How to Turn Off Read Receipts on iPhone

Last Updated: July 6, 2023 Tested

Do you want to turn off your read receipts so the person who sent you an iMessage doesn't know you've read it? Read receipts can be helpful to have enabled when you're taking care of time-sensitive information, but you may not want them all the time. This wikiHow article will teach you how to turn off read receipts on an iPhone.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Disabling Read Receipts for All Contacts

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This is the gray gear icon located on your Home Screen.
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This will be in the fifth set of options in the Settings menu.

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3
Slide the Send Read Receipts switch to off position. The switch will turn white. This will not affect your ability to receive read receipts, but other people will not receive read receipts from you.
- This option is turned off by default, and will only be on if you've previously changed your iPhone's settings.
- Read receipts do not work with SMS text messages.
- The switch for Send Read Receipts will disappear from the Messages menu if you turn off iMessage.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Disabling Read Receipts for One Contact

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1
Open your iPhone's Messages app. This is the green icon with a white speech balloon on your Home Screen.
- If you find yourself in a conversation that you don't want to edit Read Receipts for, tap the back button in the upper-left corner of the screen.
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This is the blue "i" icon in a circle.
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4
Slide the Send Read Receipts to off position. This will be in the second set of menu options below your contact's name. The switch will turn white when it's off, and your iPhone will stop sending read receipts to this contact.
- If you don't see the Send Read Receipts button here, that means your contact does not have an iPhone, or is not using iMessage.
- If Send Read Receipts is already in off position, then Read Receipts are already disabled for this contact.
- Your other contacts will still receive read receipts from you if you have "Send Read Receipts" turned on in your Messages settings. ^{[1]
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Go to your Settings, tap on Messages, and slide the "iMessage" switch to on position at the top of your screen. Check out the detailed instructions on "How to Activate iMessage" here: https://www.wikihow.com/Activate-iMessage

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Tips

Read receipts are different than "Delivered" receipts. Turning off Send Read Receipts does not affect your ability to receive a notification below the text balloon when your message is delivered.

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Turning off iMessage in the Messages menu will remove the switch for Send Read Receipts from the menu, and in a way, disable all Read and Delivered notifications on your device.

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Warnings

Read receipts are a feature of iMessage. They will not work with SMS text messages. In a text message conversation, green means SMS and blue means iMessage.

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How to Turn Off Read Receipts on iPhone

Steps

Disabling Read Receipts for All Contacts

Disabling Read Receipts for One Contact

Community Q&A

Tips

Warnings

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