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.
You Might Also Like
iPhone Contact Names Missing From Message Notifications
iPhone 8 & X: How to Forward a Text Message
iPhone 8 & X: Send Text Message to Multiple Recipients
Android: Forward Text Message
How to Set Text Message Ringtone in Android
Android: What Does Locking a Text Message Do?- Galaxy Note8: How to Forward Text Message
Android: Can't Send Text Message to One Person
Bonnie Haas says
I turned off iMessage as u directed and the duplication disappeared. Thank you!!
G B says
Thank you for your ideas. Mine just started doing this this past week. I’m also getting a lot of “maybe is…” and they are people in my contact list. Very frustrating! I’m hoping this soft reset will work for me.
jtrsenior says
I have an iphone 5s with software version 12.3.1. After trying all of the ‘fixes’ suggested by folks, none have worked.
• This is apparently an iphone issue.
• This “just started” for most folks, but it has been going on for several years.
• This might be coupled to a software update.
• This is related to older and newer model iphones.
Why hasn’t Apple, Inc. weighed in on this problem and defined a solution? This is very frustrating and I am about to consider another brand of phone..since manufacturer support for iphone apparently doesn’t exist.
Dee says
I’ve spent days researching this on different sites and it appears a new software release fixed a similar issue back in 2016. Starting 2 days ago my family group text conversation (which 8 of us have been using for years) is now adding myself as a duplicate participant. Everyone else on the thread is fine. We have 6 iPhones and 2 androids on the group text. I have verified all settings and all is ok. We are currently traveling in Utah and have poor reception. I’d like to blame the area but my husband with his iPhone 7 (also on the text thread) is not having problems. Please help this is driving me crazy and my text messages have tripled because of this.
Thomas says
I am with Verizon and I only get duplicates when I am near one certain tower…Any ideas,?
Tammi says
I did all of the above and it didn’t work for me, I was still receiving duplicate conversations. I did a soft reset (I turned my iPhone off & left it off for 5 minutes before turning back on) and then the duplicate messages had gone :)
Brandon says
I’ll send a message to someone, when they reply it creates a new conversation. I’m not sure if that is the problem anyone else is having but hopefully this is a fix for it or they create a patch for it.
Brent b says
My phone keeps sending other people duplicate messages but ok my end it’s ok. My end the message I sent goes through as a iMessage and then repeats itself as a regular text anyone else having this issue?
Melonni says
Jonathon, That is my issue… did you get it resolved?
Laszlo says
Solution 3 worked for me! Thank you!! I did it a bit differently
If it doesn’t work for others try this:
Disable as described in #3.
Turn off iPhone for 3 minutes
Turn on iPhone and leave the messaging settings disabled
Wait 3minutes
Enable messaging settings
Laszlo B says
Solution 3 worked for me! Thank you!! I did it a bit differently
If it doesn’t work for others try this:
Disable as described in #3.
Turn off iPhone for 3 minutes
Turn on iPhone and leave the messaging settings disabled
Wait 3minutes
Enable messaging settings
Jonathan says
nope didn’t help. in my case i see both the message i responded to and another message that shows my response. when either is open the content is the same except for the most recent responded to message.