The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
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The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
I sent a text with photo to the wrong person. Is their a way to retract it from their phone if it is unread?
Did you use the Messages app? If YES then there is no way to recall that message. It has been delivered and now resides on the recipient's devices.
Axel F.
No. As with emails, the ability to retract a message lies with the recipients service, not the senders. As a sender, for email or texts, once you click on “send” the message is no longer yours to control. It is now the recipients to control. Just as with dropping a letter in a mail box - once sent, it’s out of your hands.
There is no way for the sender to "retract" text messages.
How to Retract sent text or photo
