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We have all been there where a feeling of instant regret crops up after sending a message, be it inappropriate, misspelt, or to the wrong person, iPhone has a way to bail you out. In their latest iOS 16 update, iPhone users have a chance to edit or unsend their recent messages in the Messages app. However, some users have also reported this feature to be non-functional on their iPhones.
If you are unable to either undo send or edit your recent messages in your iPhone’s Messages app, then this article will outline some fixes that you can experiment with to restore this functionality.
Also read: What happens when you unblock someone on iMessage?
Fixing Unsend or Edit on iMessage
If you are looking to quickly wrap up with the solutions to make changes to your recently sent messages, then read the seven fixes given below:
Availability
Make sure that you are using this feature on the Messages app of your iPhone only as it will not be available on any other messaging app like SMS/MMS. You can use the undo send messages or edit text messages feature solely when both you and the recipient are using the iMessage app on iOS 16 or later, iPad 16 or later as well as on macOS Ventura.
Correct usage
Make sure that you are correctly using the feature on your iMessage app. If you are unsure of how to enable this feature, then you can follow the steps given below to either unsend or edit a message:
- Touch and hold any recently sent messages, then tap on Undo Send. The recipient will be informed as a note confirming that a message has been unsent will appear in the message transcripts.
- Touch and hold any recently sent messages, then tap on Edit. After making the required changes, tap on the check symbol to resend the message. The new message will be marked as ‘Edited’.
Network issues
You should be in a clear network coverage area before you send any message that might require correction. If you try to use the undo send or edit feature when you are unable to get a network connection, then you will not be able to make the necessary changes before the time limit on the correction window runs out.
Update
You should make sure in advance that both you and the recipient of your messages are on the latest version of iOS, macOS, or iPad OS, which is 16 or above for iOS and iPad OS and Ventura for Mac. However, if the recipient has a device that is on the older versions of iOS, iPad OS, or macOS, they will receive your new message with a prior prompt that says that the previous message has been ‘Edited to’ followed by your new message. When this is the case, you will be informed that the recipient will be able to view the original message in the transcript.
Remember, if you are sending SMS messages then they can neither be unsent nor edited as the message is not being sent on iMessage. Your text box’s colour will be green which indicates that the recipient of your message is an Android user.
Time limit
You can only edit a recently sent message for up to 15 minutes and a message can only be unsent up to 2 minutes after being sent. Furthermore, a message can be edited five times within that 15-minute time frame. Hence, if you are in an area with a poor network range, you may not be able to unsend any messages on time.
Re-enable app
You can restart the app by removing the app from your recently opened tabs and re-opening it again to remove any glitches. Since this is a fairly new feature, you can also restart your iPhone, iPad, or macOS to get rid of any corrupted files or glitches. Additionally, it might not be available on all iPhones as of yet. You can also follow the steps given below to first disable and then re-enable the iMessage app to see if there are any changes:
- Head to Settings and tap on Messages.
- Here, you can switch off the toggle in front of iMessage.
- Switch off your device. Switch on your device and follow the former two steps to re-enable the iMessage toggle.
System status
If the currently the server of iMessage is down, then you may not be able to use this feature. To check for the same, you can visit their system status page to see if the iMessage server is down or under maintenance.
Also read: Will iMessage say delivered if blocked?
