Although group chats are convenient to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, and family, they can be annoying at times—so much so that you just want to leave them. But Apple’s Messages app doesn’t always make it easy for you to do so.
Why You Can’t Leave a Group Chat in Apple Messages
You can create or be a part of three kinds of group chats in Apple’s Messages app: an iMessage group, an RCS group, and an SMS/MMS group. While an iMessage group is full of Apple users, RCS and SMS/MMS groups include participants from other platforms like Android.
You can tell you’re in an iMessage group when you see blue text bubbles, but it’s hard to differentiate between RCS and SMS/MMS at first glance because they both have green bubbles. So, look closely at the text input field; if you see RCS next to Text Message, you’re in an RCS group.
Here’s the kicker: SMS/MMS groups don’t give you the option to leave since you’re not actually using an instant messaging platform. Instead, these messages go through your carrier. So, all you can do is mute the thread or delete and block the conversation.
However, you can leave RCS and iMessage groups as long as they have at least three other participants. If you can’t leave either of these groups despite meeting this requirement, it’s likely because one or more of the participants don’t have RCS or iMessage enabled.
How to Leave iMessage and RCS Group Chats on iPhone
As mentioned, you can only leave an iMessage or RCS group if there are at least three other participants. You can leave by following these steps:
- Open the group chat in Messages.
- Tap the group icon or the group name at the top of the thread.
- Now, tap on Leave this Conversation at the bottom of the page and confirm you want to leave when prompted.
What to Do if You Can’t Leave a Group Chat
Leaving is impossible if you are part of an SMS/MMS group. However, you can still get rid of the noise by simply muting the message thread or deleting and blocking the conversation.
To mute an SMS/MMS group, swipe left over the group message thread and tap the Alerts button (the bell icon in purple). Once you do this, a crescent moon icon will appear next to the group chat to indicate that it’s muted. When you’re ready to unmute the group, swipe left and tap the Alerts button again.
However, if you want to block the SMS/MMS group conversation, follow these steps:
- Open the group chat in Messages.
- Tap the group icon or the group name at the top of the thread.
- Scroll down and tap on Delete and Block Conversation.
- When prompted, tap Delete and Block Conversation again.
Once you do this, the Messages app will move the thread to the Recently Deleted folder. Any new messages you receive in the group will be automatically deleted, and you won’t get notifications for them. However, you can recover your text messages by heading to Filters > Recently Deleted in the Messages app.
The group conversation will be permanently deleted from your iPhone if you don’t receive any new messages over the next 30 days.
Staying connected with your loved ones is a human need. However, back-and-forth messaging about nonsense or topics you’re not really interested in can be annoying.
Sometimes, you may prefer solitude and a few hours free from distractions and noise to focus on your work. So, muting group chats or leaving them altogether for some much-needed silence may just be what you need.