How to Fix iMessage

Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: March 8, 2025

Occasionally, iMessage may crash, freeze, or simply not seem to work properly. This article contains different methods for fixing problems in iMessage.

Steps

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Your Wi-Fi simply may not be working properly.
2
Free up your iPhone's storage. Sometimes, having no available space on your iPhone can cause issues with iMessage.
- Try deleting old photos, apps, or upgrading to a newer phone with more storage.
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If they switch to using a non-Apple device, iMessage will stop working correctly for their account and it will appear that they won't ever be delivered. Contact them from another device or call the iMessage user to ensure that they couldn't simply just "be away" and not have been able to have it delivered to the device.
Swipe up on all the extra apps including the Messages app to clear away apps that may cause iMessage to fail, lag, and freeze. Too many open windows can cause your Apple device to lag and freeze, and swiping up on all the apps closes and restarts the applications.
5
Restart the device. Sometimes a fresh restart can be all that is required to get it back to peak performance.
- You can also press your off and home button at the same time until it shows you an option to shut off your phone. Swipe that and wait for several minutes (five to ten minutes should be more than adequate). Turn your phone back on.
If your device is still within the warranty period of 6 months to 1 year (depending on when you bought the device and if you bought an extended warranty plan for the device), you can bring it back in and have them help you troubleshoot the issue for a price. (However, nothing lasts forever.)

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Question

My home button does not work, how do I shut my phone off?

Community Answer

Shutting your phone off doesn't require touching the Home button at all. There should be a button around the sidewalls of the device that you can press in for several seconds. Once the device shows a slider bar, slide your finger on the slider bar with the slider ball from left to right to turn it off. Turn it back on using the same button for a one and a half seconds (press and release one full time with a short hold when pushed in to turn on).

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