How to fix iMessage "Not Delivered" error on iPhones
The article provides troubleshooting steps for resolving the "Not Delivered" error in the iPhone Messages app. It explains that the app manages three distinct protocols—iMessage, RCS, and SMS—which can cause delivery failures due to connectivity or configuration issues. Users are advised to retry sending, toggle airplane mode, or switch to SMS to ensure messages reach their intended recipients.
- ▪The iPhone Messages app handles three different services: iMessage, RCS, and SMS.
- ▪iMessage and RCS require an internet connection, while SMS relies on cellular reception.
- ▪Users can enable the "Retry as Text Message" setting to automatically send failed iMessages as SMS.
- ▪Checking Apple's System Status page can help determine if server instability is causing the delivery failure.
- ▪Rebooting the device and ensuring the iOS software is up to date are recommended general fixes for messaging issues.
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| Original publisher | Engadget |
| Canonical URL | https://www.engadget.com/2252858/how-to-fix-imessage-not-delivered-on-iphone/ |
| Publication time | Sun, 13 Sep 2026 22:30:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-13T22:31:51.889Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-13T22:31:51.889Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | jbhxxfAgYhEz · 1 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
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Big Tech Apple How to fix iMessage "Not Delivered" error on iPhones Your iPhone should send messages normally most of the time, but you can try easy fixes when it acts up. By Filipe Espósito Sept. 13, 2026 6:30 pm EST Apple Add Engadget on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover Sending messages to friends and family on an iPhone is usually pretty easy: open a chat in the Messages app, type it out and you're all set once you hit Send. But like anything in the tech world, even basic actions are prone to annoying bugs at times. If that important message you need to send right away ends up not getting delivered, don't give up just yet. When you see the "Not Delivered" error while sending a message from your iPhone, there are a few workarounds you can try.
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