How to Stop People from Being Able to Tell That I Have Read Their Text Messages on My iPhone

The iPhone has a lot of features that you can adjust to change the device’s behavior, including some that affect your text messages and iMessages.

If you have ever seen the word “Read” appear below a message that you sent, this indicates that the recipient had seen the text message.

Our tutorial below will show you how to stop people from being able to tell that I have read their text messages on my iPhone if you don’t want the people that sent you text messages ot know that about you.

How to Disable iPhone Read Receipts

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select Messages.
  3. Turn off Send Read Receipts.

Our guide continues below with additional information on how to stop people from being able to tell that I have read their text messages on my iPhone, including pictures of these steps.

Text messaging is such a useful way to have a conversation with someone. Everyone involved in the conversation can see a history of what has been discussed, and you can leave a message for a person that they can then read when they are able.

You may have noticed that some of the messages you send will say “Delivered” under them, then switch to “Read” after a short period of time.

This indicates that the recipient has read the message that you sent. This is particularly helpful when sending important or sensitive information.

Depending upon the current settings on your iPhone, your contacts might be able to see that you have read their messages as well.

If you would prefer not to share this information, then our guide below will show you how to stop people from being able to see that you have read the text messages that they have sent to you.

Find out how to name a group text on iPhone 7 if you have a lot of group texts going and want a simpler way to tell them apart.

Video for Turning Off Read Receipts on an iPhone

How to Turn Off Read Receipts in the Messages App on an iPhone 7 (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article were written using an iPhone 7 Plus, in iOS 10. However, these steps will work for iPhone models using most versions of iOS.

Step 1: Open the Settings app.

open settings

Step 2: Scroll down and select the Messages option.

open messages

Step 3: Tap the button to the right of Send Read Receipts to turn it off.

You will stop sending read receipts when there is no green shading around the button, and the button is in the left position. Read receipts are turned off on the iPhone in the picture below.

how to stop people from being able to tell that you read their messages

Now that you know how to stop people from being able to tell that I have read their text messages on my iPhone, you can choose to read a text message and wait as long as you like to respond without the other person knowing that you have already seen the message.

The call blocking feature on the iPhone is one of my favorite features. It lets you block people from calling, texting, or trying to make a FaceTime call. You can even preemptively block a number, even if it hasn’t tried to contact you yet.