Unsend and edit messages on iPad

In the Messages app , you can unsend or edit recent messages, giving you the opportunity to fix a typo or pull back a message that you accidentally sent to the wrong person. Your recipient sees that you unsent a message and your edit history.

A conversation in Messages showing the last message being edited.

Note: To unsend or edit text messages, you must be using iMessage with iOS 16 or later, iPadOS 16 or later, or macOS Ventura. If your recipients have devices with earlier versions of iOS, they receive follow-up messages with the preface “Edited to” and your new message in quotation marks. SMS messages can’t be unsent or edited.

Unsend a message

You can undo a recently sent message for up to two minutes after sending it.

Touch and hold the message bubble, then tap Undo Send.

A note confirming that you unsent the message appears in both conversation transcripts: yours and your recipient’s.

If the person you’re messaging is using a device with iOS 16 or later, iPadOS 16 or later, or macOS Ventura, unsending removes the message from their device.

If the person you’re messaging is using a device with iOS 15.6 or earlier, iPadOS 15.6 or earlier, macOS 12 or earlier, or is using SMS, the original message remains in the conversation. When you unsend a message, you’re notified that the recipient may still see the original message in the message transcript.

Edit a sent message

You can edit a recently sent message up to five times within 15 minutes of sending it.

In Messages, select a conversation with the message you want to edit.
Touch and hold the message bubble, then tap Edit.
Make any changes, then tap to resend with edits or to revert.
Note: The message is marked as Edited in the conversation transcript.

If the person you’re messaging is using a device with iOS 16 or later, iPadOS 16 or later, or macOS Ventura, the message bubble is updated to reflect your edits on their device, and both of you can tap Edited to see previous versions of your message.

If the person you’re messaging is using a device with iOS 15.6 or earlier, iPadOS 15.6 or earlier, macOS 12 or earlier, or is using SMS, they receive a new message with your updated text.

Helpful?

iPad User Guide

Unsend and edit messages on iPad

Unsend a message

Edit a sent message