a regular SMS.
6) iMessage is free, and it uses a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. On the other hand, your carrier may charge you for SMS, but it does not require Internet.
Now that you have the basics about iMessage cleared, here are the solutions to fix it when it isn’t working, failing, or not activating.
1. Check if iMessage is enabled or not
The first thing is to ensure iMessage is switched on and is set up correctly.
- Open iPhone Settings and tap Apps > Messages.
- Make sure the iMessage switch is green.
- Tap Send & Receive and ensure everything is correct here. You can choose to disable or enable selected emails and phone numbers for iMessage. Make sure to leave at least one of them checked.
Related: How to add a new email to your iMessage account
2. Force Quit the Messages app
Go to the App Switcher and drag the Messages app card all the way up to force quit it. After a few seconds, open the Messages app again and try sending an iMessage.
3. Enable and disable Airplane mode
Go to iPhone Settings or Control Center and tap the switch for Airplane Mode. After 30 seconds, tap the same toggle to turn it off.
4. Ensure good internet connectivity
In many cases, when you see the irritating red exclamation mark error while sending an iMessage, or the thin bar on the top is stuck for a long time, it may be because of poor internet.
To check, open an app like Safari and visit a website. If it loads fairly quickly, your internet is fine. It not, see how to fix cellular data errors, what to do when your iPhone or iPad can’t connect to Wi-Fi, and tips to improve slow Wi-Fi.
Additionally, it would also be a good idea to turn off Low Data Mode.
5. Restart your iPhone or iPad
Restart involves turning off your iPhone and turning it on. It is a quick and reliable solution to fix several iPhone issues, including iMessage problems.
6. Set the correct iPhone date and time
This is a very important solution!
Your iPhone needs to have the correct date and time for iMessage to work. To ensure this, open Settings > General > Date & Time and enable Set Automatically. Now, restart your iPhone, and iMessage not working should no longer bother you.
7. Try sending an iMessage to a different person
Yep! On some occasions, you may not be able to send an iMessage to a particular contact. But if you try sending it to someone else, it goes through. So, give this a shot. And if it’s true, follow the next solution to fix it.
8. Delete existing iMessage conversation and start again
1) When iMessage is working fine for all your contacts except one, open the Messages app and delete your entire conversation with them.
Important: This means you lose all the chats you had with this person. If it’s essential to save the discussion, skip this step and follow other solutions mentioned below. If none work for you, come back to it. Additionally, do not forget to check how to export or print a text conversation from your iPhone and the steps to save files, photos, and attachments in Messages to your device.
2) After deleting the conversation, open their contact in the Phone app and take its screenshot or note their number and email in the Notes app. Next, delete this contact.
3) Restart your iPhone.
4) Save their contact again on your phone and try sending an iMessage. It should work now.
9. Make sure everyone in the group chat has iMessage
When you are starting a group chat in iMessage, make sure everyone you add has iMessage. Even if you add one person who isn’t on iMessage, it won’t work.
While typing the person’s name, if it turns blue, they are on iMessage. And if it is green, that means they aren’t.
Plus, when everything is set correctly, the typing text box (above the keyboard) shows the word iMessage. Otherwise, it shows Text Message.
Note: If you have saved multiple phone numbers for a person, make sure to tap the tiny arrow and select their phone number or email that has iMessage. For example, in the screenshot below, I have two numbers for the same contact. One is on iMessage (blue), and the other is not (green).
10. Switch to a different Wi-Fi network
Go to your iPhone Settings > Wi-Fi and try to connect to a different Wi-Fi network. If you do not have other known Wi-Fi, try enabling Personal Hotspot on your friend’s or family member’s phone, connect to it and see if you can send iMessage or not.
11. Check iMessage server status
Visit Apple’s official System Status page and check if iMessage is working or not. When it is, you will see a green dot next to it. If it is down, please wait until Apple implements a fix.
12. Unblock the person if you had blocked them
After you block a person, they cannot send messages, FaceTime, or make regular calls to you. Thus, if you aren’t receiving iMessage from someone you are expecting, take a few seconds to ensure they are not blocked accidentally.
13. Turn off iMessage and turn it back on
Follow these steps if the above checks and solutions didn’t work for you.
- Go to iPhone Settings and tap Apps > Messages.
- Turn off iMessage.
- Restart your iPhone.
- Return to Messages settings and enable iMessage. This should hopefully solve the problem.
14. Fix iMessage Waiting for Activation
Despite your best efforts, is iMessage stuck on the activation screen? In that case, we have a separate guide that shows you how to fix iMessage and FaceTime waiting for activation issue. Have a look.
15. Update your iPhone
If iMessage is not working because of software bugs, chances are it will be fixed after updating to the latest version of iOS. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to get the latest version of iOS.
16. Try turning off iMessage in iCloud
Before you move to the remaining solutions, try out this one and see if it brings luck.
- Open iPhone Settings and tap your name from the top.
- Tap iCloud > Messages and turn off Use on this iPhone > Disable and Download Messages.
- Restart your iPhone and try using iMessage. Hopefully, it should work.
17. Sign out of your Apple ID
This will remove your Apple ID from the device until you sign in again. Signing out and signing back in helps solve issues related to your account, iCloud, and Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime. Once you do that, iMessage should start working perfectly. If it doesn’t, head back to Settings > Apps > Messages and make sure iMessage is activated.
18. Reset Network Settings when iMessage is not working
If nothing works in fixing your iMessage problems, resetting network settings should work for most people. In rare case, it does not, you can reset all settings, and it should do the trick.
In situations when iMessage and FaceTime do not work because of carrier or network issues, you can use Google DNS on your iPhone to fix the issue.
iMessage problems fixed successfully
I hope iMessage is no longer troubling you and you are having a fun time interacting here.
In sad case, the problem continues, contact Apple Support and ask them for help. And if you are in an urgent situation to send a message, you can send it as a standard SMS by touching and holding the text or tapping the red exclamation mark and choosing Send as Text Message.
Do more in Messages: