Messaging apps have totally transformed how we stay in touch. They’re fast, they don’t rely on your data plan for basic texts, and they let you easily share photos and videos. There’s a ton of features, but let’s talk about one that can be a real pain - read receipts.
Ever feel like you can’t take your time responding because the other person knows you’ve seen their message? The pressure is real! Some people make a big deal out of delayed replies when they know you’ve already read their text.
So, what can you do to avoid the drama? You don’t have to ditch messaging altogether. Most messaging apps let you turn off read receipts, and iMessage is no exception. It’s a super quick fix, once you know where to look.
How Read Receipts Work
When you disable read receipts, senders won’t see when you’ve opened their messages. They’ll just see “Delivered,” no matter if you’ve read it or not.
Importantly, if you turn off read receipts, it only affects what others see about your messages. If the people you’re chatting with have read receipts enabled, you’ll still know when they’ve read your messages.
One thing to note: eventually, people might realize you’ve turned off your read receipts. Since messages will keep showing “Delivered” even after you reply, it becomes obvious. Turning read receipts back on won’t change the status of older messages; it’ll only apply to new messages you open.
With that in mind, here is how to disable those read receipts.
Turning Off Read Receipts
Here’s a quick step-by-step to disable read receipts on your iPhone:
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Open the Settings app.
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Scroll down and tap on Messages.
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In the Messages settings, scroll down a bit. Find the option Send Read Receipts and toggle it off.
That’s it! You’ve successfully turned off read receipts for all your iMessage conversations until you decide to enable them again.
Read receipts can be really convenient, but they’re not always ideal for everyone. If you feel they’re causing more stress than they’re worth, you can easily turn them off.