Are you facing issues with your iPhone’s Messages app? Many users report issues such as being unable to receive or send messages with their device or getting an alert while trying to send a message. Sometimes, they see an unexpected green message bubble instead of the blue one.
These Message issues may generally appear after you have set up a new device or because of improper device settings. Whatever the problem with your messages, certain tested tricks can resolve it quickly. This write-up will cover them all, so read along to enable smooth and error-free messaging on your iPhone.
Texting is a common and essential communication nowadays. If your iPhone has any issues, this could be due to several reasons. We have provided some fixes below to get you back to seamless texting on your iPhone.
- Quit the iOS Messages App and start again.
- Ensure you are typing the number correctly
- Make sure SMS and MMS are turned on
- You must have a stable Network Signal
- Turn on Flight mode and off
- Shutdown and Start the iPhone
- Upgrade iOS on iPhone to the latest version
- Last resort: Reset your iOS Device Network Settings
Quit the iOS Messages App and start again
Sometimes, you cannot send a message from your iPhone’s Messages app, which keeps showing a failed sending alert. If the issue suddenly arises, you can try force-closing your iPhone’s Messages app and then open it again. It will help solve minor problems with the app that may prevent the delivery of your text message.
Ensure you are typing the number correctly.
While sending a text message to someone, you should ensure you are correctly typing the number. Typing an incorrect or inactive number will only result in a failed delivery. There is no such problem when you message one of your contacts, but you must be extra careful while entering a number for texting.
In case of repeated failures, you should also confirm the number with the recipient of your message by other means. This is required because their mobile operators may have disconnected their number or changed their number.
Furthermore, if you are sure about a person’s number but are not receiving any replies from them, the recipient may have blocked your number.
Make sure SMS and MMS are turned on.
When you send a message to an Apple device user using your iPhone, it should go via iMessage by default. But if, for some reason, iMessage fails, your device may be trying to send an SMS. However, SMS sending will also fail if it is not enabled in your device settings. If you want to allow it, you can do the following.
- Fire up Settings > Messages.
- Ensure the toggle for Send as SMS and iMessage are turned on to the green position.
Your iPhone is also capable of sending an MMS if iMessage fails. But this is possible only if you have activated them in your device settings. You can check if they are enabled in the following way to avoid their failed deliveries.
- Open Settings > Messages > Toggle on MMS Messaging.
Apart from this, you can also check if your cell plan covers MMS messaging.
You must have a stable Network Signal.
You need a stable internet connection through Wi-Fi or data to send or receive an iMessage, so you should make sure that your connection is active.
On the other hand, SMS or MMS require an active cell phone network for successful transmission. You can move to an area with good signal strength. But if it also fails to help, you should contact your cellular network operator to get a fix for the wrong network.
Furthermore, you should check if you currently have an active service plan. If you have a limited messaging plan, you might have exceeded your monthly limit. So, you may need a plan renewal to enjoy messaging on your device again.
Turn on Flight mode and off.
When you enable airplane mode on your iPhone, you cannot send or receive messages without a Wi-Fi connection. Plus, Airplane mode hinders cellular signals and thus prevents the sending and receiving of SMS and MMS messages. So, it would help if you always kept your device’s Aidevice’sode turned off while you sent a message.
At the same time, toggling Airplane Mode on and off can help clear up temporary signal issues. So, you can try this trick to fix up your messaging issues.
Ensure the Airplane Mode symbol is grayed out at the end, indicating that it is turned off.
Shutdown and Start the iPhone
Restarting the device clears the temporary memory that may be causing problems for your Messages app to function correctly. So, to fix the texting issue, you can shut down and restart your device as follows:
- Open Settings > General > Shut Down.
- Swipe the slider towards the right.
- Once your device shuts down entirely, press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
After restarting your device, you can try to resend the failed text or send a new one.
Upgrade iOS on iPhone to the latest version.
The new iOS update fixes various bugs or software issues. So, to troubleshoot your messaging app problems, you can update your Apple device to the latest iOS version.
Before updating, ensure your device is connected to a power source and a Wi-Fi network.
After installing the latest iOS version on your device, you can try sending a message to someone to see if the messaging issue is resolved.
Last resort: Reset your iOS Device Network Settings
It is not advisable to reset network settings, as you will lose your saved Wi-Fi networks and their passwords. But if all the above methods fail to fix your iPhone’s messaging app issue, you can consider iPhone’s this fix.
Once done, your iPhone can send or receive text messages. You can test by sending one.
Conclusion
Failed or undelivered messages may hinder your day-to-day activities and appear annoying and frustrating. Thankfully, the above methods can quickly fix messaging issues with your iPhone. You can keep trying them one after the other until you reach the proper fix for the issue. Make sure you test the messaging app after every fix. If the issue persists, you can contact your nearest Apple store to address it.
