My phone number won't show up as an option on my iMessages. I am studying abroad and therefore just use wifi to use iMessage.

If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support

Hi caznovak,

You should be able to send iMessages through the Messages app on your phone as normal, but they will show in the receiver's Messages as though they had come from your email address. This is a glitch that I have had myself, and if you do the following, it should work.

1. Turn iMessages off.

2. Do a hard reset, by pressing the Home button and there Sleep/Wake buttons at the exact same time for about 15 seconds. Your screen will go black, but keep both buttons pressed until you see the Apple logo reappear. Don't worry, you won;t lose any data at all.

3. Then turn iMessage back on. Check in Settings > Messages > Send & Receive to see if your Start New Conversations From has your phone number ticked. If not, repeat Step 2.

You should then find that the problem is fixed. a Hard Reset fixes as multitude of glitches.

Al the best,

Fred

Hi

Go to settings phone icon scroll down to second phone icon

Click on that phone number should be at the top of page

If not type it in.

Cheers

Brian

caznovak wrote:

My phone number won't show up as an option when I try to activate my iMessages. I am studying abroad, and have therefore been using solely wifi to send and receive iMessages. I didn't have a problem with it until earlier this week. I have reset my messages, turned my phone on and off, etc... and nothing has worked. Now my phone number won't even show up as a potential option and I can only send iMessages through my email. Is there anything I can do to fix this so I can receive messages sent to my phone??

Your phone will be need to be able to send international text messages to re-activate iMessages.

Did you even bother to click on the link I provided? You're asking question that the link has answer too.

Here:

If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime

To use iMessage or FaceTime, you need to activate them on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If you see an error message during activation, follow these steps.

When activating iMessage or FaceTime, you might see one of these messages:

• Waiting for activation
• Activation unsuccessful
• An error occurred during activation
• Could not sign in, please check your network connection

Check your device settings

1. Make sure that you’re connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network. If you're using an iPhone, you'll need SMS messaging to activate your phone number with iMessage and FaceTime. Depending on your carrier, you might be charged for this SMS.
2. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that you've set up your time zone correctly.

Turn off and restart iMessage and FaceTime

1. Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.
2. Go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.
3. Restart your device.
4. Turn iMessage and FaceTime back on.

Still not activated after a day?

It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If you've waited more than 24 hours, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS.
2. If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can receive SMS messages.
3. Contact Apple Support.

Get more help

You can also use your email address with iMessage and FaceTime. If you have issues verifying your email address, learn what to do:

• Your email address is already in use.
• You didn't receive the verification email.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Risks are inherent in the use of the Internet. Contact the vendor for additional information. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

This helped me all up to the point of signing in on my iPad. Now it says my Apple ID and/or password is incorrect. Grrrrrr!! THanks! Step 1 of 2 is done 🙂