How to Fix ‘iMessage Needs to be Enabled to Send this Message’ Error

Whether you are an iPhone user or an Apple enthusiast, you have heard of iMessage. It helps not just send text messages but everything under the sun, including pictures, documents, contact, voice memos, location, and even group conversations with multiple users. If you are new to iMessage, we have got you covered.

But what if, out of the blue, you receive the error – ‘iMessage Needs To Be Enabled To Send This Message.’ Worry not! You are not alone. Let’s look at some of the best ways to fix this issue.

Ways to fix ‘iMessage Needs to be Enabled to Send this Message’ Error

1. Check If You Have Enabled iMessage or Not

First, let’s listen to the error code at hand – If you are getting “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message, you need to enable iMessage on your iPhone. To turn on iMessage, follow the steps mentioned below –

1. Open Settings, and scroll down till you see Messages.

2. Toggle the iMessage switch to on and check if there is any iMessage awaiting activation.

If you still receive the “iMessage needs to be enabled” error, you can move on to the next steps.

2. Restart The iPhone

Restarting the iPhone sometimes works like a charm for all kinds of problems, and the iMessage needs to be enabled error is no different. Here, turn off your iPhone, wait for at least a minute and then switch it back on.

3. Enable The Airplane Mode and Then Turn It Off

This straightforward trick has successfully resolved the error for many users. We recommend that before trying out any other measures, you should give this trick a try –

1. Head to your screen’s top left and swipe down to open the Control Center. In case you have a home button, swipe up from the bottom.

2. Tap on the Airplane icon. As soon as you tap on it, it will turn orange. This means you have turned it on. Wait for 30 seconds.

3. Next, tap it again to disable it.

Now check if you are still getting the ‘iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message.’ error. If yes, move on to the next step.

3. Disable and Enable iMessage With The Help of Settings

So, you are sure iMessage is enabled, but you still get the error. Here you can first turn it off and then turn on iMessage again. In a way, it is a combo of step number 1 and 2.

1. Open Settings and tap on Messages.

2. Toggle off the iMessage.

3. Restart your iPhone.

4. Again, go back to Settings > Messages and toggle iMessage on.

4. Delete Any Conversation Or Message That’s Stuck

A message or conversation that’s stuck can be the culprit behind the error. A simple way is to remove such messages and conversations and let new messages be sent. Here is how you can do that –

1. Open Messages

2. Go to the conversation that’s stuck.

3. Long press on the Message that is showing failed, or you can even opt to delete the entire conversation.

You can also check if you are receiving the error when sending messages to a particular contact. It would also help you ask the recipient whether or not they have received the message.

5. Force Quit Your Messages App

Despite turning on and off the Airplane button or enabling iMessages, you can Force Quit your messages app if you still get the error. To do that –

1. Swipe up from the bottom and hold. In case your iPhone has a home button, double tap on it.

2. You will now see all the currently open apps.

3. Drag the Messages app up and close it.

4. Wait for 15 seconds and retry sending messages.

6. Is The Apple Server Down?

One of the reasons why you are getting the “cannot send message imessage needs to be enabled to send this message” could be because the Apple iMessage server is down. You can head to the Apple System Status website and check if the Apple iMessage server is going through a downtime. If that’s the case, you may have to wait for a couple of minutes or hours before the issue is resolved.

7. Reset Your Network Settings

If there are any issues pertaining to your network connection, you may receive a “cannot send message imessage needs to be enabled to send this message” error. The best bet here is to reset your network settings. You can do this by –

1. Tapping on Settings.

2. Tap on General.

3. Tap on Reset.

4. And then tap on Reset Network Settings.

8. Erase All Settings and Content Inside Your Phone

This should be your last resort when nothing else seems to be working. In this step, we will reset all iPhone settings and set it up again. But before that, we recommend that you backup your iPhone first. After you have taken a backup, here is how you can erase all settings and content –

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on General.

3. Tap on Erase All Content and Settings

You can set it up using the iCloud backup or one of the backups discussed in the hyperlinked post.

But, let’s suppose you didn’t take a backup, or some data you didn’t backup got erased after you tapped on the Erase All Content and Settings option; what would you do? You needn’t lose hope; you can use a tool like iMobie PhoneRescue to recover lost data. Here are the steps –

1. Download, run and install PhoneRescue on your computer and connect your iOS device. Ensure that your network is stable while installing PhoneRescue.

2. Connect your iOS device to your computer using a USB cable and click on the Recover from iOS Device.

3. Select Recover from iOS Device, click on the arrow key at the bottom, select the type of data you want to recover and click OK.

4. You will see the deleted data in red color. Here you can filter out only the deleted data by clicking on the List all items dropdown and clicking on the Only list deleted option.

5. Click on one of the download options that you can see at the bottom right corner of the screen. You could either recover data on your computer or your iPhone.

Wrapping Up

We hope that after you have tried the steps in the post, you will be able to resolve the “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message.” If you have, let us know which of the above steps helped you fix the issue. For more such content, keep reading WeTheGeek.