How do you know if a green text message was delivered (Explained)

Sending a message using the iPhone comes in two different ways, one is the imessage and the other is the sms text message.

Using the imessage to send a message usually show or display delivered below the sent message, but what of the sms text message which is green in color.

So this brings us to the question of the day how do you know if a green text message was delivered?

On the imessage, green text message doesn’t show delivered after the text message has been sent to the recipient, but will only show not delivered if the sent message was not delivered to the recipient.

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This is how the sms text message on ios works, and quite different when sending an iMessage.

How do you know if a green text message was delivered?

To know if a green text message was delivered, if the sent message didn’t show not delivered but rather sent, then it means the message was delivered because green text message doesn’t show delivered after sending a text message.

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If you’re a newbie, you will probably get confused trying to figure out how to know if a text message was delivered to the recipient’s phone using the sends as sms to send a text message on your iPhone and iPad.

If you send an sms text message on your iPhone or iPad and it sent below the text message, you should know the message was delivered to the recipient’s phone.

If what you saw is not delivered below the text message, then it means the sent message was not delivered or the recipient hasn’t received the text message.

How do you know if a green text message was delivered

The above picture is a typical example on how the text message will look like if it wasn’t delivered to the recipient.

If it shows sent and didn’t show not delivered just like on the picture above, you should know the sent text message has been successfully sent and received by the recipient.

This is what you should know upon asking how do you know if a green text message was delivered. Once the sent text message was not delivered, it will show not delivered below the sent text message.


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Reasons for not delivered on imessage

Some of the reasons why sent messages on imessage are not delivered is because of the following reasons;

1. The recipient phone is switched off

This is a common reason why messages fails to deliver to a recipient, the recipient phone being switched off at the time the text message was sent.

In some cases it will still get delivered after the phobe has been switched on and has a cellular network service.

2. The phone is offline/airplane mode

There are certain situations that will make someone put it’s mobile phone on the airplane mode, and this is very common too.

As send as sms uses the cellular network to send and receive a text message, if the recipient phone is on airplane mode, the text message will not be delivered because the phone is offline or has no cellular network service.

3. You don’t have a texting plan or airtime

Before sending a text message which uses the cellular network, you should make sure that you have a texting plan or airtime to send the text message.

This is where some people do get it wrong especially the newbies.

Imessage make use of a Wi-Fi or a cellular data in sending a message, while send as sms make use of the cellular network service. To send a text message using the cellular network service, you must have a texting plan or use an airtime in sending a text message.

If you don’t an airtime or a texting plan to send a text message, the message is bound to fail and won’t be delivered.

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4. You’re blocked by the recipient

This is one of the major reasons why a sent text message doesn’t get delivered especially to a particular contact on your mobile phone.

If you keep sending a text message to a particular contact and it doesn’t get delivered, it is likely the person might have blocked your number.

This isn’t a certainty but it may be the case.

In this type of situation you may decide to use other means like whatsapp or use another number the person doesn’t have to reach out to the person. If still it didn’t go through, then be rest assured the person is unavailable.

If the text message went through, then the person has blocked you from it’s contact.

Some other reasons may be a bug in the message app and which you need to correct by clearing cache off the messages app on your iPhone or iPad.

All in all for you to you know if a green text message was delivered on iPhone or iPad, you should check if it will show not delivered below the sent text message.

If it didn’t show that, it simply means the text message was successfully sent and the recipient received the text message on it’s mobile phone.

Do green texts say delivered?

No, green texts doesn’t say delivered but rather it says sent.

If a green text message didn’t say not delivered below a sent text message, it simply means the sent message was delivered.

how do you know if a green text message was delivered on iPhone

Honestly this is one feature I hate about the ios messages app, not being able to show or notify delivered after using the sms to send a text message.

If you use the imessage in send a message, it will show delivered and read below the sent message, but the case is different with send as sms or sent as text which uses the cellular network.

You will never see delivered so as to know if the recipient has received the text message, and this is why questions like how do you know if a green text message was delivered on iPhone or iPad is very popular on the internet.

Does iMessage turn green when blocked

No, imessage turn green if the message was sends as an sms or text message using the cellular network instead of the imessage.

If you try to use the imessage to send a message to someone it changes to sends as text and the color of the message becomes green, it simply means the message was sent as an sms.

SMS here means using the cellular network service in sending the message and not the imessage which uses the Wi-Fi or cellular data in sending a message.

If you try to send a message to an android phone user or someone who doesn’t have the imessage or disabled the imessage on it’s mobile phone, the message will be sent as an sms text message.

The message background color will turn to green instead of the imessage blue color. 

If the imessage is unavailable on your iPhone or iPad, it will also send the message as an sms text message as well.

What does it mean when a green text doesn’t say delivered?

Green text message on iphone or iPad doesn’t say delivered after sending a text message, but rather it will show sent.

If you didn’t see not delivered after sending a text message, it means the message has been successfully sent and received by the recipient.

By default, the iPhone send as sms doesn’t show delivered after sending a text message. You can only see that if the message was sent using the imessage.

This is why you see ios users asking how do you know if a green text message was delivered because it is quite difficult to understand if the recipient has received the text message.

How do you fix iMessage that turns green?

To fix iMessage that turn green, simply disable the send as sms on your messages app and it will fix the problem of imessage turning green.

But please, I want you to know that imessage that turns green doesn’t mean something is wrong, but rather it means the message was sent to a person who doesn’t have the imessage or maybe disabled the imessage on it’s mobile phone.

If you disable the sends as sms on your iPhone or iPad, then it simply means you cannot send a text message to an Android phone user or a feature phone user.

So I don’t recommend to disable the sends as sms on your iPhone or iPad messages app.


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Sending a text message using the sms or the texts turning green isn’t a problem on the iPhone or iPad, but rather the message was sent as an sms. Lastly, how do you know if a green text message was delivered is if the sent text message didn’t show not delivered after few seconds or minutes of sending the text message.

About Kennedy

I'm Amaechi Uchenna by name, a mobile tech enthusiast who love writing articles about tips and tutorials especially relating to gadgets.

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