How to Fix ‘iMessage Needs to Be Enabled to Send This Message’ Error

Without undermininghow intuitive iMessage is, it has a long history of throwing unexpected errors including the legendary“iMessage waiting for activation”. Another equally frustrating issue is the “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message” error that keeps popping up even when you have perfectly set up the messaging app. When you face this issue, you begin to wonder what has suddenly gone wrong or caused the app to misbehave. But there is no need to panic as these 10 methods will help you fix iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message issue on iPhone.

10 Things to Try if iMessage Isn’t Working on iPhone (2022)

1. Force Quit Messages App and Try Again

The first thing to try if iMessage isn’t letting you send any messages, is to force quit the app.

2. Turn On/Off Airplane Mode

If your internet connection is sloppy, iMessage may not work as expected. Thanks to airplane mode, it’s pretty easy to reset the radios.

3. Disable/Enable iMessage

Whenever I find iMessage not working properly, the one trick that I always give a try is to turn it off/on. More often than not, it helps me fix iMessage issues. Hence, I’m going to bank on this simple hack to resolve this problem as well.

4. Send As SMS When iMessage is Unavailable

iOS allows you to send a message as SMS when iMessage is not available. Although it’s not a solution per se, enable this feature to ensure your messaging doesn’t come to a halt.

5. Force Restart

Is the error message still showing up? Don’t worry as we are not done yet. Now, we will force restart the device. Well-known forresolving common iPhone/iPad issues, it should get rid of the problem.

6. Check iMessage Server Status

Ensure that iMessage’s server is not going through an outage. Open a browser on your device and go to Apple’s system status page (visit) and then make sure the tiny circle to the left of iMessage is green. If the circle is orange, iMessage is down. In this situation, wait until Apple resolves the issue.

7. Software Update

For better or worse, software update seems to be the answer to most issues that crop up on iOS and iPadOS these days. So, if the error message continues to pop up repeatedly when you are trying to send iMessage, update the software on your device.

8. Reset Network Settings

If your internet connection seems to be too weak or does not work as expected, resetting the network settings might help resolve the issue.

9. Sign Out of Apple ID and Sign Back In

A fresh sign-in has the knack of fixing miscellaneous iOS issues. Therefore, it would be apt to give it a chance as well.

10. Reset All Settings

Factory reset your deviceif iMessage is still not working. For the unfamiliar, factory reset erases the entire existing settings including Wi-Fi passwords but keeps all of your media and data untouched.

‘iMessage Needs to Be Enabled to Send This Message’ Error – Resolved!

Hopefully, iMessage is working properly for you once again. Whether it was toggling Airplane mode, disabling iMessage and re-enabling it, or resetting your device, whatever method worked for you to fix the iMessage issue, let us know about it down below. Meanwhile, if there are any other things that have worked for you that you think should be included on this article, share them with us as well.

Rajesh Mishra

An old school bibliophile who turned a tech nerd out of obsession. When he is not digging into hacks and tracking down stories that are breaking the internet, you may find him reciting poems.

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