My Apple iPhone recently started displaying duplicate notifications whenever I received a text message. I would get one when the message was first received, then another about five minutes later.
There are a number of things that can cause this problem. Let’s take a look at some solutions for this annoyance.
Fix 1 – Repeat Alerts Setting
There is a setting that repeats notifications which could cause this issue. Check it with these steps:
- From the Home screen, open “Settings“.
- Select “Notifications“.
- Choose “Messages“.
- Ensure that the “Repeat Alerts” setting is set to “Never“.
Fix 2 – Send & Receive Setting
Another setting that involves sending notifications to multiple numbers could be the issue as well. Check the following:
- From the Home screen, open “Settings“.
- Select “Messages“.
- Choose “Send & Receive“.
- Ensure that only your phone number is listed in the “You can be reached by iMessage at” area. If you have an email address or anything else listed, it could cause duplicate text messages.
Fix 3 – Toggle iMessage Off then On
Turning iMessage off then on again worked for my particular issue. You can do this by following these steps:
- From the Home screen, open “Settings“.
- Select “Messages“
- Slide “iMessages” to off for about 3 minutes, then turn it back on.
Your iPhone will be re-registered and may clear up the duplicate text message notification problem.
If you experienced this problem with multiple text message notifications on your iPhone, I hope that one of the above solutions worked for you. Please share your experience in the comments section.
David Smith says
Bought a new iPhone on EE that came with a new number.
Had old 02 number that I wanted to transfer but this takes a couple of days.
When the iPhone was powered up the Send Receive section referred to in the article displays the new EE number – twice. One could be unchecked. The other was greyed out.
The Apple ID however had been created and registered with the old number.
When the number transfer went through it was sending duplicate texts.
So we suspect this number conflict to be the cause. Just toggling iMessages didn’t work for me. Had to turn it off. Uncheck the duplicate Send Receive entry, Sign out of Apple ID, power cycle the phone then turn it all back on, select use Apple ID. Send Receive indicates new number – one entry only. Double text problem sorted.
Sriharsha says
Thanks a lot, that helped me!
Katelin Taylor says
I’ve done all three and am still getting duplicate messages. Any other things I can try?
Dan Hansen says
Thank you. I did not have the problem of receiving my own messages back to my phone until my wife got a new SIM Card in her phone. Her phone number was listed in the Send & Receive “you can be reached by imessage at”. Every time I sent her a message, it sent it to me too.
Your instructions of unchecking her phone number solved the problem.