You just realized that you made a mistake in the message you sent. Maybe you put the wrong date, time or name in your message. You may ask yourself, “How can I edit a message after it has been sent?” After all, it’s natural to sometimes forget to put the meeting location or to notice you misspelled your boss’s name after tapping Send. The good news is that you can edit recently sent messages in the Messages app. This gives you more control over your texts and allows you to correct the mistakes you made. In this article, we will explain what you can do if you can not edit recently sent messages on iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max.
If you cannot edit messages on iPhone 18 Pro
A lot of us realize we’ve made a mistake or we’ve simply changed our minds right after sending a message, and so we want to edit the message. However, some users have been unable to edit their messages. Users are experiencing the following issues:
- The Edit option is not showing up.
- Changes are not reflected when an edit has been made.
- Nothing happens when a message is long-pressed.
You may be having this issue because you are experiencing one of these:
- You have 15 minutes to edit a message after you send it. If 15 minutes have passed, the Edit button will not appear when you long-press the sent message. You can edit a recently sent message up to five times within 15 minutes of sending it.
- You can only edit iMessages. You can’t edit or unsend SMS, MMS, or RCS text messages. iMessages appear in blue bubbles, while SMS messages appear in green bubbles. iMessages can only be sent to other Apple users. Thus, if you send a message to an Android user, you cannot edit it, even if it is within the 15 minute window. Again, if you are trying to edit a green text, the Edit button will not show up.
- If you edit a message to someone who’s using an operating system earlier than iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13, or visionOS 1, they receive follow-up messages with the preface “Edited to” and your new message in quotation marks.
- You may be experiencing a temporary glitch. Restart your iPhone 18 Pro, and then try again.
- this might be a software bug. Ensure that you are running the latest version of iOS by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
How editing works
A lot of people are using this message editing ability to correct simple typos, remove misleading details or to add extra context to messages.
To edit a message you just sent, long-press (tap and hold) on the sent message and choose Edit from the menu that appears. Make any changes, then tap the button to resend with edits (or the button to revert).
After a message is edited, it will display Edited under it.
Both you and your recipient can tap Edited to see previous versions of your message.
If you edit a text message in a group conversation, only iMessage users will see your edits.
When you use iMessage, your conversations are encrypted end-to-end.
You can also undo a recently sent message for up to 2 minutes after sending it: touch and hold the message bubble, then tap Undo Send.
This feature is specific to the native Messages app. Other third-party apps may offer similar features.
