Why does imessage says waiting for activation

Head to the settings menu and ensure your iPhone automatically sets time and date based on your current time zone. The option to set time automatically might be grayed out if your iPhone or iPad has a Screen Time passcode.

Wait for your device to shut down completely and hold the Side or power button to power the device back on. Connect your device to the internet, head to the Messages settings menu, and check if iMessage is now active. You should try this if the troubleshooting steps above prove abortive. Although we should warn that signing out of Apple ID will delete some personal files like Apple Music downloads from your device.

Therefore, we recommend backing up your iPhone before signing out your Apple ID account. Restart your device, reconnect your Apple ID account, and check if iMessage activates successfully.

Better yet, chat directly with an Apple Support representative from another iMessage-enabled device. According to Apple, it sometimes takes up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. The activation time frame typically depends on factors like region and cellular carrier. Sodiq has written thousands of tutorials, guides, and explainers over the past 4 years to help people solve problems with Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows devices.

Apple has a simple two-step process via its support site to take care of this. For more ways to get the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news! FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:. This article will cover all the reasons why FaceTime or iMessage won't activate and how to fix the problem.

There are four possible ways to fix this iMessage activation error. Here's a list to help you navigate the article more quickly:. Unlike most errors, there are quite a few reasons why your iMessage or FaceTime may not be activating. If you see an "iMessage waiting for activation" error, it could be a problem with your cellular company or simply a bug that's easily remedied. When your iMessage or FaceTime won't activate, we recommend running through a few different possible fixes.

In some cases, it may just take a while for iMessage to activate. But how long is too long? Oftentimes, when iMessage or FaceTime won't activate, you can resolve the problem by turning certain settings on and off or signing out of iCloud and back in.

However, when I upgraded to the iPhone X, I saw the iMessage waiting for activation error, and the only fix involved speaking directly with my cellular company—the problem was on their end. I tell you this to say that if the following solutions don't activate your iMessage, the problem and solution are likely in the hands of your cellular carrier. It can be confusing to have so many different error messages for the same issue. The following tips can help you solve all of these iMessage errors and teach you how to fix iMessage and FaceTime.

It's also essential that you have a carrier that supports iMessage.