Made an iMessage gaffe? Inside a brief window of time, you may unsend or edit messages despatched to different Apple customers out of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. It’s nearly the identical course of on each platform, which we’ll stroll you thru.
Be aware: To make use of this function on iPad, you want iPadOS 16, which on the time of writing is delayed till later in 2022. As soon as the replace arrives and you put in it in your iPad, you’ll be prepared to start out unsending and enhancing iMessages.
Unsend a Message
You may unsend or edit iMessages that you simply’ve despatched utilizing any system, even when it isn’t the system you used to ship it (for instance, unsending a message utilizing your Mac that was initially despatched out of your iPhone). They have to be messages despatched between Apple customers, utilizing the iMessage service.
You may let you know’re utilizing iMessage if the despatched messages seem with a blue bubble. You may’t edit inexperienced bubbles (or gray bubbles, that are incoming messages from different individuals).
To unsend a message, faucet and maintain the message (or click on and maintain on a Mac) then select the “Undo Ship” choice that seems. If you unsend a message, the recipient will get a small notification on the backside of the display stating {that a} message has been unsent. Bear in mind, although, that if the recipient is utilizing older software program that predates iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS 13 Ventura, Apple says that particular person should obtain the message.
Edit a Message
To edit a message, faucet and maintain (or click on and maintain) a message then select “Edit” to vary the contents of the message.
As soon as the message has been edited, the recipient will see an “Edited” hyperlink subsequent to your message. Tapping this hyperlink will reveal earlier variations of the message. This works greatest for correcting typos, somewhat than altering the intent of a message—unsending is healthier for that.
Additionally, word that if the recipient hasn’t upgraded to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS 13 or newer, they’ll merely obtain a brand new message with the revised textual content.
Restrictions on Unsending and Modifying Messages
You may have two minutes to unsend a message after you’ve despatched it. This helps to stop abuse of the system by limiting its use to real errors, somewhat than giving customers the flexibility to vary the context of conversations.
The window for enhancing a message is barely longer at quarter-hour. You may edit a message 5 instances in whole, so make your edits depend. As famous, all the edit historical past is saved with the message to stop abuse of the system.
Doesn’t Work for SMS
You may solely unsend or edit messages despatched to different Apple customers, however the identical gained’t work for messages despatched to Android customers which present up as inexperienced bubbles. It’s because SMS messages depend on older protocols.
There are methods to entry iMessage on Home windows and Android, however they aren’t massively sensible. Apple has dragged its heels over the difficulty of fixing iMessage reactions on Android, so we wouldn’t suggest holding your breath for native iMessage assist any time quickly.
