Edit iMessages on iPhone, iPad, and Mac (2022)

Before going through the steps, it would be better to find out how the iMessage works and take note of the limitations.

Things to Remember Before Editing iMessages

Firstly, the ability to edit already sent messages has been introduced with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura on all supported devices. And there are a few important points you should know before using this nifty feature in iMessage. These are:

To use this feature, not just the sender but also the receiver needs to be running the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, or macOS on their devices.If the recipient is still using iOS 15 or earlier versions of the software (iPadOS 15 or earlier, macOS 12 or earlier), they will continue to see the original message and not the edited version. So yeah, any edits you make to messages after installing the iOS 16 developer beta will not reflect for your friends on the stable iOS 15 build.A major limitation of this feature is that Apple allows you to edit the iMessages only up to 15 minutes after sending the message. You won’t see the edit option if you try changing the messages older than 15 minutes.You can edit your message as many times as you want within the stipulated time. To signify that the sender changed the original text message, both the sender and the receiver will see an “Edited” tag appear next to “Delivered” under the message in the conversation thread.

How to Edit Sent Messages on iPhone and iPad

  1. Launch the Messages app on your iPhone or iPad and open a conversation thread.
  2. Now, find the recently sent message you would like to edit. Remember that you only have 15 minutes to correct your mistake. So, long-press on the message and choose “Edit” in the pop-up menu.
  3. Now, you can make the desired changes to the text. Once you are done editing the message, tap the “blue checkmark” to confirm and save the edits.
  4. Now, the edited text is displayed to the recipient with the “Edited” tag under the message. And no, iMessage does not save the message editing history, so your old message is gone for good.

How to Edit Sent Messages on Mac

The steps to edit messages on your MacBook or other Mac devices are quite similar to the process on your iPhone. Here’s how it works:

  1. Open the Messages app on your Mac and navigate to a conversation thread.
  2. Right-click on the message you want to edit and choose the “Edit” option in the pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can “Ctrl + left-click” on the message to see the pop-up menu.
  3. Now, make the necessary changes to your message and hit the blue checkmark to confirm.

Edit Text Messages on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

In my testing, I found the message editing feature on iPhone and Mac easy to use. So yeah, it will find a spot in our best iMessage tips and tricks roundup. However, one little change that I would want to see is a slightly longer duration for editing messages, around 30 minutes. And to further improve the iMessaging experience, the ability to have self-destructing messages like WhatsApp would be a useful addition. It would not only help clear the clutter from time to time but also enhance user privacy. Coming back to the feature at hand, what are your thoughts on the ability to edit messages on iPhone and Mac? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.