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iMessage notifications won’t go away

My iPad (iOS 11.2.1) Messages App is showing a badge that indicates I have two unread messages, even though I have no unread messages. I cannot get this badge to clear. I have tried:


1. Quitting the app, turning off all Notifications, turning off iMessage, restarting the iPad, then turning Notifications and iMessage back on. This did not work.


2. Deleting ALL Messages, then reperforming #1. There are ZERO messages from Contacts & SMS and Unknown Senders. The badge icon saying I have two unread messages is STILL there.


Screenshoots attached. How do I reset the Notifications and make this go away???


User uploaded file


User uploaded file


User uploaded file


[Re-Titled by Host]

iPad Air Wi-Fi, iOS 11.2.1

Posted on Dec 27, 2017 2:24 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 11, 2018 9:01 PM

I'm glad I didn't follow the suggestion to back up and restore my iPad. What a ridiculous amount of time and work that would have been! Here's what worked for me:


Turned off notifications

Force quit all apps

Hard reboot

Turned on notifications

31 replies

Apr 10, 2018 9:38 AM in response to cg21734

Info gleaned from postings with respect to the same problem in Facebook messages led me to believe that the problem was being caused by emoticons. Not wanting to purge and restore my iPad I pursued that solution. I found a message containing an emoticon or emoji in the inbox column that could not be read in the main message area. That must have been the culprit because the problem was solved after I completely deleted the string of messages with that contact and rebooted. Previous reboots had no effect at all. I hope this helps.

Dec 29, 2017 3:19 PM in response to cg21734

Hello cg21734,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!
I understand from your post that the badge app icon on the Message app will not go away even though you have no messages. You have done some great troubleshooting so far. The next steps I would recommend would be to backup and reinstall the software.

The following article has the steps on how to backup your iPad:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

By using the steps as listed from the following article you can reinstall the software on your iPad:
If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Put your device in recovery mode and set it up again

  1. Make sure that you're using the latest version of iTunes.
  2. If iTunes is already open, close it. Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes. If you don't have a computer, borrow one from a friend or go to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for help.
  3. While your device is connected, force restart it with these steps:
    • On an iPhone 6s and earlier, iPad, or iPod touch: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. Don't release the buttons when you see the Apple logo. Keep holding both buttons until you see the recovery mode screen.
    • On an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Volume Down buttons at the same time. Don't release the buttons when you see the Apple logo. Keep holding both buttons until you see the recovery mode screen.
  4. When you see the option to Restore or Update, choose Update. iTunes will try to reinstall iOS without erasing your data. Wait while iTunes downloads the software for your device. If the download takes more than 15 minutes and your device exits recovery mode, let the download finish, then repeat these steps.
  5. After the Update or Restore completes, set up your device.

Best Regards.

May 1, 2018 5:35 AM in response to cg21734

I have a 5th gen iPad 9.7 inch running iOS 11.3 with a “ghost” notification for a message that does not exist. It was delivered to both my phone and tablet and for some reason didn’t clear the notification on the opposite device, after it was read. I tried turning on and off every setting for messages, notifications, I re-read every message, cleared all from the notification center, deleted old failed to send messages, restarted the app, restarted the device, hard reset the device, I tried messaging myself and opening them and then deleting them. I refuse to do a complete factory reset and restore my entire device over an issue as simple as this. That’s Apple’s easy fix for everything. Just wipe the whole thing. That’s so unrealistic to do as small issues like this come up almost weekly, and a complete restore is honestly a giant pain in the butt, and they should have fixes for bugs like this.

Anyway, what ended up working for me was, thankfully there was a software update for iOS 11.3.1 available and installing that somehow fixed the problem and cleared the notification. I doubt there was a fix for it in the update, it probably just coincidentally fixed it.

For anyone else having this issue with annoying badge app icon notifications that won’t go away, try checking to see if a software update is available and maybe it will fix it. I wasted two hours trying to get that annoying little thing to disappear.

May 3, 2018 4:04 PM in response to Nicko_52

Well the first time I encountered this issue the only option I had was to wipe the iPad and set up as new. But now the issue is back. I have again tried every suggested solution on here. I agree with the previous post that wiping the iPad is is a ridiculous solution to such a simple small issue. That’s always Apple solution and that’s ridiculous. So if anyone knows of anything else let me know because again I’ve tried everything that’s been suggested.

Jun 20, 2018 5:34 AM in response to cg21734

After troubleshooting for 30 minutes I decided to try logging out of my Apple ID. At first glance it didn’t appear to do anything for the messages badge icon showing 3 uread messages. So I did a hard reboot by holding down the power button and home button simultaneously until I saw the Apple symbol. Badge icon clear. Be sure you have done a fresh backup to your iCloud so you don’t lose anything... when logging out of my Apple ID I was asked to keep or delete from my iPad, I chose delete because everything was safe on the iCloud and would be redownloaded/connected once I logged back in.

iMessage notifications won’t go away

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