Wondering why your iPhone won’t send text messages?
With dozens of messaging services available out there, there will still be a situation where sending a regular text message is the one you’ll need most.
It can be extremely annoying to find out that your iPhone won’t send text messages the moment you need it to.
This could be due to possible reasons like a wrong contact number, poor network signal, or improper configurations.
In this guide, we will show you how to address this problem.
Let’s begin!
1. Check Your Reception.
Your reception is one of the first things you should check if your iPhone won’t send text messages.
Possibly, your device is not getting any signal from your provider, explaining why your messages won’t push through.
Look over the upper right corner of your screen and ensure that you are seeing 2 to 3 bars of signal.
Consider moving to another location if you’re not getting any signal or check with your provider if they are having issues.
2. Make Sure You Have Data.
Pay-as-you-go (Prepaid) SIM cards are convenient and cost-saving if you don’t really make phone calls or send text messages regularly.
However, it might be why you can’t send text messages on your iPhone.
Before sending another message, check whether you’re still registered to a prepaid plan on your SIM. Top up your balance and register for a prepaid plan if your previous subscription already expired.
3. Toggle Airplane Mode.
Another way to ensure that your phone is getting reception from your provider is to toggle Airplane mode on and then off.
This should restart the radio antenna on your device, refreshing the connection with your provider.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Swipe downwards from the upper right corner of your screen to access the Control Center.
- Now, tap on the Airplane icon beside Cellular Data.
- After a few seconds, turn off Airplane Mode and wait for your phone to regain reception from your network.
Once done, try sending a text message to check if the problem is solved.
4. Restart Your iPhone.
After ruling out problems with your SIM and provider, you can try restarting your iPhone.
Restarting your device should reload its resources, resolving temporary issues. This should also clear corrupted data from your system memory.
If you are using an iPhone X, 11, 12, 13, 14, or later, here’s what you need to do:
- Hold down the Volume Down button and Side button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears.
- Now, drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds.
- Press the Side button afterward to turn on your device.
For older models, follow the steps below:
- Locate the Power button on your device.
- Now, hold the button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears.
- Drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds before turning on your device.
Try sending another text message afterward to confirm if the problem is solved.
5. Check the Date and Time.
Your iPhone must have the correct date and time settings for network-based services to function correctly.
Follow the steps below to set the date and time on your iPhone:
- First, open Settings on your device.
- Now, access the General tab.
- After that, tap on Date & Time.
- Enable the Set Automatically option.
Restart your device and check if the problem is solved.
6. Enable Message Features.
If you are trying to send a photo or video, or texting a group of people, make sure that group messaging and multimedia messaging service is enabled on your iPhone.
See the steps below to enable these features:
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Now, tap on Messages.
- Find MMS Messaging and Group Messaging and enable them.
Note
If you don’t see the MMS Messaging option, your carrier doesn’t support this feature.
Once done, go back to the Messages app to check if the problem is solved.
7. Update Your iPhone.
The version of iOS you’re using might have an issue related to SMS or MMS. It’s also possible that the Messages app has a bug or error.
To rule this out, install the latest version of iOS to patch bugs and other problems.
Here’s how you can update your iPhone:
- Launch Settings on your device.
- Now, tap on General > Software Update.
- If there’s an available update, tap on Download and Install.
Note
- Your device can restart several times while installing the update.
- Make sure that your iPhone has at least 50% battery before installing updates. It’s best to keep your device plugged into the wall charger to avoid interruptions.
- Allow at least 15 minutes for the update to install, especially if it’s a major update (iOS 14 to iOS 15).
Try sending another message after the update to check if the problem is solved.
8. Reset Your Network Settings.
For your last option, you can try resetting your iPhone’s network settings.
This way, we can ensure no conflicting configurations on your device that prevent you from sending regular text messages.
Follow the steps below to reset your network settings:
- On your iPhone, go to the main menu and open Settings.
- Now, tap on General.
- Look for Transfer or Reset iPhone and tap on it.
- Tap the Reset option and select Reset Network Settings.
- Follow the prompts to continue.
Note
- Your iPhone will immediately restart upon resetting your network configurations.
- It may appear to be stuck in the Apple logo. Wait for the process to complete, which usually takes around 5 to 10 minutes.
Set up your network preferences afterward and see if you can now send text messages.
That’s everything you need to know on how to fix an iPhone that won’t send text messages. If you have questions, let us know in the comment section, and we’ll do our best to respond.
