On an iPhone, "Delivered" means the message successfully reached the recipient's device, while "Read" means they opened the message and viewed it, provided they have Read Receipts turned on. If you only see "Delivered," the other person either hasn't opened the message, has Read Receipts off, or has notifications disabled.
When read receipts are turned on, the sender sees the word “Read” below messages they've sent to you, indicating that you've read their message. If you haven't read their message, the sender sees “Delivered.” You can turn on read receipts for everyone or for individual contacts.
If they have it on, it will say “delivered” until they open the message, then it will switch say “read” if they've opened the message. If they have this setting turned off, it will always say delivered.
Two other ways to check if someone blocked you: Call to see if you go directly to voicemail or if it rings. If you're not blocked, the phone should ring anywhere from three to twelve times before going to voicemail. A blocked number may ring only once and then go to voicemail.
If someone blocks you now, the message won't show “Delivered” on any of their devices.So if you're still seeing “Delivered,” even instantly, it's very unlikely you're blocked. If anything weird happened in the past, it was probably just one of those sync quirks. You're welcome!
: A blue circle with a check means that your message has been sent. : A filled-in blue circle with a check means that your message has been delivered. : A small version of someone's profile picture will appear below the message when they've seen it.
Understanding what “sent” and “delivered” messages are can help you manage your communications better. While “sent” shows that your SMS has left your device, “delivered” means it has reached the recipient. But even a “delivered” message doesn't guarantee that the person has read it until the status shows as read.
Why does my message not say delivered? Your text message may not say 'delivered' due to several reasons. The recipient's phone might be switched off or out of service range. The recipient might have blocked your number.
If you've been using iMessage with another iPhone user, your text bubbles are blue. If someone blocks you through iMessage, your texts will appear as green — the same bubble color you'll see in a thread with a non-iPhone user. Check your text thread to see if your messages recently went from blue to green.
Turning off read receipts is an easy way to avoid both social faux pas and being targeted by scammers and other bad actors. Apple has good guides for turning them off on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, which include instructions for turning them off system-wide as well as for specific people.
You know someone turned off read receipts when you don't see the "Read" confirmation (like blue ticks on WhatsApp or "Read" with a timestamp on iMessage) after you've sent a message and they've had time to view it, and you only see "Delivered" or nothing at all, as disabling the feature prevents both parties from seeing read statuses, with no direct notification sent to you. It means you won't know if they've opened it, but you can sometimes infer by their app's "last seen" status if that's enabled.
Nah, if their iPhone was actually off when you sent the text, it wouldn't say “Delivered.” iMessage only shows “Delivered” when the message successfully reaches their device. That means their phone was on long enough to receive it, or at least connected to some network.
Delivered: Your message was delivered to your recipient's phone or linked devices, but the recipient hasn't seen it.
In a conversation, look for nonverbal cues like breaking eye contact or having their arms crossed. If you think a friend doesn't want to talk to you anymore, observe how often they communicate with you. If they constantly cancel plans or take forever to respond to your texts, they may be pulling away.
"Delivered" means the message has been successfully received by the person's iPhone, but not necessarily that it has been opened. If Read Receipts are on, it will show the time the message was read. If Read Receipts are off, it will say "Delivered" regardless if they have read it or not.
Signs you may have been blocked
Here are a few signs that someone may have blocked your number: You don't get a delivery confirmation. If you have an iPhone and text another iPhone but don't see a “Delivered” notification, someone may have blocked you. (Android phones don't automatically show these messages.)
Muting helps you ignore someone without preventing them from doing anything. Blocking someone prevents them from messaging you, commenting on your observations, identifying your observations, and otherwise interacting with you on iNaturalist.
To know if someone blocked you, watch for calls going straight to voicemail after one ring, texts showing "Not Delivered" (or no read receipts/checkmarks on apps like WhatsApp), and potential changes on social media; the most definitive test is calling from another number, where it rings normally for you but goes to voicemail on your original number, indicating a block.
Messages and Calls: