Smartphones may have changed the face of the planet for good—but no matter how indispensable they are, there are times when you need to turn off your phone.
If you have a huge FOMO, you may feel quite antsy, worried that you won’t receive messages sent on your phone while it’s off. I mean, there are so many what-ifs, especially when you’re waiting for an important reply.
Luckily, we’ll give you a comprehensive answer in this post. We’ll show you what happens to a text message when your phone is off, and we’ll also help you retrieve missed text messages—just in case. Read on!
Can a text message be delivered if the phone receiving the text is off?
If you’re sending and receiving text messages via your local network provider, chances are they won’t be delivered. After all, these text messages require your phone to connect to your network provider’s cell tower to send and receive them.
During this time, your network provider will continue resending your text messages to your phone until it’s turned on and ready to receive them. This only happens for a limited period, so it’s best not to turn your phone off for over three days.
However, losing them wouldn’t be a concern if you receive text messages via a messaging app or service with a dedicated cloud service or server. Your messages are tied to your account and ready to be viewed anytime you log in in such cases.
How To Get Missed Text Messages When Your Phone Is Turned Off
Here’s how to get the text messages you missed when your phone was turned off. These solutions include first-party options, so you must check the following section to skip to the third-party apps we recommend you use.
FIX 1. Power your phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 to 60 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphoneA phone chargerA good signal reception |
The best and easiest way to get any missed text messages when the phone is off is to turn the device back on. Sometimes, turning off our phones to avoid disturbance during critical situations is more practical, but it’s good to turn them on occasionally.
This way, the text messages somebody is trying to send you will push through and get sent to your phone. It’s why having a phone charger and power bank is always ideal since it allows you to power your device outdoors when it runs out of battery.
Once turned on, you only have to wait for your phone’s messaging app to receive your incoming text messages. Please note that not all text messages are retrievable simply by turning your dead phone back on.
Some factors can cause text messages not to be sent to your phone, even if it’s already turned on. Or, it’s because your phone has been turned off for at least three days, a minimum time limit for some network providers to resend text messages.
In such cases, your network provider deletes your text messages when your phone stays turned off beyond their minimum resend time limit. You must also ensure that you’re in an area with good signal reception after you’ve turned on your phone.
Otherwise, you won’t receive your incoming messages until your phone gets a good signal reception from your network provider. It’s the same reason you won’t get text messages outside your network provider’s coverage area.
FIX 2. Use your network provider’s messaging app
Some network providers like T-Mobile and Verizon offer a dedicated messaging app alongside their network service. It’s a valuable service that allows you to protect your SMS and MMS text messages and retrieve them when they aren’t received.
For example, even if your iPhone is off, you will receive text messages since you can sync them to multiple devices simultaneously. You aren’t limited to your dead phone since you can use other compatible devices to receive and read text messages.
You can do this with the Digits and Message+ apps, respectively, which are offered by T-Mobile and Verizon. Check-in with your network provider to see if they offer a similar service so you can start syncing your text message to your other devices.
Doing so will make getting your text messages more convenient as you’re not limited to one device to look them up. You can refer to the instructions below to learn how to use T-Mobile’s Digits and Verizon’s Message+ apps.
Use T-Mobile’s Digits app
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 6 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 50 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone and tabletA PC or MacA working internet connection |
With T-Mobile’s Digits app, you can sync text messages and calls across multiple devices using one phone number. Thus, you can use other devices to receive text messages when your phone is turned off.
Please note that T-Mobile sets a limit of five devices per number and five numbers per device.
Step 1: Go to your device’s built-in app store. |
Step 2: Click the search bar. |
Step 3: Enter “T-Mobile Digits” and select it from the search suggestions. |
Step 4: Click Install to download the Digits app on your phone. |
| Step 5: Log in using your T-Mobile ID to start receiving text messages on your phones with the Digits app. Note: Go to mydigits.t-mobile.com if you want to create a T-Mobile ID. |
Step 6: Visit https://digits.t-mobile.com/ on your PC’s browser and log in using your T-Mobile ID to download their PC or Mac client. Note: Once installed, you can log in using your T-Mobile ID to receive text messages and calls on your PC or Mac. |
Use Verizon’s Message+ app
| Difficulty | Easy ●●○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 10 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 1 minute and 30 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone and tabletA working internet connection |
Step 1: Open the app store on your device. |
Step 2: Click the search bar. |
Step 3: Enter “Verizon Messages” and select it from the search suggestions. |
Step 4: Click Install to download the Message+ app on your phone. |
Step 5: Click Open to run the application. |
Step 6: Click Start Messaging. |
Step 7: Click Allow on all requested permissions. |
Step 8: Set Message+ as the default SMS app. |
Step 9: Enter your phone number and click Next. |
| Step 10: Repeat the same steps on your other devices to sync them to your phone number’s text messages. Note: Some extra steps might be required when adding new devices. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your other devices. |
FIX 3. Use iMessage sync on your iPhone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 8 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | An iPhoneA working internet connection |
Retrieving text messages is easier for iPhone users since they can store and sync them via the free iCloud service. It means that even if your iPhone is off, you will receive text messages on any iOS device connected to your Apple ID.
This includes iPhone, iWatch, or Mac devices with enabled iMessage and iCloud syncing. Even without another Apple device, you won’t have to worry about losing your text messages since they’ll be safely stored in your iCloud storage.
As such, you can take as much time as you want before turning your iPhone back on because of iCloud’s safety net. It’s one of many reasons the Apple ecosystem is lauded for how well it handles and manages its users’ data.
The only reason your text messages can be lost forever is if your iCloud storage is already full. Since Apple only gives you 5 GB of free storage, you must always have enough space left for incoming messages.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Scroll down and open your iPhone’s Messages menu. |
Step 3: Toggle the iMessage switch on. |
Step 4: Return to the main Settings menu and click your Apple ID. |
Step 5: Click iCloud. |
Step 6: Click Show All to reveal the complete list of apps. |
Step 7: Select the Messages app. |
Step 8: Click Sync this iPhone to store your text messages on iCloud. |
If your iCloud storage is full, you can upgrade its capacity via Apple’s iCloud+ plans. You can check Apple’s support page for the pricing on these plans across various countries and regions.
To access your iMessage on your Mac, navigate to Messages > Preferences > iMessage > Enable Messages on iCloud > Sync Now. Doing so will allow you to read text messages on a Mac linked to your Apple ID.
FIX 4. Monitor your text messages remotely on another device
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 8 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphoneA PCA working internet connection |
Regarding non-Apple devices, the alternative option is to use the remote access feature on Google’s Messages app. This feature allows you to monitor and read the text messages on your primary phone from the screen of another connected device.
The only caveat is you must set this up beforehand on both devices, so you can still read text messages when your phone is off. Otherwise, this solution won’t work as it requires the primary phone to scan the QR code on your other devices first.
However, this works incredibly well once you’ve set it up, and you won’t have any problem checking your phone’s text messages remotely. It even works for iPhones since they can install Google apps, including the Messages app.
Step 1: Open your phone or PC’s web browser. |
Step 2: Go to messages.google.com. |
Step 3: Scroll down and go to “Messages for web.” |
Step 4: Wait for a QR code to appear on the screen. |
Step 5: Open Messages on your primary phone and click the kebab menu. |
Step 6: Select “Messages for web.” |
Step 7: Open the QR code scanner. |
Step 8: Scan the QR code on the first device’s screen to give it remote access to your primary phone’s text messages. |
Step 9: Click Allow on the other device and check the text messages on your primary phone. |
How To Retrieve Missed Text Messages Using Third-Party Apps
Aside from your phone’s built-in applications and other first-party services their manufacturers provide, you can also use third-party apps to retrieve your text messages. It’s best if you prefer using third-party messaging apps on your phone.
Below are the most widely-used third-party apps that allow you to retrieve missed text messages from your turned-off phone.
FIX 1. WhatsApp
The Whatsapp messenger is free and convenient as you don’t have to worry about not receiving text messages since communication is done in-app. It means Whatsapp messages will push through even when you turn off your phone.
Thus, you can get back into the app anytime and still have your text messages waiting for you. Unfortunately, Whatsapp users can only communicate with other Whatsapp users, so you can’t retrieve text messages sent to your network provider.
However, since you can access your Whatsapp account on multiple devices, you’re not limited to one phone. You can access your text messages using various devices to log into your Whatsapp account.
FIX 2. MySMS
The MySMS app is an excellent third-party option for Android users looking for a messaging service for communicating via regular text messages. With MySMS, you can send and receive text messages from both other app users and regular users.
This app is flexible since you can use it across various devices and platforms. Therefore, you can access text messages when your phone is off using other devices with MySMS installed.
You can also use MySMS on your PC as a Google Chrome extension, which gives you more ways to check your text messages. They have a premium plan that provides various features (e.g., message backup and restoration, SMS exporting).
FIX 4. Pulse
We recommend using the Pulse app if you’re looking for an excellent, paid messaging service on your Android phone. Like the abovementioned examples, Pulse lets you sync your messages between multiple devices.
However, Pulse is a paid service, so a subscription fee is required before you can use their service. Fortunately, this comes with bonus features, such as blocking calls, scheduling messages, dual-sim support, contact customization, and more.
