iPhone not sending or receiving pictures

I was having this issue, actually twice now. First time I contacted apple support and we did all the things and I explained that it was only with other iPhones, not androids. And in my group chat with my family we have two androids so photos in that were fine even with three iPhones in that chat. That’s when she realized it was an issue with the iMessage itself. She had me go into settings and turn off my iMessage and hard reset my phone (volume buttons then power) and when it turned back on turn iMessage back on and it was fixed. Did it again the second time it started and it’s working again 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m the only one of my family and friends with this problem though 😩

Nothing was working for me either. I remembered I had gone through my phone and deleted apps I don’t use to free up space. So I went back in and checked a few things and noticed my cellular data was turned off. I turned it back on and rebooted my phone and I was able to send and receive photos again.

I've had this issue for ages. not related to ios version but the ios wifi settings. I tried all the resetting, restarting etc but still could only send and receive images with wifi turned off which was not ideal as my network charge 45p per image. Eventually sorted with a solution on Can't Receive Pictures in Messages when o… - Apple Community

I updated to 17.7 prior to fix but made no difference but when i changed the DNS settings as mentioned in above thread it worked. Went into Configure DNS for my wifi in IOS. Changed to manual. added server 8.8.8.8 and deleted other 2 DNS listed. Stopped and started wifi in settings(not sure whether this was needed). And as if by magic it worked. I think this fixes issues with Imessage and being asked to download images sent to you in a text which then wont download. When sending pictures via Imessage it fixed issue of red exclamation mark denoting that text failed to send and giving you the option to try again or send as a normal message over your mobile network. Hope this helps somebody as its driven me mad for months. One other thing I tried and might have worked at the time was I turned off BT parental controls but I've got 5 foster kids so had to turn back on.

I read some of these comments and i powered off my device for 5 minutes and when i turned it on i was able to send and see the picture again. I would try that first before bringing in your phone to apple

This has continued to happen to me periodically, and to a couple of friends as well. Each time we find that there is a new iOS update available, and once we do the update, it works again. So apparently this is a new ploy that Apple has intentionally implemented to force people to install updates as soon as they’re released.

I recently had this happen to me. I made sure that SMS/MMS were enabled on my phone. I did one network reset. (that can be found under settings, general, scroll down to transfer/reset then select reset network.) eventually I called AT&T, who is my carrier, and they had to completely reset my phone to the local towers and it’s fine now. I have an iPhone 12. Hope this helps!

Hi Anthony,

I called Telstra and they said it is an iPhone problem in WA and Apple was working on a patch.

I just noticed an OS update to 17.2 became available 2 hours ago, so give that a go in Settings and the then General, Software Update.

let's hope this does the trick!

Cheers,

Jazoo

Hey caylan2815,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

First, we suggest making sure the MMS and Group messages are enabled in Settings > Messages. Once there, scroll to the section labeled SMS/MMS. Beside MMS Messaging and Group Messaging are both enabled.

If the iPhone storage is almost full, you may experience this issue as well. Another reason this may be happening if there isn't enough iPhone storage to be able to send and/receive MMS messages. You can check your iPhone storage by opening the Settings app > General > iPhone Storage.

If your storage is close to full, you may see some recommendations that may help free up space. This article also provides great information regarding iPhone storage: How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad.

When High Efficiency format, photos and videos are reduced in size. If Most Compatible is selected, JPEG/H.264 is used. You can check this setting by going to Settings > Camera > Formats. The information in this article may be helpful: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices. According to the article, having it set to High Efficiency format is recorded.

If you continue to experience the issue, restart your iPhone and test again. Restarting refreshes the device's system software, and has been known to resolve some software related issues. After restarting attempt to send a new MMS. Also, have a contact send you a new MMS. Hope this helps.

If you continue to have issues, or you're experiencing a different issue, providing more details may help you get more answers.

Take care.

OK, this worked for me on a 6 Plus.

Go to Settings --> General --> "Reset" OR "Transfer or Reset Phone" .. whichever displays on your phone --> Reset (near the bottom of the screen)

You will receive a list of options. Choose Reset Network Settings

Let the phone reset the network settings and it will reboot.

My problem was fixed after these steps.

Hope this helps.

I have turned my phone off and left it for 5 minutes and when I turned it back on, I was getting picture messages. The oldest trick in the book worked for me.

Everyone I know with an iPhone is having this problem since updating to iOS 16.4. Pics come through on iPads with the same Apple ID, but not on iPhones. I've personally tried every suggested fix (check/reset all Messages settings, power cycle the phone, reset network settings, reset Messages, reset the whole phone, etc.), on three different iPhone models with two different carriers, and nothing works. I've also noticed almost daily requests to do Apple ID updates that stated at the same time. This appears to a significant bug in iOS 16.4, in the Messages server system, or in the Apple ID system, that will require an update to fix.

Same here, the only thing that worked for me that I haven’t seen other people say was to turn off iMessage itself and then reset the phone using the volume buttons and then power button! Once it came back on I could send pictures again and actually see the ones sent to me.

I had the same problem - turning the phone off and back on fixed it for me!

The one thing that has worked for me is simply to update to the latest iOS. It fixed the problem the first time it happened. Later it happened again and another update fixed it. Haven't had the problem since.

This worked for me, as well. (turning phone off for ~5 min)