iMessages are a great way to communicate with others from any of your Apple devices, however, sometimes they fail to send. Let’s take a look at what to do to get iMessage working properly.

There are a handful of reasons that iMessages will fail to send and sometimes it may be an issue with the person you’re trying to message.

When you see an iMessage that says Not Delivered, tap the red exclamation mark next to your message then select Try Again. If it still won’t send, you can resort to Send as Text Message for now. Keep reading for what to do next…

How to fix iMessage

Make sure iMessage is turned on

Double check iMessage hasn’t been turned off by going to Settings → Messages. If you happen to see a Waiting on activation message underneath iMessage you can follow our guide for that process.

Message someone else

It’s possible that iMessage was turned off or is temporarily unavailable on the person’s device you are trying to message. Give a shot to sending an iMessage to someone else to quickly rule out if it’s an issue on your end.

Restart your device

Restart your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and then make sure that your cellular or Wi-Fi connection is working.

Check Apple’s System Status

Although there’s not anything to be done about this factor, you can check to see if Apple is having any system issues that may be causing your iMessage problems. You can quickly check the iMessage service status here.

Software update

Check to see if there’s an available software update:

  • Find and tap on the Settings app (make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi)
  • Tap on General → Software Update
  • Tap Download and Install

Reset Network Settings

If iMessage still isn’t working, give a shot to resetting your network settings. Do this by navigating to Settings → General → Reset → Reset Network Settings. This won’t delete any data, except you will have to re-enter any Wi-Fi passwords that your device already knows.

Still not working?

If iMessage still isn’t working, reach out to Apple Support. For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide.