Is iMessage down right now? Live status and outage tracker

iMessage outages and problems

In the past 24 hours, 119 user reports came in for iMessage. Counting only the 15-minute windows with a spike big enough to count as an outage, that comes to 100.00% uptime for the day.

The busiest 15-minute window had 6 reports, about 22 hours ago. That stays below our outage threshold, so it doesn't count as downtime.

iMessage in October 2026

Problem reports in October (since 8 October)

436

Monthly report for October 2026

What went wrong

What people said was wrong in recent problem reports for iMessage worldwide.

1. Messaging87%
2. App13%

Share of 15 recent reports that said what was wrong, from every country listed below.

iMessage reports around the world

In the last 24 hours, 146 problem reports about iMessage came in from 13 countries. Right now reports are at the usual level in every country.

Each country's status compares its reports with the usual level there. 60 more countries had 1 report in the last 24 hours. Map outlines: Natural Earth.

iMessage problem spikes, last 30 days

Since 8 October, iMessage had no outage spikes, but 2 periods of elevated reports. The longest lasted 18 min, on 30 October.

• Elevated reports
  Fri 30 Oct, 02:53–03:11

  Lasted 18 min
  10peak reports
• Elevated reports
  Wed 28 Oct, 15:34–15:51

  Lasted 17 min
  11peak reports

By country

Each square is one day in the countries with the most reports: red when reports stayed at outage level for half an hour or more, amber when they stayed above the usual level for an hour or more, grey otherwise.

• The US372
• Canada19
• The UK15
• Australia7
• France4
• Mexico4
• The Philippines4
• Germany3

Country history starts on 28 October 2026. Days run from midnight to midnight, Central European time.

A spike is a sharp rise in problem reports from users, kept exactly as this page showed it at the time. This history starts on 8 October 2026. Monthly reports for all services

How to fix iMessage not working

iMessage is up on our end, so if it won't work for you, the problem is most likely on your side. Work through these in order:

1. Toggle iMessage off and on

   Open Settings > Apps > Messages, or Settings > Messages on iOS 17 and earlier, and turn iMessage off. Wait 30 seconds before switching it back on. If the screen stays on 'Waiting for activation' for more than a day, your connection or Apple Account sign-in is the more likely cause, so carry on with the steps below.

2. Check your Send & Receive addresses

   Under Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive, your phone number and Apple Account email both need a checkmark, or messages sent to the unticked one won't reach you. Check 'Start New Conversations From' as well. When a message shows a red exclamation mark with 'Not Delivered', tap it and choose Send as Text Message to get it out as SMS while you sort the setting.

3. Fix the clock and swap networks

   Activation and delivery both fail when the date or time is wrong, so go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Next, swap networks. If messages go through on mobile data but stall on Wi-Fi, that network may be blocking Apple's servers, which happens on some office and school connections.

4. Sign out and reset network settings

   In Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive, tap your Apple Account and sign out, then sign back in after a restart; on a Mac the same option sits under Messages > Settings > iMessage. If the app still won't send, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. It wipes saved Wi-Fi passwords but leaves your messages alone.

Common iMessage error messages

What each message means and what to try. The wording can differ a little between app versions.

• Not Delivered

  Means

  The message did not reach the recipient as an iMessage.

  Fix

  Check your network connection and try sending again. If it still fails, tap the red exclamation mark and choose Send as Text Message.

While iMessage is down: what to use instead

• Send as Text Message Press and hold the stuck blue bubble, tap Send as Text Message, and your iPhone sends it as a green SMS over your carrier, though you lose read receipts, typing indicators and full-quality photos.
• WhatsApp Good for group chats, since plenty of your contacts already have it on iPhone or Android.
• Phone call Call if it can't wait.
• Email Gmail or Outlook can carry files and longer notes while your messages sit at Not Delivered, and neither depends on Apple's servers the way iCloud Mail does.

Fix iMessage on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone

Problems at the same time as iMessage

Since 8 October, all 2 of iMessage's spikes in problem reports overlapped a spike at another service.

When several services get problem reports at once, something they share, such as a cloud host or a network, can be the real cause. Matching times alone do not prove it.

A spike is a sharp rise in problem reports from users, as the live pages showed it. Times are Central European time.

When people report iMessage problems

The busiest hour for reports about iMessage is 19:00 to 20:00 Central European time, and the busiest day is Thursday.

Each bar is the average number of user reports in that hour, or on that day of the week, from 24 days of reports since 5 October 2026. The busiest bar is highlighted. Spikes in reports are left out, so one outage does not set the pattern.

What happens when iMessage goes down

iMessage IP address, servers and network

iMessage FAQ