If you can’t send or receive messages on your iPhone or iPad
If iMessage doesn’t work, you can’t receive text messages or you see an alert when you send a message, find out what to do.
Issues with Messages after you’ve set up a new device
Not receiving messages on a device
Issues with photos or videos in messages
If you experience issues with Messages after you’ve set up a new device
If you experience issues when you set up a new device, such as conversations in Messages showing up as separate threads or sent messages appearing as green message bubbles instead of blue message bubbles, update your settings using the following steps:
Update your device to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS if needed.
In the Settings app, tap Mobile Data. Make sure your phone line is turned on. If you use multiple SIMs, make sure the phone number you want to use is selected and turned on.
In the Settings app, tap Messages. Turn iMessage off and then back on.
Tap Send & Receive.
Tap the phone number you want to use with Messages.
If you have issues when you try to receive a FaceTime call after you set up a new device, you can also update your FaceTime settings.
Find out what to do if you can’t sign in to iMessage or FaceTime
Find out what to do if your messages are green
Find out what to do if you see a Waiting for Activation alert
If you see a red exclamation mark
If you try to send a message and you see a
with an alert that says Not Delivered, follow these steps:Check your network connection.
Tap the
, then tap Try Again.If you still can’t send the message, tap the
, then tap Send as Text Message. Messaging rates may apply.
iMessages are texts, photos or videos you can send to another iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac over Wi-Fi or mobile data networks. These will appear in blue bubbles. All other text messages use SMS or MMS and require a text messaging plan. Those will appear as green bubbles.
Contact your network provider if you can’t send or receive SMS messages
You can set up Messages so that it tries to send messages as an SMS automatically when iMessage isn’t available. Go to Settings > Messages and turn on Send as SMS.
If you receive messages on one device but not the other
If you have an iPhone and another iOS or iPadOS device, such as an iPad, your iMessage settings may be set to receive and start messages from your Apple ID instead of your phone number. To check if your phone number is set to send and receive messages:
In the Settings app, tap Messages.
Tap Send & Receive.
Choose the phone number or email address you want to use with messages.
If you can’t see your phone number, you can link your iPhone number to your Apple ID You can also set up Text Message Forwarding so you can send and receive MMS and SMS messages on all of your Apple devices.
If you experience issues with a group message
If you’re in a group message and stop receiving messages, check if you’ve left the conversation:
In Messages, tap the group message you can’t receive messages from.
If you see a message stating that you've left the conversation, either you've left the conversation or you were removed from the group message.
You can only rejoin a group message if someone in the group adds you. Find out how to add or remove people from group messages.
Open Messages and tap the
.Enter the phone numbers or email addresses of your contacts.
.
If you experience other issues with a group message, you may need to delete the conversation In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1 and later, you can recover a message if you deleted it within the last 30 to 40 days.
If you can’t send or receive photos and videos in messages
Make sure your device has enough space to receive images and videos.
If you use SMS or MMS messaging to send photos or videos, your network provider may set size limits for attachments. Larger files may take more time to send, and your iPhone can compress photo and video attachments when necessary. If you experience an issue when you try to send full size images, you can send lower quality images manually:
In the Settings app, tap Messages.
Tap Low Quality Image Mode.
Other steps to try
Check your network connection. To send a message as iMessage or MMS, you’ll need a mobile data or Wi-Fi connection. To send an SMS message, you’ll need mobile network connection. If you turn on Wi-Fi Calling, you can send SMS messages over Wi-Fi.
Check with your network provider to see if the type of message you’re trying to send, such as MMS or SMS, is supported.
If you’re trying to send group MMS messages on an iPhone, go to Settings > Messages and turn on MMS Messaging. If you can’t see an option to turn on MMS Messaging or Group Messaging on your iPhone, this feature may not be supported by your network provider.
Make sure you’ve entered the correct phone number or email address for the contact.
Contact Apple Support if you still can’t send or receive messages
Contact your network provider if you still can’t send or receive SMS messages
Deactivate iMessage if you’ve switched to a non-Apple phone and experience issues with messaging