How to fix ‘iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message’ error

It’s an emergency and suddenly your messaging gets glitched out? Nothing can be more troublesome than that. Be it the scenario of telling your parents something, or informing your boss at work about the assignment, or even a failed message for reserving a table at a restaurant.

The worst it could get is a message you send, and then did not even notice the error pop-up.

But it could be really good if you saw the error “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message” popup sometimes while being casually on your phone since now we can move forward to get rid of this problem so that we don’t get a boatload of troubles on our head on a rainy day.

Also, Read How To Clear RAM on iPhone To Run Faster?

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How to fix the ‘iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message’ error?

Fixing errors can be a real headache sometimes since we may keep running around the same issue not getting resolved despite trying it for hours, that could be because of many reasons, one of them being, the problem having multiple solutions, and we didn’t try them all out.

So in the same way, let us clear out the many methods to solve our problem of getting the error “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message.”

So starting our list of solutions, with the first one being:

1. Enable iMessage

Ironic isn’t it? Well jokes aside, just simply check out if the iMessage is enabled or not. One simple fix to our problem can be just toggling a small feature on.

How to enable iMessage? As usually we always do for almost all of our problems/requirements on the device, using the settings.

So, in the “Messages” tab of settings, we will find the option of enabling iMessage. Toggle it on and check again.

Since this can be an easy fix sometimes, but yet if it remains unresolved, try the next method.

2. Switch your phone ON/OFF

Now as we all know, turning devices on and off can often troubleshoot simple problems that could get hard to resolve. But since we haven’t reached the hard part yet, let’s try turning the phone OFF and then ON again once.

While we are at it, give a try on flight mode too, that is, turn flight mode ON and then OFF.

These can be simple to try and check, but our list of solutions won’t stop till we make sure to end the problem. So if even now the error on your device is unsolved, try further steps.

3. Check Server Status

Sometimes the problem can be caused not even from your end, and one such case is when the system servers from Apple themselves are in a faulty case, for example, under maintenance or so. To check the status of servers, we can use this link.

If you see the “iMessage” in red or yellow color, that means it is a problem from the servers’ end. Wait till it turns to green, as shown in the picture since green shows that everything on their end is fine.

Now if we see everything green, we are good to go as it makes sure our problem is not solved and it is on our device only. So let’s see what more we can do about it.

4. Delete the Errored out message

One rotten apple spoils the barrel. In our case, that spoiled apple could be the one message that didn’t get sent.

This method involves a small and unexpected fix for our problem of “iMessage needs to be….”.

To clear out the path for our message, we need to delete that one message in the conversation that was bugged out. Now, this can be tricky sometimes, so if deleting the message did not work, try deleting/clearing the whole conversation.

Clearing the message/conversation might turn out to be pretty enough to solve our problem since we can always expect the unexpected.

Now, this method seems a very unusual fix, let’s get on to our next fix.

5. Reset Network Settings

Resetting settings and devices often solve a lot of problems, note that we are not talking about factory reset right now, although that works too, but it would be like bringing a tank in a street fight.

So let us just stick with network settings and reset them.

Now to reset our network settings, as usual, we will stroll towards our iPhone’s ‘settings’.

To reset network settings on our iPhone, open settings. Then tap on the “General” tab to further open reset settings. In the General tab of the settings that we have opened now, scroll down to the bottom to find the “Reset” option. Tap one the reset option to finally find the required “Reset Network Settings” option.

Now, Tap on the reset final settings option that is visible on the screen, there will be a small pop-up confirming either reset network settings or cancel. Tap on the ‘reset network settings’ written in red to finally confirm and reset it.

That is how we can reset our network settings on an iPhone, and maybe this solved our little texting problem. But if it did not, we still have more ways to go.

6. Re-Login to Apple ID

Another method that could solve our “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message” problem is by logging out and then logging back into our Apple ID.

So how do we do that? As simple as it is, we gotta go back to the roots, and that is as usual, the settings.

To log out and again log into your Apple ID, open the iPhone settings. Now on the settings menu, right on top, you will see your profile picture. Tap on it to further log into your Apple ID.

After opening your profile in settings, scroll down to the bottom and tap on the “sign out” button to sign out of your Apple ID.

Once logged out, log back into the Apple ID and check again if the “iMessage needs to be enabled…” problem persists.

It is supposed to be gone by now, but since it has not yet, let us move on to our final step for clearing out the problem.

7. Use SMS instead

Now that almost all our methods have failed to solve the problem, there is only one step remaining to try.

Since no method on the phone itself has helped us through our hands, it is now time to go to experts. And by an expert, it means contact Apple Support.

But while you contact them regarding the problem of needing iMessage enabled while message, there is one thing that can be done to make things a little easier. And that is, to send the message as an SMS instead.

To send an SMS, roll back to the “Messages” section of our iPhone’s settings.

In the messages section, you will find an option saying “send as SMS”. Toggle it and turn it on to send any SMS you send as an SMS. By the time Apple support helps you solve the problem, you can use this feature to send SMS and not get obstructed from delivering the necessary information.

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Conclusion

In the end, we tried almost half a dozen methods, to solve our problem, usually, they all would have sufficed. But if it still did not, we can always rely on experts.

Now for the time experts solve it, we also learned to use an alternate method, that is, sending as an SMS to not prevent sending the important message to whoever you concern.

So this was our detailed and easy to go guide for solving the error of “iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message”.