If you are an iPhone user and are unable to send or receive text messages to anyone or to specific people (or devices), following these steps should resolve the issue.
1. Reset your iPhone
The first thing you should always try when having issues is a hard reboot.
- Press and hold down the On/Off button (button on the right side of the phone)
- While continuing to hold the On/Off button, press and hold down the Volume Up or Down button on the left side of the phone for iPhone X or later or the Home button on earlier models
- Hold both buttons down as the screen turns off and keep holding them until the screen turns back on and displays the Apple logo
- Test to see if the issue was resolved. If so, you are done. If the issue persists, please continue to the next step
2. Turn on “Send as SMS”
If iMessage is ever unavailable or if you are messaging an Android user, you want to make sure you are still able to send messages without using iMessage.
- Tap on the "Settings" > "Messages" and toggle on "Send as SMS"
- Test to see if the issue was resolved. If so, you are done. If the issue persists, please continue to the next step
3. Designate your Phone Number as “Send & Receive” Option
To make sure your phone can send and is receiving all messages, you want to have the phone number selected as the send and receive option.
- Tap on the "Settings" > "Messages" > "Send & Receive"
- Make sure it is your phone number that is selected and not an email address
- Test to see if the issue was resolved. If so, you are done. If the issue persists, please continue to the next step
4. Reregister iMessage and Reset your Phone
- Make sure you are connected to your cellular data network (not Wi-Fi)
- Tap on the "Settings" > "Messages" > turn off "iMessage" by tapping the toggle
- Follow the instructions from step 1 above to reset your phone ("1. Reset your iPhone")
- After your iPhone powers back on, tap on the "Settings" > "Messages" and turn "iMessage" back on by tapping the toggle to make it green
- Test to see if the issue was resolved. If so, you are done. If the issue persists, please continue to the next step
5. Reset Network Settings
Resetting network settings can be annoying because you'll need to fill them all in again, but it can sometimes get you going when nothing else works.
- Tap on the "Settings" of your iPhone
- Tap on "General"
- Tap on "Reset" all the way at the bottom
- Tap on "Reset Network Settings"
- Confirm in the popup
- Your iPhone will reboot
- Test to see if the issue was resolved. If so, you are done. If the issue persists, please continue to the next step
6. Restore your iPhone
Restoring your iPhone can be less than ideal, but it often solves the problem. It’s your choice to restore from an iCloud backup or from iTunes.
- To restore from iCloud, click here. To restore from iTunes, click here
- Test to see if the issue was resolved. If so, you are done. If the issue persists, you will need to contact Apple
Contact Apple
While it doesn’t happen often, sometimes you experience an issue that only Apple can solve. You can use Apple’s online support by clicking here, by visiting a local Apple Store, or by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE.
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