You Can Edit and Unsend Messages in iOS 16 — But There’s a Catch

Perhaps one of the most useful improvements in iOS 16 is the ability to edit and even retract sent iMessages. However, before you get too enthusiastic, it’s important to keep in mind that this feature comes with a few provisos and a couple of quid pro quos.

That doesn’t mean that being able to edit and unsent messages isn’t a great feature. Still, it’s important to know that there are a lot of scenarios where it’s not going to work the way you expect due to technological limitations.

How Edit and Unsend Works in iOS 16

Editing or retracting a message in iOS 16 is pretty straightforward. Just tap and hold on your recently sent message, and if the message is eligible, you’ll see two extra options in the pop-up menu: Undo Send and Edit.

Tapping on Edit will open the message in a new inline editing window, right where it fits into the conversation. Make whatever changes you like and tap the blue checkmark to save the edited message. The message will be updated, and the word “Edited” will appear below the message bubble for everyone in the conversation.

The Undo Send option is even simpler. Tap on this, and your message will vanish with a nice little animated poof, never to be seen again.

Note that you can only edit or undo send for a message sent less than 15 minutes ago. After that, it becomes just as permanent as it was in iOS 15. However, that’s not the only thing you have to watch out for.

Edit and Undo Send: Where It Works and Where It Doesn’t

While both of these features are handy additions to your tool belt, you won’t want to rely on them in every case. Don’t get careless about what you write because there may be situations where you can’t walk it back.

Firstly, this doesn’t work for “green bubble” SMS/MMS messages. These go out through your carrier’s network, so Apple has no control over what happens to them once they’ve been sent out. The Edit and Undo Send options won’t even appear if you’re in an SMS thread.

More importantly, this also won’t work even for iMessages unless everyone in the conversation is using iOS 16. Since the feature was introduced in iOS 16, older versions have no idea how to deal with a request. Rather, Apple now simply sends a new version of your message, showing all of your edit history chronologically.

Related: This Is What Happens When You Edit or Unsend an iMessage Sent to Someone with iOS 15 or Older

With iOS 16 dropping support for the iPhone 6s, original iPhone SE, and iPhone 7 models, there are quite a few folks left behind on iOS 15. The same limitations also apply to iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS; those on older versions will see every edit in a separate new message.