How to Know if a Message Was Delivered on Apple Messages

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 29, 2019 Tested

To find out if a message was delivered on Apple Messages, open Messages → Select a conversation → Check that "Delivered" appears under your last message.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:
iOS

1
Tap on the Messages app.
2
Tap a conversation.
3
Tap on the text field. It's located right above your keyboard.
4
Type in a message.
5
Tap the blue arrow button. Doing so will send your message.
6
Look for “Delivered” under your last message. It will appear just below the message bubble.
- If your message does not say “Delivered”, check the top of your screen to see if it says “Sending…” or “Sending 1 of X”.
- If you see nothing listed under your last message, your message has not yet been delivered.
- If "Send Read Receipts" is enabled by the recipient, then it will change to "Read" once the message has actually been seen.
- If you see "Sent as a Text Message," that means your message was sent using your carrier's SMS service rather than Apple's iMessage servers.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:
Mac

1
Open the Messages app.
2
Click on a conversation.
3
Type in a message.
4
Press ↵ Enter.
5
Look for “Delivered” under your last message. It will appear just below the message bubble.
- If "Send Read Receipts" is enabled by the recipient, then it will change to "Read" once the message has actually been seen.
- If you see "Sent as a Text Message," that means your message was sent using your carrier's SMS service rather than Apple's iMessage servers.
- If you see nothing listed under your last message, your message has not yet been delivered.

Community Q&A

Question

My message does not say delivered and has a green background. What does this mean?

Community Answer

This is because the receiver is using an Android device.
Question

If your text does not say delivered does that mean it did not go?

Hayden Foulds

Community Answer

No. If “Delivered” does not show below your message, it means that the person you are contacting has not seen it yet. Another solution that should be helpful is to check the top of the screen for either “Sending” or “Sending 1 of ...”.
Question

Where do I find “select a conversation “?

Fancyghost

Community Answer

You simply choose a conversation from the list of people you've talked to.
Question

If it "says sent as a text message" does that mean they blocked you?

Fancyghost

Community Answer

No, that means they're on an Android phone most likely. It's also possible that they have iMessage's data disabled, so they receive SMS messages instead of iMessages.
Question

I texted another iPhone user and it normally says delivered and is a blue message. Today it is green and says sent as a text message. Did the other person get my text?

Fancyghost

Community Answer

Yes, they got your text. It was just delivered in a slightly different method, due to circumstances outside either of your control.