“ This message cannot be displayed”

I have had this problem for at least 6 years, on iPhones 5, 7 and now 12, across all iOS versions to date. The problem never gets solved and, judging from over 6 years of fighting it, Apple has no intention of addressing it. The only known work around is on a message by message basis is to (1) delete the message and (2) move the message from the Trash folder to the Inbox. This only works when you then view it in the Inbox. Moving the message in any other sequence to any other folders than first to Trash and then to the Inbox will not work. The same workaround can be used for message that display the note " This message has no content". Obviously the message is really there because the preview of the message shows the first part of the message's content. I have given up on ever getting any Apple resolution to this. Quality control is apparently no longer a focus - or this is an intentional design feature. If anyone has any better solution please let me know. Thanks.

I have an iPhone 8 and had this issue for the first time ever today.

Sounds like it’s the same situation as you.

I sent an email (just text) and BCCed myself only to get the same message you did.

I went to the sent folder to open the email there and it said the same thing.

Hopefully the three people I emailed received a legible email and not this error.

Thankfully this issue was resolved when I turned my phone completely off and restarted it. When I opened the email this time it had the contents I had typed.

I hope your situation gets resolved.

This does work. Deleting the message and then moving it from the deleted folder back to the inbox also works (usually). There must be a clue here that Apple support can use in fixing this problem. I’m using iOS 14.3 on an iPhone 8. I began having this problem several months ago.

Yes, I have read about the fix, but it’s still ridiculous. Have just this morning downloaded the latest version of the software and it fixes all sorts of nonsense in which I’m not interested. What is going on? Eliminate the problem!

I have precisely the same problem WITH MY BRAND NEW IPAD with default settings. Neither the bcc nor sent will display my emails, so I have no record of what I'm sending out. This is awful, given that it's brand new and with default settings.

Amazingly even with 14.4 rollout this week, this is still not fixed. Perhaps next move is complete new install on phone. You would think after dropping a grand for new devices, they should’ve fixed this bug years ago?

Yes, it's very silly of Apple not to find a solution. After all, when I send an email from my new and fully up-to-date iPad, I get this message, so have no copy of it, nor a bcc, yet the message gets delivered and I can read the bcc on WebMail from where I send it back to my iPad and it displays perfectly.

Do Apple really think that it's acceptable that their own machine cannot display its own messages, but can display those messages perfectly when sent back to that machine?? Huh?

Come one, Apple, this has been around for years apparently, it's high time you put some brainpower onto it and solved this very very very silly problem !!!!

The truth of the matter is blindingly obvious, that Apple has simple not been bothered to fix this silly problem - because people like me are so small that we may be safely ignored. We'll buy iPads anyway for other reasons, so there's no need at all to do anything about this. It's of course appaling customer service. But then as you're a very big boy, why should you take any notice of minions like me? And 'all' I have to do to read my own messages is to go to WebMail and send them back. I would like to know from Apple it they think this is acceptable for one of their latest iPads? Is it Apple? What's your view? The reason we need to know is so that we may correctly understand your current attitude to customer service. Are you really too big to answer?

P

Yes same issue here with IPad Pro 2, and yes deleting the offending email and moving back to the inbox does work. But how can an email written on the IPad suddenly be unreadable by that same IPad?????? The main thing is that the offending email does seem to be readable by the person it was sent too, you just can’t read it yourself unless you delete and move back. Hopefully an update will fix the issue - one day soon.

I have got same problem as others above. Could see/read the emails yesterday on my iPhone 11 Pro. Today when looked at on iPad 11 pro got the cannot display message wrong format. When went back to phone email could see preview but when opened got cannot display message also now corrupting other messages I’ve already received and read if I try to read them again. Deleting to bin and moving back again doesn’t do anything still corrupted. Tried forwarding but still won’t display and ended up losing one message altogether from the system. Don’t know whether it is linked to syncing between the iPad and iPhone both have been updated recently. Before update had it happen briefly with one email a month ago but resolved after couple of days. Also had problems with email two weeks ago when I couldn’t reply to one I had received just stayed in outbox and wouldn’t send said email settings were wrong. Checked them and all was perfect and email setup confirmed them as ok when reset them but email reply still wouldn’t go. Apple obviously needs to sort out their email programme. Notice I still receive their emails ok. Look forward to someone at Apple reading these comments and actually acting on sorting out the problem. Especially as normal ( I.e. non scrambled) email format is a standardised item across the various platforms so people can communicate.

Note that if you can set up WebMail, you will find both your sent and bcc emails and can send a copy back to your device. Otherwise, as this problem stretches back years, we can be sure that Apple will continue to ignore us. Is there any way to get their attention onto this? It is surely BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS that this is an internal software problem - in that there's no problem at all with the messages themelves as sent. Even the little Apple window at the side can read the message and display the first bit!!!! The problem only arises that the e-mail software introduces a display problem itself, when none actually exists. All they have to do is to remove this tiny glitch. Is this maybe too small a problem for them? Is this simple logic too BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS for their complicated brains? Oh dear; what a miserable outfit!! COME ON APPLE ... TIME TO GET YOUR SKATES ON!!! Your response to date is rated 1 out of the usual 5, although I'd prefer to give you a firm '0' for your complete failure to enge properly, sensibly and technically with your customers over this. P

A complete clean install doesn’t help this problem. Hey Apple! I dropped $1200.00 on this device which is totally useless without a working email. Fix this now, it’s been a known issue for too f’n many years.

Both okay just now. However I have hearing aids and the mail arriving announcement nearly blows my head open.

So I set it to off in mail settings. Not entirely happy with that, I tried to restore it. Nothing. Have rebooted phone, still nothing. Giving up and going to bed here down under.

Since post on 7th Feb not had same problem occur just a couple of emails at the time deleting and reopening didn’t cure problem. Funny thing was if opened on MacBook Pro email was ok until opened on iPad or iPhone then got corrupted when went to read again. Using webmail doesn’t bring up the original email only an HTML version. Think problem is to do with embedded logos in the email and iOS gets confused as to what they are. Bit like me being charged for a picture message when I included a price in a message using the pound sign. It is part of the text keyboard ! Not an emoji etc.

Hasn’t worked for me. Occurred again today with an email containing logo/links to someone’s web site. Couldn’t read on iPad or iPhone says cannot be displayed because of way it is formatted , multiparty/related. Before I did anything with it went to my MacBook Pro and it opened ok on it. But can’t find way of opening it on iPad or iPhone. Except by forwarding it back to myself and it reads ok but original stays corrupted. Has to be bugs in mail app on iPad and iPhone. As once moved or deleted by them MacBook won’t open it correctly, as they have then worked on the email view format. Obviously a problem only apple can solve. So please Apple solve it. We’ve had another update and still not solved.

Since I don’t see any answers

I’ll put my two cents worth in

I recently sent an email to my lawyer and got this message on my email in sent folder, message can’t be displayed...

I came across a reason :

that the recipient server is not accepting the email because of a word or phrase that is blocked.

probably to block spam

if your recipient will accept the email, then your message will appear