Hello and welcome to our #iPhoneX troubleshooting article for the day. This post will walk you through the troubleshooting steps that you can do when faced with an iMessage problem. If you have one, read on.
Before we proceed let us remind you that you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.
Troubleshooting an iPhone X with iMessage not working issue
Whether you’re getting the red not delivered message or simply experiencing iMessage failure to send or receive issues, the solutions we lay out for you below may help. iMessage app is generally reliable considering millions of devices use it every minute of the day. We only very rarely hear iMessage server issues too so most of the time, problems reported by users are due to some unique circumstances on their device, or they’re having some unique account problems.
In this post we give you eight possible solutions that you can try in fixing whatever iMessage problem you encounter.
Solution #1: Verify if iMessage service is working
While rare, there’s always a possibility that the reason why iMessage fails to deliver your messages or has stopped working is due to a server issue. To verify that, you can check Apple’s System Status page: https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/ . This site lists all Apple services and their statuses. If iMessage has an on-going maintenance or has a problem, it shold be indicated in this page. Apple also use this page to update users of planned maintenance so it’s a handy tool for you to verify if iMessage should be working on your end or not. Keep in mind that the status indicated on this page is not real time and may only be accurate to a few minutes. Try to wait for several minutes before checking this page again for updates.
If iMessage has been has been down on your device for hours or days now, proceed to the next steps below.
Solution #2: Good internet connection speed
iMessage requires stable and fast internet speed to work properly. Make sure that you iPhone is connected to good wifi network or reliable cellular data connection. If you’re on mobile data, be sure that you are in a good place with excellent data connection speed.
Keep in mind that iMessage is internet dependent and it uses data connection to link with Apple servers. If you have poor internet coverage in your area, or if you’re getting weak cellular signal at home, don’t be surprised if iMessage will be erratic too.
For those relying on mobile data connection all the time, make sure that you actually have enough data left in your account. Aside from having a solid connection speed, iMessage may not also work if there’s not enough data left for you to continue using the internet.
If you’re only having an issue with iMessage when using wifi, it may be a wifi problem. Try to connect to another wifi network and see if that will fix the problem.
Solution #3: Enable iMessage
This one is simple but is often the reason of the problem in the first place. Some users may disable iMessage intentionally or not and then forget about it. Whatever the case is, it’s worth spending a few seconds of your time if iMessage service is indeed enabled or not. To do that, go to Settings > Messages and toggle iMessage (if it’s off). You’ll then see the Waiting for activation message beneath iMessage. That’s an indication that your device is now contacting Apple servers. Depending on how fast your connection and Apple server to confirm the request, activation may take a few minutes to several hours. Apple does confirm that it may even take up to 24 hours for activation process to be completed.
If there’s no indication that the activation has finished, check if iMessage is set up correctly. To do that, go to Settings > Messages and make sure that the addresses and mobile number for your account are listed in Send and Receive section.
Solution #4: Delete old iMessage conversations
Too many iMessage conversation threads may slow the app a bit but that’s supposed to be the most that can happen. In some cases though, having way too many messages can also prevent iMessage from sending new ones. To ensure that the app has enough storage space to receive and send messages, make sure to delete some old conversations.
With iOS 11, iMessage now has other options to allow you to select whether you want to delete messages that are 30-day old, or 1-year old. By default, all iMessages are set to be kept forever so it’s up to you which option to use.
If you want to conserve storage space further, you can also set iMessage to send low-resolution images. This is a handy option if you’re fond of sending photos and videos via iMessage. Low resolution files take less storage space than high-res ones. To change, go to Settings > Messages > and toggle Low-Quality Image Mode on.
Solution #5: Install iOS updates
In any iOS troubleshooting, this recommendation is always present. That’s because updates sometime bring fixes for known bugs. If you haven’t updated your iphone x for some time now, make sure that you double check Settings > General > Software update.
Solution #6: Reset network settings
iMessage needs good network settings in order to work and it can also take some bad settings to stop it from working properly or altogether. To ensure that your iPhone’s network settings are fine, try to reset all settings and see what happens. Just go under Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings to do that.
Resetting network settings means all wifi, wifi passwords, VPN, and other network settings will be erased. This means that you’ll need to re-enter your wifi passwords as well as reconfigure your VPN if you’re using one.
While in this section, try to turn off Wifi Assist feature too. Wifi Assist is handy in switching network mode to mobile data if wifi is intermittent, weak, or has become disconnected all of a sudden. Some users have claimed that turning this feature off helped them fix iMessage problems so it’s worth doing in your end as well. To do that, just to go to Settings > Mobile Data and scroll down to WiFi Assist and switch it off if it’s on.
Solution #7: Check Time and date
Having good time and date settings is critical, especially when updating or activating an Apple service like iMessage. If your phone has a different time and date, Apple servers may refuse to go ahead with activation. To prevent any problem, make sure that you use Set Automatically option under Settings > General > Date & Time.
Solution #8: Reset all settings
As a last resort, you can reset all your iPhone X settings to return all default settings for the operating system and apps. To do that, follow these steps:
- From the Home screen, go to Settings>General>Reset.
- Tap Reset All Settings.
- If presented, enter the passcode.
- Tap Reset All Settings to confirm.
Engage with us
If you happen to have a problem with your own iPhone, let us know about it and we will do our best to post them and their solutions in our upcoming articles. You can use this link to contact us for assistance. We can’t guarantee an answer to every question but rest assured that we will exhaust everything on our end to help you.
Be as detailed as possible when describing your problem to help us diagnose your issue easily. If you can include error messages, popups, attempted troubleshooting steps, and circumstances leading to the problem, that would be very helpful.