Symptoms
- Message shows a red exclamation point or 'not delivered'
- Text stays stuck on 'sending' indefinitely
- Some messages send fine but others fail
- Failures happen only over Wi-Fi or only on cellular
Likely causes
- CommonWeak or no cellular signal or Wi-FiText delivery, especially iMessage or RCS, needs a working data or cellular connection.
- CommonRecipient's number typed incorrectly or formatted wrongMissing area codes or extra characters can cause silent failures.
- PossibleMessage service (iMessage/RCS) having an outage or sync issueRich messaging services occasionally have server-side hiccups.
- PossibleBlocked by the recipient or a carrier spam filterSome carriers filter suspected spam texts, including from legitimate numbers that got flagged.
- Less commonAccount or billing issue with your carrierA suspended or restricted line can silently block outgoing texts.
What to do
- Check your signal strength and try switching between Wi-Fi and cellular data.
- Confirm the recipient's number is entered correctly, including the area code.
- Restart the phone to refresh its network and messaging connection.
- If using iMessage or RCS, try sending as a plain SMS instead (many phones let you force this) to isolate the issue.
- Check for a carrier outage or messaging service outage on the manufacturer's or carrier's status page.
- Contact your carrier to confirm texting is enabled on your line and not restricted.
When to call a pro
If texts fail to everyone consistently after basic troubleshooting, contact your carrier, since it may be an account-side restriction.
Safety
Generally low risk
Generally low risk for a careful person. Stop if anything looks different from what this guide describes.