How to Fix ‘iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message’

You can use Apple’s iMessage service to send messages to contacts who also have an iPhone or iPad at any time, conveniently and free of charge. If sending via Messenger no longer works, this may be due to network connection problems or Apple server problems.

What does iMessage mean?

 iMessage is like WhatsApp, with one small caveat: it only works between iOS devices. Just like WhatsApp, messages, photos and videos are exchanged over the Internet. 

Once iMessage is activated, you don’t have to do anything else. If the person you want to talk to also has an iPhone or another iOS device, the messages are sent and received via iMessage or SMS. However, iMessage is not as simple and error-free as Apple would like us to believe.

Many users face the problem of iMessage not sending messages, and the notification’ iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message. So to find out how to enable iMessage on iPhone and to solve this issue, read the following steps: 

How to activate iMessage

Before looking at solving the problem, you may ask yourself how you enable iMessage. You can easily enable the messaging service if you don’t already have iMessage on your iPhone. Proceed as follows:

• Open the ‘Settings.’
• Select the ‘Messages’ menu item.
• Enable the iMessage option and wait a few seconds
• Activation is complete. Now you can send messages with iMessage. But be careful: Even if it says the service is free, there may still be costs.

Is iMessage even the problem?

 If you are unable to send or receive iMessages within the Messages app on your iPhone, or if they are out of sync between your iOS devices, the first thing you should always ask yourself is whether iMessage is the problem at all. Therefore, check whether you have an active data connection – mobile Internet or Wi-Fi.

To find out if there are problems here, open the Safari browser. Then try to load a website – if that doesn’t work, there is probably a conflict with the mobile data connection or the Wi-Fi. In this case, briefly switch flight mode by selecting the offline mode in the control center. Then deactivate the function and try again to send a message.

End the Messages app and restart your iPhone 

 If you know how to enable iMessage and you are sure you did all the necessary steps, and the problem keeps occurring, you should try to close the app first:

Double-click the Home button and swipe the Messages application away to close it. Then restart your iPhone (or iPad). If everything goes well, you should be able to use iMessage without any problems. In any case, make sure that the latest iOS version is installed on your device.

Find out if the iMessage server is reachable

Data connection is fine, but you still can’t send or receive messages? Then you should check whether the server is currently available. To find out, all you have to do is visit this Apple Support website. 

If iMessage has problems with its server, the button next to it will not be green. If iMessage is reported as unobtrusive, it may be that only people in your area are having problems with it. Then certain websites on the Internet will tell you exactly that. 

Alternatively, you can simply visit Twitter: users report to the social network via hashtags (#imessage) as soon as they have problems.

Why are my messages sending green to another iPhone?

If the server is down, you can still exchange text messages with your friends – in the form of SMS. You will then see a green speech bubble in the Messages app: it signals that the content is an SMS. 

iMessages, on the other hand, glow blue. This can also occur when you want to send an iMessage, but the service is unavailable, and the message is converted into an SMS. 

If you intend to send an iMessage as an SMS, press and hold the message with your finger and select the option ‘Send as SMS.’ 

Check the date and time settings

Users have sometimes solved their iMessage problems by enabling “Automatic” in the date and time options. All you have to do is go to “General” in the settings and then “Date & Time.” You can then press the slider next to ‘Set automatically’ so it lights up green. 

If iMessage works but is too slow

If you have a lot of text messages and images in your iMessage library, this storage space consumption can affect the app’s speed:

• So open the Messages app on your iPhone.
• Select a message from the list.
• Swipe them to the right to delete them. 

The more messages you remove, the more storage space is freed up, which should also affect app speed.

Reset your iPhone or iPad

If you can’t solve your iMessage problems, you should reset your device: To do this, go to the settings, tap “General,” and select ‘Reset.’ After that, go to ‘Reset All Content and Settings.

Note: Since all data will be lost when resetting, you should create a backup beforehand. You can then play this on the iPhone or the iPad. 

If this measure did not help, reset the device a second time without using the backup afterward. Maybe the problem is with the backup copy.

Summary

• Is iMessage Not Working? Then you should close the app and restart the smartphone. Check again all steps regarding how to turn on iMessage are correctly followed.
• Be sure your phone is using the latest version of iOS.
• Check your network connection – or reset all connections to set them up again.
• Instead of iMessage, you can send SMS (or MMS) through the Messages app if the iMessage server cannot be reached.
• Make sure that your device automatically sets the date and time.
• If you’re having sync issues, use the new Messages in iCloud feature.
• Reset the iPhone or iPad if you can’t solve your iMessage problem.