Fix iMessage Not Delivered Error On iPhone

iMessage is one of the most popular ways of communicating, and as such, you would expect that it will always work. Hence, when the latest iMessage you sent does not say “Delivered”, then it can cause a big problem since it can make you feel uneasy. Despite this, there are a lot of instances that this error can occur. It can affect a single message that you try to send to a specific person or all iMessages that you try to send. In addition to that, it is also very common for the message to state “Delivered” but in reality, it has not been received by the recipient.

In case you face this problem, this article will prove very useful. In this article, we will demonstrate 5 ways to fix iMessage not delivered issues on iPhones running on iOS 13/12 and the reasons for them.

• Part 1: 5 Ways to Fix iMessage Not Delivered Problem
• Part 2: Why iMessage Not Saying Delivered?
• Part 3: What Does “Delivered” Mean on iMessage?
• Part 4: How to Recover Deleted iMessage on iPhone

Part 1: 5 Ways to Fix iMessage Not Delivered Problem

There can be very many reasons why your iMessages remain undelivered and it can be very difficult to pinpoint the main cause of the problem. In the meantime, the following troubleshooting solutions may be helpful to you:

1. Check iPhone’s Internet Connection

The recipients of the iMessage might not receive it if their device is not connected to the internet and the message cannot be delivered. But if the message is marked “Not Delivered” then it may be that you are the one who has a problem with the Internet connection. In order to fix the problem, you should first go to Settings > Wi-Fi and join a stable network if you’re not connected, and try re-sending the message after joining a stable network.

2. Switch iMessage on and off

I think a quick switch on/off of iMessage may be able to fix some of the bugs in the system that might be causing the iMessages saying that they have not been delivered issue in the future. Here are the steps you need to follow in order to do it:

1. Go to your iPhone’s Settings.
2. Turn off “iMessage” by finding it in the list of apps and then turning it off there.
3. It will only take a few seconds for iMessage to reactivate again after you turn it on again and wait for it to do so.

3. Restart your iPhone by force

When you are certain the problem does not have anything to do with the Internet connection, you can also force restart your iPhone to fix this error. There are minor bugs in the system that interfere with the functioning of the system, causing problems like iMessage not showing as delivered when you force restart the system. You can force your iDevice to restart by using one of the following methods:

• If you are using an iPhone 6s or earlier, press and hold both the Home button and the Power button until you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.
• For iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models, you will need to simultaneously press and hold down both the Volume Up and the Power buttons until your iPhone displays the Apple logo.
• When using iPhone 8 or later – press and quickly release both the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons at the same time, and repeat the same process for the Volume Up button. When the Apple Logo appears on the screen, press and holds the Power button until it appears on the screen.

4. Instead of iMessage, send a text message

iMessage can only be sent to people with iOS devices, so if the person you are trying to send the iMessage to does not have an iOS device, you will not be able to send them an iMessage. When the message is sent as a text message, instead of being marked as “Delivered,” the message will be marked as “Sent as a text message.”

Also, you should know that you can use SMS instead of iMessage if you don’t have a stable enough connection to send messages using iMessage. Switching from iMessage to SMS can be done by going to Settings > Messages > Send an SMS from the menu. By default, your iPhone will send iMessages to iOS devices, but you do have the option to change this in the settings so that you cannot send iMessages to iOS devices. In order to send the “Not Delivered” message as an SMS, you simply need to tap on the exclamation point and select the option that says “Send as an SMS”.

5. Update iOS to Latest Version

A simple update of the iOS firmware to the latest version may be just what you need to fix the problem if you are running an outdated version of iOS. Running an outdated version of iOS can also cause the iMessage not delivered issue on iOS devices. Here is how you can update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS 13 by following these simple steps:

1. Make sure the iPhone is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network.
2. Go to Settings and click on General > Software Updates
3. You can install an update if it is available by tapping “Download and Install”.

Part 2: Why iMessage Not Saying Delivered?

Messages which have been marked as “Delivered” by the sender may not have been delivered to the recipient for many reasons. Below are some reasons why a message may not have been delivered:

• It is possible that at the time the message was sent, the recipient had turned off their iOS device. As soon as they turn on the device, the message will appear on their phone as soon as they turn it on.
• There is a possibility that the recipient may not be able to receive your message if they have enabled “Airplane Mode” at the time when you sent the message. When an Apple device is in airplane mode, it will not be able to make or receive calls, SMS messages or iMessages.
• Assuming that your message was “Delivered” but no response was received, it is likely that the recipient’s phone may have been set to “Do Not Disturb” and the message might not have been seen by them.

Part 3: What Does “Delivered” Mean on iMessage

Before we get into the solutions, I think it would be a good idea to differentiate between “Delivered” and “Read” in order to have a better understanding of what we are dealing with here. The status “Delivered” on an iMessage signifies that the recipient has received the message on their iOS device, but it has not necessarily been read by them yet.

A message that is marked “Read” on the other hand, means that the recipient has tapped on it after it has been sent to him or her. However, it is important to note that the fact that they have opened it does not necessarily mean that they have read it. Please be patient as they may have tapped on it with the intention of reading it but got sidetracked by something else that prevented them from reading it.

Part 4: How to Recover Deleted iMessage on iPhone

There is a possibility that some of the messages on your iPhone will be lost if you attempt to fix the iMessage not saying delivered problem or for any other reason, such as accidental deletion, iOS upgrade and jailbreak failure, system crash, water damage, etc. In the event that this occurs and, unfortunately, you do not have any backup that you can rely on, you can use a third-party data recovery tool to retrieve your deleted iMessages.

As a result, we recommend that you use Gihosoft Free iPhone Data Recovery to recover your data. As a result, it comes with a very high recovery rate and works very quickly when it comes to recovering the missing iMessages from your iPhone. Besides, you can also restore deleted files from your iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, like text messages, contacts, photos, videos, notes, WhatsApp, Viber, voicemails, voice memos, Safari history, etc. There are no limitations to the compatibility of this freeware with any iPhone model or iOS version, including the latest iPhone 11/11 Pro and iOS 13 models.

Install the iMessage Recovery program on your computer by downloading and installing it. As soon as the installation has been completed, you should launch it and follow the steps below to recover your deleted or missing iMessages on your iPhone or iPad:

1. You will be able to select the type of data that you would like to recover by clicking on the icon in the main window (in this case, messages). In order to reduce the recovery time, you may also want to ensure that all other types of data are not checked in order to speed up the process.
2. The next thing you need to do is connect your iPhone or iPad to the computer and as soon as the program detects that the device is connected, click the “Next” button. (You may be able to skip connecting the device to the computer if the missing iMessages are on the iTunes backup.)
3. As soon as the program is launched, it will begin scanning the connected device for the missing messages. Depending on how much data is stored on the device, the scanning process may take a while.
4. Upon the completion of the scan, you will be able to preview the found messages in detail and select the conversations that you wish to recover, then click on the “Recover” button to save them to your computer.