iMessage - messages arriving in wrong order

I contacted Apple and received following advice. Just be warned: You will lose connection and password to wifi, so be sure to be ready for that. (Although my phone found the wifi just fine after logged back in).

The order is important.

In settings, Turn off FaceTime. Turn off iMessage. Sign out of iCloud at bottom of name screen in Settings.

Go to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network settings.

Once have reset network. Log back into iCloud. Turn on FaceTime. Turn on iMessage.

IF this is too confusing, call Apple tech at 1-800-MYAPPLE. Had to wait awhile, but got great person that walked me through. So far, this has fixed it.

I saw this answer on one of the other forums:

Go to settings general

Go to date and time

turn off "set automatically"

Then restart your phone.

Go back to settings and turn on "set automatically" again.

Your test messages should now appear in the correct order when receiving them :-)

This worked for me.

I think I solved it. The clock from my iPhone vs my Mac was 45 seconds behind. So all texts that I sent from my computer where 45 seconds before, therefore the answer that was sent at the same time, came in with a different time that is why it was places before the actual question (it seems that the iPhone app dictates de Mac app). You have to sync both clocks and the problem solves immediately. Hope this helps. It was driving me crazy.

In today’s iOS 11.2.5 update:

Addresses an issue that could cause Messages conversations to temporarily be listed out of order

I had this exact same problem, but I think I may just have figured out a solution. I went into Settings - Messages and then turned off iMessage, restarted my phone, and turned it back on. Seems to have solved it (at least for now)!

FINALLY for me it was fixed. Someone posted the other day to go to General/date & time/set automatic (toggle from on to off & back to on). I can not believe it, but it worked for me! Good luck to everyone 🙂

I posted this in another apple discussion thread, it appears to be fixing it for people.

Something that I found interesting is that my apple watch shows the iMessages in the correct order but my iPhone does not.

Following these steps worked for me, which are:

1. Turn off set automatically under date/time

2. At this point I changed the time to one minute early

3. Turn on set automatically.

4. Restart iPhone

At this point, iMessages in the past were out of order, but all future ones were coming in correctly.

Hope this helps.

Two things fixed this for me:

1. Ensure auto date/time is enabled in Setting > General > Date and time: Set Automatically

AND

2. Ensure setting time zone is enabled in Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services: Setting Time Zone

Ok so the problem is the following:

When texting and leave the cursor blinking your reply will appear before the answer of the other person no matter who wrote what first. The time of your message is recorded as the time the cursor started blinking.

That’s why it happens only in quick texting and the app remains open

The solution is to tap somewhere else after you reply so that the text box is deselected

Pretty annoying let’s hope it will change at a further update

I have a friend that was experiencing the same issue as everyone here. After reading this conversation and everyone’s posts, I told her to go into settings, turn off iMessage and then restart her phone. After restarting, turn iMessage back on. This seems to have fixed the issue for her

Thanks! This seemed to work for me. Was having the issue for 2-3 weeks on my iPhone 6S since installing iOS 11.2.1

For others reading this, I tried switching off iMessage, rebooting phone (off then back on) and switching iMessage back on)

I've tried the iMessage turn off/on thing, but it didn't help for me. But, it seems I've managed to solve the problem, by another suggestion, which I found on another website, resetting the phone's settings (General/Reset/Reset All Settings). I've done this 2 or 3 days ago, and the problem didn't return, so I hope it stays this way.

Turn off iMessage

Powerdown the phone

Turn it on turn in iMessage

Worked for me and my kids.

Press the home and on/off key together until phone restarts and this solved the problem and resorted the messages into the right order 😀

As hilarious as it is, turning it off and on again fixed that for me. I guess it is the ultimate fix haha