iMessage activation

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Level 1

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iMessage activation

Hi,

I have an iphone 6 which has worked great for years. All of a sudden I can not activate iMessage or facetime. I have done all the things that Apple recommend ie turn off and on, reboot the phone, check date and time, check OS version but still after about 2 minutes I get 'activation unsuccessful. I am getting SMS messages. It is funny that this started when my carrier put me on a new plan but they say it is nothing to do with that.

Any help greatly appreciated

Regards

Geoff

iPhone 6, iOS 12

Posted on Mar 8, 2020 11:10 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SravanKrA

Level 10

433,030 points

Mar 8, 2020 11:13 PM in response to Geoffwl

If you're using an iPhone, you need SMS messaging to activate your phone number with iMessage and FaceTime. Depending on your carrier, you might be charged for this (for iMessage activation only) SMS.

Turn off and restart iMessage and FaceTime (The order / sequence is very important)

Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.
Go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.
Restart your device.
Turn iMessage and FaceTime back on. (Watch the GIF below)

Still not activated after a day?

It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If the issue continues after 24 hours, follow these steps:
Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS.
If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can receive SMS messages.
Contact Apple Support.

If you do not want to use Phone Number for iMessages then you can send it over WiFi without SIM through your Apple ID.

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iMessage activation

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