How to turn read receipts on or off on an iPhone (iOS 27)

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-turn-read-receipts-on-or-off-on-an-iphone/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

Device

iPhone

Shown on

iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)

App

Settings

Path

Settings › Apps › Messages › Send Read Receipts

Real screenshots

4 of 4 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Tap Messages in Apps

   Open the Settings app, scroll down and tap Apps. The list is A to Z: Messages is under M.

   Done

2. 

   Find Send Read Receipts

   Scroll down past Unknown Senders and Show Contact Photos. Send Read Receipts was off on ours.

   Done

3. 

   Turn it on

   Tap the switch so it turns green. The note under it says people are notified when you have read their messages, and that this enables read receipts for all conversations.

   Done

4. 

   Or turn it off

   Tap it again so it turns grey. We set ours back to off.

   Done

If you do not see this option

• Want it for one person only? Apple says to open the conversation, tap the contact at the top and turn Send Read Receipts on or off there. That choice wins over the main switch. Source: Turn read receipts on or off in Messages on iPhone
• No read receipt on a text? Apple says read receipts are not supported with SMS messaging or group texts. Source: Turn read receipts on or off in Messages on iPhone

If this does not work

• You never see when others read yours? Apple says you cannot turn on read receipts for anyone but yourself. The other person has to turn them on. Source: Turn read receipts on or off in Messages on iPhone
• Messages are green bubbles? Those are SMS, so no receipts. If iMessage is stuck, see iMessage waiting for activation.

About this guide

Read receipts tell the sender of an iMessage that you have read it. You decide only whether you send them.

The screenshots are from our iPhone 17e with iOS 27.0.1, in Dark mode. Send Read Receipts was off; we turned it on for the picture and off again.

Good to know

To keep unknown senders out of your main list: how to filter unknown senders and spam in Messages.

In short: Settings, Apps, Messages, Send Read Receipts on or off.