How do you know if someone blocked you on iMessage? It may not be possible to tell without asking the person, but there are a few ways you could try to check if you’re blocked.
iMessage, one of the best messaging apps, allow iPhone users to keep in touch with family and friends. In some cases, however, you might not receive a reply to your messages.
Then, you wonder if something is wrong with your iMessage because your messages were not delivered. Or maybe something is wrong with their phone. Did they block your number? But how do you know if someone blocked you on iMessage?
This is exactly what you’ll learn in this article—a step-by-step guide with five actionable tips on how to tell if someone has blocked you on iMessage. We’ve got a lot to cover in this guide, so let’s get started.
Here’s a table with key factors to help you know if someone has blocked you on iMessage. We dive deep into those factors further in the article.
| Description | Blocked | Not Blocked |
|---|---|---|
| Check iMessage Bubble Color | Green | Blue |
| Check iMessage Delivery Notification | Not Delivered | Delivered |
| Check iMessage Status Updates | Not Available | Available (Delivered or Read) |
| Call the Person Who Blocked You | Single ring before the call goes to the voicemail box | Ringing or going to the voicemail box |
| Turn Off Caller ID and Call the Blocker | Ringing twice or more | Ringing or going to the voicemail box |
How to Know If Someone Blocked You on iMessage
If you send someone a text message using iMessage and your text bubbles suddenly change to green from blue, or there’s no delivery status below it, it’s a clear indication that they have blocked you on iMessage.
Still can’t believe this person has blocked you? The tips below will help you tell if someone blocked you on iMessage.
Click the links above to jump to a specific section, or continue scrolling to learn who blocked you on iMessage.
1. Check iMessage Bubble Color
You may already know that a green bubble means you’re sending a regular text message instead of using iMessage, but it can also indicate that someone has blocked you.
iMessages normally appear in blue text bubbles (messages between Apple devices). If you’ve enabled “Send as SMS” on your iPhone when iMessage is unavailable, your messages will be sent as SMS. Keep in mind Carrier messaging rates may apply.
If you know someone has an iPhone and suddenly text messages between you and that person are green. This is a sign they’ve probably blocked you.
Perhaps the person doesn’t have cellular service or data connection or has iMessage turned off, so your iMessages fall back to SMS.
We cannot be entirely sure since a green bubble doesn’t necessarily mean you’re blocked. So we’re moving on to the next step.
2. Check iMessage Delivery Notification
When you send an iMessage, a “Delivered” notification will appear below it, letting you know the other person has received it.
You may see a “Read Receipts” of your iMessages that let you know the other person has opened up the Messages app and tapped on their conversation thread.
But that option is not on by default. Unless the other person has turned it on, you’ll not get that tiny gray notification.
If you don’t see a “Delivered” or “Read” notification appear within the iMessage conversation, they may have blocked you.
As mentioned above, iMessage will not say delivered if their phone is off, out of service, without a Wi-Fi connection, or in Airplane mode.
Wait a few hours, or even a day, and try to text again and see what happens. If you still don’t see the status of your iMessages after multiple attempts, they sure have blocked you.
Note: If the person you think has blocked you set his or her phone to “Do Not Disturb” mode, you’ll still get a delivery notification.
3. Check iMessage Status Updates
We conducted a little experiment. We used two iPhones; one has blocked the other on iMessage. Then, we sent messages from the blocked iPhone before and after the block happened. Here’s what we found.
When checking the status of the previous messages before the block occurred, there’re delivery notifications such as “Delivered” or “Read” within the messages thread.
All the messages the blocked iPhone has sent afterward have no notifications. They just remained blue in the conversation thread.
As you can see from the above picture, the first message (blue bubble) is an iMessage with a delivery notification below it (Delivered). We sent this message before the other number blocked us.
The following two messages (green bubble) are SMS with a notification indicating they were sent as “Text Message.”
This is because the blocked number has used the “Send as Text Message” feature on their iPhone. To do that, you long press on the message bubble and tap “Send as Text Message” from the pop-up menu.
Otherwise, no notification would appear below the messages, and the messages would have been iMessages (blue bubble) instead of SMS (green bubble).
Anyway, the person who has blocked you will never receive any of your messages whether you’ve enabled this option.
4. Call the Person Who Blocked You
So you still got no answer from your texts, and there’s no delivery verification either. The next step should be to call the person you think has blocked you if you don’t want to text them.
We ran a little experiment with a blocked number on iMessage. When calling from the blocked number, the phone would ring briefly (just one time).
Then, the automated Voicemail system let us know the recipient was unavailable and took us straight to voicemail.
The blocker will get no notification about the blocked number’s call and voicemail. However, he or she will still receive the voicemail. It will appear in the “Blocked Messages” folder at the bottom of their Voicemail list.
5. Turn Off Caller ID and Call the Blocker Again
In case you’re still doubtful about whether you’ve been blocked, try calling the blocker while hiding your phone number. To make an anonymous call on your iPhone, add *67 before the ten digits number, then hit the call button.
You could also go to Settings > Phone > Show My Caller ID. Then, toggle off the button next to “Show My Caller ID” to hide your number when making phone calls.
Depending on your carrier, you may not have this option. So, you’d have to use *64 each time you want to hide your number.
If the phone rings twice or more, they’ve blocked you. The receiving device will see “No Caller ID.” Obviously, the blocker may not pick up the call. After all, most people don’t pick up anonymous calls nowadays.
Final Thoughts on How to Tell If Someone Blocked You on iMessage
Being blocked by someone on iMessage is such a terrible feeling, but it’s not the end of the world.
Let’s review all the ways to know when someone blocked your number on iMessage:
- Check iMessage bubble color
- Check iMessage delivery notification
- Check iMessage status updates
- Call the person who blocked you
- Turn off caller ID and call the blocker
Now that you’ve learned how to know if someone blocked you on iMessage, we suggest you move on or speak to the person directly to resolve any misunderstandings. Never harass the person who has blocked you.
I know it’s frustrating and may not be what you want to hear, but this isn’t the end of the world.
Whether that person was a friend or an ex, dust yourself off and move on. After all, when one door closes, another opens!
Did one of these tips help you know if they blocked you on iMessage? Still not sure? Either way, let us know in the comments below.
FAQs – Blocked on iMessage
If you don’t see a blue bubble on your end or no notifications under your messages, then it’s likely that they’ve blocked you on iMessage.
If iMessages turn green, it means that you’re using SMS protocol to send your texts instead of iMessage. It could also mean the person’s phone is turned off, offline, or switched to Android.
No, iMessages will not say delivered if you’ve been blocked. You won’t see the delivery status or the read receipt at all. The message you sent will have no delivery status below it.
Yes, you can leave a voicemail for someone who has blocked you, but that voicemail will appear in a separate section under Blocked Messages. The recipient will probably not see your voicemail since they won’t get any notifications about your call.
Yes, you can call someone who blocked you on your iPhone if you disable caller ID or use *67 to hide your caller ID.
Messages is the name of the app.
It is used to send iMessages or SMS/MMS
“After all, most people don’t pick up unanimous calls nowadays.”
Anonymous, not unanimous.
jeez ok Mr.protectionist
Lol
Hi Chris, Thank you for pointing out the typo. It has now been corrected.
Can we clarify the first example? You said the image is because the phone was blocked after the blue message. But it also says following the blue message, the blocker had changed the setting to SMS. Will the image be the same for either scenario: blocked or just changed message settings to SMS?
Hi Susan, thanks for stopping by. If you send a message to someone that has blocked you, your message will be sent as an iMessage (blue bubble) with no notifications – you won’t know if it was delivered or not. However, if you’ve enabled the “Send as Text Message” feature, your message will be sent as an SMS using your cellular plan (kind of a fallback because your message didn’t go through). I hope that helps.
Will the green SMS message ever get to the user that blocked you ?
Hey Jessica, your messages, whether they’re green or blue, will never be delivered to someone that blocked you.
Hello! I sent a message that went from blue to green. On my iphone it says ‘sent as text message’, but on my Mac in imessage under the green bubble it says ‘delivered’. What does that mean and which do I trust? Thank you in advance.
Hi Iain, thanks for dropping by. The message that went from blue to green could be the person’s phone is off, dead, out of range, has recently turned off iMessage, or has blocked you, then iMessage defaults to standard SMS/MMS texting protocol. You shouldn’t be getting a “delivered” message for that text. There is no “delivered” or “read” notification for SMS. I hope this satisfied your concerns.
Hey Gardy, thank you for reply. Much appreciated.
I contacted the person and we hung out after experiencing this and she told me that she dropped her phone in milk and it keeps receiving messages late and going straight to voicemail the other time I was told has no phone service
Hey D’Andre, it’s very possible that your friend’s iPhone has liquid damage. I’d suggest her to make a Genius Bar reservation if she still got AppleCare+.
I have been blocked by someone, so when I send a text message from my Iphone it will turn green. However when I send a text message from my synchronized Ipad the message will remain blue and gets a delivered status also on my Iphone. Any explanation for that?
Hey Eric, are you sure that person has blocked you? Your messages won’t be delivered to someone who has blocked you regardless of what Apple device you’ve used. It seems you have iMessage turned off on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Messages > iMessage to check if iMessage is turned on for your iPhone.
What does it mean if the messages I send (to someone with an iPhone) are green on my iPhone with only “sent as sms”, but they are green on my Mac and my iPad with the “Delivered” notification?
Hi Shawn,
Happy to have you in the comment section. 3 possibilities here:
1. Your friend may not have iMessage turned on in Settings.
2. You or your friend may have a poor internet connection at the time the message was sent.
3. Try to call your friend. If you get one ring followed by a voicemail prompt, you may have been blocked.
I’ve yet to see an SMS with the “Delivered” notification. Can you share a screenshot? (Make sure to blur or pixelate any sensitive information)
The person I’m talking to had Android and then got iPhone. The iMessages has read receipts and then it seems they were turned off (But said Delivered). A few days later the messages were taking a long time time to go through (video and later pics) then were sent as text message but the rest of text and pics were blue and delivered. Then yesterday they all went to green. But it doesn’t say sent as text message it’s just green like when they had Android. That iPhone belonged to a relative because their Android was messed up—since it doesn’t say sent as text message does this mean they switched back to android and just haven’t gotten back to me yet?
You can still respond, but I think it’s actually that they switched back to their old Android phone. Cause my other friends that have Android are showing the same thing—they don’t show “sent as text message” or anything under the green bubble. And pics are sending like they used to when they had Android before with the the green loading bar.
Hi, that person probably blocked you or went back to Android. And also make sure to have a good internet connection otherwise your iMessages won’t go through and will fall back to SMS.
Hi, so I’m trying to figure out if I was blocked. Sent message from my iphone and message was green and ‘sent as text’ but on my IPad the message is blue and says delivered. This happens on and off
Thank you !
Hi Kerry, happy to have you in the comments. It doesn’t look like you’re blocked. This is more likely a connection issue on either end. Does it only happen with this particular person? Did either of you recently switch from Android? A few things you can try: 1) have both of you turn iMessage off then back on again, 2) check if that person has iMessage receiving enabled for the number/email you’re sending an iMessage to, 3) make sure both of you have strong network connection when using iMessage. Let me know how it goes.
Hey, I’m not sure if this person blocked me, so I texted them on imessage and my messages were delivered but all of a sudden they stopped delivering so I sent them a text message are tired calling them and it was ringing. Then after a while it will ring once then go to voicemail and after a while it will keep ringing. It’s ringing for now but my messages aren’t sending and it’s only text and the person that might of blocked me has their iMessage on, please help me
Hey Sharon, happy to have you in the chat. You’re probably not blocked if the person’s phone rings normally before going to voicemail. Regarding, the messages sent as “text message”, that person may have iMessage turned off or is in an area with poor or no service. How do you know that person has iMessage turned on?
You’ve been super helpful in your responses to others so I thought I’d pose my question here also. What if you have an iPhone and the person you’re texting has an iPhone, the message goes through as a blue bubble but after a while it turns to a green bubble showing “sent as SMS message”. If they have blocked you wouldn’t the send button at the end of the black text message field be green going forward or would it still appear blue after you start composing a new text? I hope that makes sense.
Hey Rayne, good to have you in the comments. If the message goes through as a blue bubble then turns to a green bubble, you may have been blocked or the other person has iMessage turn off or has a poor internet connection.
If the other person has blocked you by mistake and unblock you, but the messages will not turn blue, try to text in a group chat with that person or delete the chat and start a new thread.
Regarding the green button at the end of the field, we’ve seen discrepancies with iMessage when someone got blocked and unblocked, signing out and signing back into iMessage may help fix this issue. Hope we clarify your concerns.
I think I’m being blocked I sent a message last night it went through they read it and today I texted them it was green and said on top of the two texts sent as a texts and then I sent a pic it show it might have gone through and my last text it was green but there was no message for it just the green bubble on top of the last text said text message that’s it no sent as a text or delivered or read
Hi Liz. By all indications, I think you’re blocked.
Good morning
Ok so I searched my contact to text last night and the contact was lit up blue so I processed with my text message I sent it and the message showed up green saying sent as a text message so I go back to search that contact again and it was green .so I click on another contact and same thing blue so I sent the message to the different person and it sent blue with delivered..Then this morning I searched the first contact again and it was blue again so I sent another text this time it went through blue but no delivery was indicated I’m thinking this person is blocking me and unblocking me
Does this make any sense
I actually just went to check the messages and both are green now with sent as text message under both messages in green bubbles and now when I search the contact it’s green
Hey Mimi, this pretty much confirms that you’ve been blocked.
Hello, I’m trying to see if I’ve been blocked. My messages was blue with delivered. However, I sent another one and it’s green saying sent as SMS. Then the ones that follow are now just green with nothing. I’ve called and the phone rings it’s usual amount of times and then goes to voicemail. I even tried calling for another number. So does the person have their phone set on don not disturb or something when my number shows up?!🤔
Hello Trenell, If when you call that person it doesn’t go straight to voicemail, you’re not blocked. The message bubbles turning green might be the result of another issue, such as poor internet connection or iMessage deactivated. If the person sets their phone to DND mode, you’ll still get the delivery notification. Wait for a few days before trying again. Good luck.
If I sent a text message and it was blue and said delivered on day X. Then the person went to Mexico and I sent a text on day 3 the text is green with “sent as text “ for the first message and the other two messages on day 4 and 5 are green with just “Thursday 19:54”or “today 11:23” what can that indicate?
Hi Kat, the person may not have internet access, which is required for iMessage to work. The last two messages that were sent without the “sent as text” notification is because of no cellular signal or Wi-Fi Calling, which depends on his/her phone’s carrier. I’d wait for a couple of days before texting the person back and see what happens. Hope that helps.
HELP!!! This is crucial…text recipient also has iPhone…I’m in dark mode so I can’t see blue/green bubbles but for about 3 or 4 hours texts were not showing ‘delivered’ phone rang once and I got the no voicemail set up message….I was blocked was I not??
Hi Paula! When you activate Dark Mode, you should be able to see the colors of iMessage bubbles. So, I’m not sure why you can’t see them. Do your texts show “Sent as Text Messages”? Call that person from a different number, if it rings as normal, then you’re blocked.
I sent a text message – it turned green but also says “delivered.” This person has iMessage and I think I’ve been blocked due to two other messages turning green and then just saying “sent as text” – but on my iMessage on my macbook it says delivered. Phone says Sent as Text Message. Thoughts?
Hey Ali! Are you sure the green text message says “delivered” underneath it, because the “Delivered” notification only applies to blue bubbles? It sounds like you’ve been blocked but I’d call or text that person from a different number to see what happens.
Hi there,
I sent an iMessage to someone who has an iPhone. I’m pretty sure the message was blue and said delivered just after I sent it. That very same text that was blue and delivered just turned green. Is it possible that the person saw the message, then blocked me and then it turned green?
Thanks in advance for your input!
JB
Hi JB! How often does that happen and how quickly does the bubble goes from blue to green? A green bubble doesn’t necessarily mean you’re blocked. When you send a message from your Apple device (assuming you’ve activated iMessage) the message will be sent as an iMessage, if for whatever reasons (being blocked is one of them) your message can’t be delivered it will fall back to SMS. You should note the block only affects messages sent after the block. It’s very likely that you’ve been blocked before the message was sent. Remember, when in doubt text that person from a different number. Let us know how it goes.
I’m texting a girl, from a long distance relationship and our texts are normally blue, every now and then they go green but she responds to both blue and green texts. But when I try to call her while my texts are green the call goes straight to voicemail (no ringing) when text goes blue again, I’m able to get a hold of her. Is that just a service/carrier issue?
Hey Tyler, she might have DND mode turned on when you try to call her. She may have this feature on without even realizing it. If you were blocked, her phone would ring briefly before going to voicemail. Of course, if she doesn’t have any service your call would go straight to voicemail. Hope that helps.
I’m just trying to make sure I haven’t been blocked. I’ve texted someone three different times over the course of a few days. Each time the messages are blue and say “delivered”. So based off of this article, I guess I’m not blocked. I did have a friend block me from her phone. She still received my messages and it still showed blue and delivered from my phone. Still blocked, she turned off iMessages from her phone and tried again. My text to her didn’t show delivered and she didn’t get it. So it’s possible I have been blocked but the guy doesn’t know to turn off his iMessages.
Hi Shanice! If the messages are blue and say “delivered”, you’re not blocked. Turning off iMessage would prevent the guy from using iMessage with everyone. So, there’s no point turning off iMessage if he just wanted to block you, which is not the case right here.
Thanks for your response. But I’m confused. So, how is it that my text went through to my friends phone after she “blocked” me? She still got my text after she blocked me. How is that possible?
Is your iMessage set up to send messages from your e-mail address? Here’s how to check: Settings > Messages > Send & Receive. Did she block you through the Phone app or directly from iMessage?
Yes, I do have iMessages set up to send messages from my email address. She blocked me through the phone app and from iMessages I believe. How do you block someone through iMessage?
Ok, so I sent the first message it was blue with no delivery message beneath. Then I sent another same thing. I called the phone rang all the way through. Relooked and it still no delivery message beneath. So I restart my phone and looked it was the same thing but the first message popped up green with the “Sent as text message”.
Then the others followed. Then the person texts me and says they have been having problems with their phone what do you think?
Hey Robert, was that person’s text message an iMessage or SMS?
Hi there
Without sounding redundant here…I experienced the same thing, blue bubble says delivered then after 5 min it turned green with no notification. He always has cell service at work and never turns his phone or disables iMessage. I felt like I had been blocked. I sent him a message through FB messenger asking if he received my text and told him it turned green (being naive at this moment) then a little while later I got a response with a specific answer to my text that had turned green. My question is if I was blocked temporarily and he unblocked me.. would he receive the text that was sent when I was blocked?
Hey Suzanne, happy to have you in the comments. No, he will not receive the messages that you’ve sent when you were blocked. Unless if you copy and resend those messages (assuming he’s unblocked you), he will not receive them either. Hope that helps.
Hi there 🙂
I’m messaging iPhone to iPhone to someone I talk to regularly. The messages are typically blue but they just turned to green.
All the blue messages show “delivered”. The first green message says “sent as text message” but the second green message doesn’t say anything.
Any ideas? Thanks!
Hey Amber, good to have you join the conversation. The first green message with “Sent as a text message underneath” means that the message was originally sent as iMessage (blue) but couldn’t be delivered and the phone resent it as an SMS (green). The second green message with nothing underneath means that the message was sent as an SMS. Based on the details, it’s very possible that you’ve been blocked. When in doubt text that person from another phone. Hope that helps.
So my friend has an iPhone and I sent him a text message it turns green but doesn’t show anything under it. But when I call it goes through it rings about 5 to 7 times then goes to voicemail. What does this mean? Did he block me? Or is his phone on do not disturb?
Hi Koula, his phone is definitely not in “Do Not Disturb” mode because iMessages will be delivered (blue bubble with Delivered underneath), he’s only not getting notified about them. As for the phone call, you should have heard a single ring before going to voicemail. If you were able to call him, you’re not blocked. Something else is going on, he probably turned off iMessage or his phone didn’t have an internet connection at that moment. Let me know if you need further help.
I have an ex who is definitely blocking and unblocking me. I can tell when I am unblocked because the read receipt button reappears for that individual. It disappears if you are blocked again (iPhone 12 to iphone 11). Also, the text arrow will turn from green to blue which indicates you were unblocked. However, the initiated message will be blue and sent as an iMessage and then turns green and says sent as text message. My question is it is originally sent as blue iMessage, is it possible they received it and blocked you after they got it? and hit blocked within a couple of seconds. As soon as I send the message, the read receipt indicator for the individual is gone (very coincidental). I’m curious and interested in solving the iPhone puzzle. However, my assumption is they got the message and blocked me. The message indicates iMessage with date and time at the top and the message ends green with sent as text message at the bottom (lighter gray color). Also, there seems to be a slightly darker gray (almost bold font) color sent as text message that you know definitively when you were blocked. I know I shouldn’t care but curiosity killed the cat.
Hey Corrine, thanks for joining the conversation. Let’s get one thing perfectly clear, the block doesn’t affect previous messages. If you send a message to your ex before the block, the message will be delivered (blue bubble) assuming your ex’s iPhone has an internet connection and iMessage is activated.
If he later decided to block you, that message won’t be affected and will still sit as delivered in the message thread. However, every message sent after the block will be sent as a text message on your end (if you have that option enabled) but your ex won’t receive them.
As you said, it appears that your ex has been blocking and unblocking you. I hope that helps, let me know if you have further question.
From one iPhone to another, when I send a text it is green, when I call it goes into voicemail after or during the first ring. I don’t want to get into specifics but I am told when I call the phone is off. Would the phone being off trigger a green message and not a blue one?
thank you
Yes, you’re correct David. If the phone was off at the time you sent the message it will not be delivered and would revert to sending it as an SMS (green bubble). Keep in mind if that person has multiple Apple devices activated with the same Apple ID, the message will be delivered to whichever is turned on and with an internet connection. So it might say delivered to you despite that person’s phone is dead (assuming the message was delivered to his/her iPad, Mac, etc.) Hope that helps.
I do… The text message at the top says iMessage with date and time and at the bottom of the text message, it indicates sent as a text message. The message was blue when sent and then turned to green. Unknown if it was received. I have heard that when you are unblocked the read receipt toggle bar under info disappears. I sent the message when the read receipt toggle bar was present and the little arrow in the text message circle was blue when I started to send the message. I am wondering if Apple has a new algorithm that mixes up how blocked text messages look and if the algorithm at times shows the read receipt toggle bar under info. I know it’s confusing but I think Apple has done some programming to make it unclear to the blocked recipient.
The “Read Receipts” is a separate feature that has nothing to do with whether you’re blocked or not. It appears that your ex sometimes deactivates that feature to prevent you from knowing when he/she’s read your messages.
I tested this feature with a friend of mine and had her block me for he entire day. When she initially blocked me within 15 minutes of the block the read receipt toggle indicator under info disappeared. I tested this with two other friends and again within 15 minutes of being blocked the read receipt indicator disappeared. However, several hours later while still blocked the read receipt toggle indicator reappeared and I sent a message that was blue and turned to green. I was blocked but the message had imessage at top of text without a date or time and at the bottom said sent as text message. It appears from my blocking text test Apple has some privacy programming. The blocked text messages change in appearance and how they appear to the blocked sender. Some texts appear as text message with date and time at the top of the text message with nothing at the bottom. Some texts will appear with a date and time only at the time with nothing at the bottom. Some text message when initially blocked will say sent as text message at the bottom, nothing at the top. Apple has made it so you cant really tell and some messages on the newer models will change from blue to green and you are still blocked.
==
The only test I have not been able to replicate is if the message changes from blue to green – and the top of the text message it indicates imessage with a date and time and at the bottom of the text it says sent as text message. I do wonder if this is a message where you have been unblocked for a small amount of time and the individual is using a Mac and the imessage is sent to the Mac but the Iphone is off and therefore, the bottom says sent as a text message because the Iphone was not on to receive it as an imessage. I’m inclined to believe at this point I was still blocked and its an Apple privacy program. Also, something to note is you won’t know you are unblocked until they send you a text message which will change their contact number back from green to blue. The contact is blue unless you are an Adroid user or you have been blocked, but once unblocked they have to text you for it to change. You could be unblocked and it will still show green in your contacts.
I am also wondering if you can unblock a number and your iPhone is off and therefore the message was sent blue with the message indicating iMessage with date and time but indicate “sent as a text message” because the iPhone is turned off and therefore that is why it turned green.
I read all above questions and responses. My question is: I sent a text to someone who I think may have blocked me because he did once before when we broke up. The first time we broke up, anything I’d send would be sent green and I’d receive no indication at all that the text was sent. It said nothing underneath at all. This time they go through green but say “sent as text message”. Does this mean I’m on Do Not Disturb, but he is still receiving my messages and just reading them if he looks to see if I sent something? I’m trying to differentiate between the green text saying nothing, and it saying “sent as text message”. What is the difference here? There has to be one. Thank you.
To expand, he has an iPhone and I know he has internet connection and that is phone is in fact on. Thanks
Hi Kristin, if there’s nothing underneath the green bubble, it means the text message was originally sent as an SMS. The green bubble will only say “Sent as Text Message” if the text message was originally sent as an iMessage and failed to be delivered, and the phone re-sent it as an SMS (green bubble).
Do Not Disturb mode has nothing to do with the delivery of iMessages, it just silences incoming alerts and notifications. Everything happens as normal, you just don’t get notified. Hope that helps.
Hi there. I tried to send a iMessage text today but nothing went through. The text I typed didn’t even appear on the screen. I don’t know what’s going on as I was able to iMessage another contact and receive texts too. Am I blocked by the person to whom my iMessage doesn’t even show up on the screen? I had my friend send a test message to him and it went through. I haven’t yet tried calling to see. I’m baffled. Have you ever seen blocking like this or is this some other technical issue that somehow is only happening between me and this one person who also has an iPhone?
Hi Wintyr,
Thanks for stopping by. When you’re blocked, the messages should go through. I’m afraid something else is going on with your phone. Try to restart your phone or delete the iMessage thread with that person and start a new one. If none of these work, check to see if Messages in iCloud is enabled, or you may run out of iCloud storage. Either way, let me know how it goes.
Hello, I have one that has been going green for a couple of days now and that was my thought as well as some thing going on am I blocked it tends to happen when this person hangs out with a different person they’re not allowed to talk to anybody anymore. But what I did notice is it follows every role that you say that shows that somebody has blocked you but that’s not necessarily the case because I did get a response and the messages are still going through Green which I don’t understand why. I did try to call just to make sure everything was OK and that was what was going on is that somebody was just back around and it did go straight to voicemail which once again matches the things that you have listed as somebody has blocked you but then again Sunday night the messages went through and everything appears the same as it does now and it did before. So you’re saying I can do *67 and call the number and if it rings definitely more than once because one time could still show that you’re blocked along with straight to voicemail. Or does straight to voicemail without a ring in the phone is dead and possibly broken again. But doing that should give me my answer?
Hello- great stuff here. Just to be sure, if I send a text to another iPhone, the bubble will be blue and say delivered if everything is normal (no blocking, phone receiving service, phone on). Correct? If it says Delivered and the bubble is blue, I can assume that the message went to their phone-correct?
Also, I sent a text to my other iPhone, but the history of that message does not show on the original phone. Any ideas?
Hi Rich, Can you elaborate more on your question so I can better help you? It’s not very clear what you mean by “the history of that message”.
Hello,
So I was texting someone and it went from blue to green and said “delivered as text message.
After a while, it stopped showing whether it was delivered or not but still on green.
Now it’s saying “Not delivered”
Hi Tobi, thanks for dropping by. Did you have a good internet connection at the time you sent that message? I’m not sure if you tried that already, long-press on the bubble or tap on the red (!) button next to the message and hit “Try Again” to see what happens.
Tried to text someone who has iPhone. The last message was blue with delivered. The next time I send a message it said not delivered with the red exclamation mark so of course, u can choose to retry or send as text. I pressed retry and it automatically sent as a text with green bubble. On top of the bubble, it says text message with the time. Wondering if this was service issues or if I’m blocked?
Hey Katt, It could be service issues. I’d text that person from a different iPhone. If the bubbles are still green it’s definitely a service issue or iMessage has been deactivated on their end. If the bubbles are blue, they probably have blocked you. Hope that helps.
Hi there, what does it mean if the text message is a blue bubble but does not say Delivered, and when I call it goes straight to voicemail without ringing at all? Is it possible that the person’s phone is off or have I been blocked?
Hey Jessica! If the text bubble is blue, you’re definitely not blocked. That person is likely using iMessage on multiple Apple devices such as a Mac or an iPad. That’s why when you called him/her, it went straight to voicemail. The person’s phone is probably off and the text message was sent to one of his/her other Apple devices.
Hello,
Thank you for giving such thoughtful responses to everyone!. You may have already answered a similar question, but here is mine…I sent a text message on my iPhone to a fellow iPhone user, and at first, it was blue, and then turned green and says “sent as text message”. So I sent another text a while later to test it out, and it is just the green bubble now but does not even say “sent as text message” this time.
I initially thought this person may have blocked me, but I just opened my iPad and checked in my messages, and it says that the first message I sent this person is in blue (as an iMessage) and it says “delivered”. So my iPhone sent it in green as a “text message” and my iPhone sent in blue as “delivered”.
I should also mention that this person has a job where they sometimes have to go off the grid, so I suppose it’s possible their phone is turned off or out of range?
Does it sound like I have been blocked?
And would you suggest that I try again in a day or two to check?
Hey Lena! Thanks for dropping by. Two things may have happened. Your iPhone internet’s strength was not optimum for the message to be sent via Apple’s iMessage servers (so it was sent as an SMS, green bubble). On the other end, your iPad had a good connection at the time you sent the message, that’s why it appeared in blue. What you can do is to have both your iPhone and iPad connected to the same Wi-Fi and send a message from your iPhone, and see what happens. I hope that helps.
*typo:
I meant that my iPhone sent the message in green as “sent as text message” and my iPad sent the message in blue as “delivered”.
Hi Jean, I’ve been texting my daughter, and yesterday after I sent her my text messages everything was blue saying delivered, then last night I sent her a text message telling her “good night I love you” and it’s green with no message under the bubble. Does this mean I’m blocked? I don’t want to call her because she is working & she cannot receive calls at work.
Hi Lynn, she probably doesn’t have a poor internet connection at work that’s why your message was sent as an SMS (green bubble). I’d try to text her when she’s not at work and see what happens. It’s very unlikely that you’ve been blocked based on the circumstances.
If you are blocked, do you reach an automated voice mail message immediately or do you reach the persons own personal vm immediately?
Hey Justine, thanks for joining the conversation. You’ll reach the voicemail that the person has set up. If no voicemail has been set up, you’ll reach the default voicemail greeting.
Hello. I want to know if I’m blocked. I sent a very long text message that carried over to the next page because it was very long. The bubble is blue. when I click on the message to make sure all of the wording is there, and it takes me to the next page, there’s nothing underneath that says delivered. Am I blocked?
Hi Anne! Thanks for joining the conversation. If the bubble is blue, you may have been blocked – but not always.
A few reasons why you may not see “Delivered” underneath the message:
1. The person to whom you sent the message was offline.
2. His/her iPhone was off.
In those situations, iMessage will hold the message on Apple’s servers until it reconnects to the person so it can be delivered.
I hope that helps.
I missed a call from an ex today who blocked me three years ago. I called back and it went straight to voicemail. Later texted from iPhone and it turned green and says sent as text message. When I check iMessage on my MacBook it is blue and says delivered. Did they block me again? Thanks in advance
Hi Petunia! This must be due to an iCloud synchronization issue. Are you signed with the same Apple ID on both devices? In any case, you should ignore the “Delivered” status on any devices from which you didn’t send the original message. It definitely looks like you’re blocked.
Thanks Jean! I am signed in with the same ID. Glad to confirm this guy is still a weirdo 🙂
No question as I believe I found the answer by reading through the article/comments but wanted to say dang Jean!!! You are probably the best author at responding to comments I have ever seen. Keep up the awesome work mate!! 🙂
Hey Jeremy! Thank you, I really appreciate you taking the time to express that.
Hello. So I have an Android boost phone and the other person has a Metro PCS phone. When we text we can usually see each other texting. I texted and left about 5 messages, it says delivered for like about 7 hours in blue and it doesn’t indicate the person read it. It’s just stick on blue delivered. The person said that they were on the train prior to my 5 messages. Am I blocked? or am I on DND mode?
Hey Shanelle, no you’re not blocked. It’s more likely that the person is on DND mode or has disabled the “Send Read Receipts” feature. If you were blocked the message would not be delivered. Hope that helps.
Hi, I have a question. Last night some unknown number but with my area code texted me saying,” Hi is this ___” I saw the text around 2:00 am and I replied, “ Who is this?” The message bubble was green and it didn’t say delivered or sent as text on the bottom. I have an iPhone and I’m not sure if that person has an iPhone or Android. Does that mean the person has blocked me? If it does I find that weird since they contacted me first and I’ve never seen that number before. Thank you in advance.
Hi Taylor, it’s weird for someone to block you and then text you. That person is probably using an Android phone. It could be someone that knows you but is using a different number to communicate with you. If that person addressed you by your name, he/she definitely knows you. I’d try to call that number from a different phone. Let me know if you need further help.
Hi
I sent an iMessage to someone on Wednesday and it showed that he read it.
Then I sent another message on Friday
Status is shown as “Delivered”
Then Sunday I sent again
Status still said ” Delivered”
Is that possible that he didn’t check any SMS for 2-3 days?
Normally he always read
Now I wonder if he blocks me?
Or he changes to his Android phone?
Or did he turn off Send read receipt?
Pls, advise.
Hi Mew, You’re definitely not blocked. It looks like that person has been ignoring your messages or has turned off “Read Receipts” so you don’t know when he read your messages. I hope that helps.
Hi. I have iMessaged someone, it turned blue immediately, but there is no read or delivered notification.
When I call them, it rings the usual 4 or so times, and goes to voicemail.
I think they are reading my messages on another device, but I cannot figure out how they have turned off the notification entirely. Or I’m blocked.
What do you think?
Thanks so much!
Hello Jennifer, I don’t think you’re blocked. The person’s phone is either off due to some reason, or he/she doesn’t have access to an active internet connection. You may not get any delivery notification from your messages if the person switched from iPhone to Android but didn’t delete their number from Apple’s iMessage servers. Let me know if you need further help.
Hi, I iMessaged someone yesterday night and it’s blue with no Read or Delivered signs. The previous iMessage is blue and marked Read.
So to sum up, if I look at the iMessage with this person, a previously sent blue iMessage has a Read sign and the blue yesterday-sent iMessage has no signs.
When I hold on the yesterday-sent iMessage, it has an option of Reply, Copy, Translate, Send as Text Message, More… . Other iMessages sent to my friends or this person doesn’t have an option of Send as Text Message.
When I check with my iPad, the yesterday-sent blue iMessage has a Delivered sign and the previously sent blue iMessage has no sign.
I’m curious if I’m blocked and why the yesterday-sent iMessage has an option to Send as Text Message. Thank you!!
Hello, I sent a message and it turned green without any labeling such as (sent as a text msg) it has nothing at all.
Then when I called the person, it doesn’t ring The machine answers and says that « the line is out of service for good or temporarily. »
Knowing that this line is international but I call it often.
Could it be because he doesn’t have Wi-Fi??
Hi Rana, The person’s phone definitely doesn’t have an internet connection (whether it’s through Wi-Fi or cellular data). I’d wait a day or two and try to text or call him/her back to see what happens. Hope that helps.
I know this is an old thread, but for the benefit of people only finding it now, I wanted to add one piece of info to the good stuff already here. If you are blocked on the recipient’s iPhone, as noted above your message will NOT say “delivered” underneath it on the device you sent the message from. It will likely then try to send as a text message and turn green.
HOWEVER, even if you are blocked, using the iMessage app from your laptop or iPad will STILL say “delivered” if you used your iPhone to send the message. For the “delivered” notification to mean what it says, IT MUST SAY DELIVERED ON THE DEVICE FROM WHICH THE MESSAGE WAS SENT. So if you send from your MacBook’s message app to a device that’s blocking you, you won’t get delivered on the MacBook but you might (and probably will) get a “delivered” under the message on your iPhone. Ignore it, it’s meaningless, just a weird quirk of iOS. The only iOS device that matters is the one that sent the message.
Hi Ali, thank you for your input! Very helpful.