Send and receive messages

Messages conversation. At the top is the title bar with the name of the person you’re texting, along with the Messages button and Contact button. Below the title bar are the text messages sent and received during a conversation, and a photo included in the conversation. At the bottom of the screen are the attach media button, text entry field, and Send button.

Start a text conversation. Tap , then enter a phone number or email address, or tap and choose a contact.

An alert badge appears if a message can’t be sent. Tap the alert in a conversation to try sending the message again.

Resume a conversation. Tap the conversation in the Messages list.

Use picture characters. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard, then tap Emoji to make that keyboard available. When you type a message, tap to change to the Emoji keyboard. See Special input methods.

See what time a message was sent or received. Drag any bubble to the left.

Make a FaceTime call to the person you’re texting. Tap Contact at the top of the screen, then tap .

See a person’s contact info. Tap Contact at the top of the screen, then tap . Tap info items to perform actions, such as making a FaceTime call.

See earlier messages in the conversation. Tap the status bar to scroll to the top. Tap Load Earlier Messages, if necessary.

Send messages to a group. Tap , then enter multiple recipients.

Block unwanted messages. On a contact card, tap Block this Caller. You can see someone’s contact card while viewing a message by tapping Contact, then tap . You can also block callers in Settings > FaceTime > Blocked. You will not receive FaceTime calls, or text messages from blocked callers. For more information about blocking calls, see support.apple.com/kb/HT5845.