How to Know If Someone Read Your Message on iPhone

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How do you know if someone read your text message? Texting can be a quick way to communicate, as long as the other person reads the message. Here's how to tell if a text has been read, so you can stop worrying your text didn't go through. The people you text will have to be using iMessage and have Read Receipts enabled.

Related: Hands-Free Texting with Siri: How to Dictate Text on iPhone

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Why You'll Love This Tip:

• Let your friends know you've seen their texts without having to respond.
• See if your friends have received your messages, and stop wondering if people are getting your texts.

How to Tell If a Text Message Was Read

How can you tell if someone read your text message? Unfortunately, you don't have direct control over this. The person you are texting must have Read Receipts enabled. Read Receipts is a function that lets others see when you have read their text messages. If they don't have Read Receipts enabled themselves, you won't know whether or not they read your text, but if it's important for you and another person to check your correspondence, it's good for both of you to enable this.

How to Turn On Read Receipts on iPhone

You can turn on Read Receipts to let other people know when you have read their text messages without having to respond.

1. To turn on Read Receipts on iPhone, first open Settings.
   
   
2. Tap Messages.
   
   
3. Toggle Send Read Receipts on. The slider will be to the right and green if it is on.
   
   

If Read Receipts on your device is toggled off, the person who sent you the text won't be able to see if you read it or not. Likewise, if the person you sent a text to has disabled Read Receipts, you can't see if they have read your text. 

How to Change Read Receipts for an Individual Contact

You can customize the Read Receipts option for individual contacts as well. For example, you can disable Read Receipts for a coworker but still have them available for other contacts. To learn more about the Messages app, sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

1. Open Messages and tap the text conversation with the contact.
   
   
2. Tap the contact card at the top of the conversation.
   
   
3. Toggle Send Read Receipts either on or off.
   
   
4. Tap Done.
   
   

Now you know how Read Receipts work and how to enable them. As long as the people you text have this feature enabled, you'll be able to see if and when they've read your message.