# Do You Get Texts When Your iPhone Is Off?

> Texts sent to an iPhone that’s off wait with your carrier or Apple and arrive when it’s back on. What happens in each case, and what forwarding can’t fix.

Last updated: 2026-10-18
Canonical HTML page: https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/texts-when-iphone-is-off
Published: 2026-10-17

Yes, once it’s back on: texts sent to a switched-off iPhone wait on the network and arrive when it reconnects. Ordinary SMS texts are held by your carrier for a limited time, and iMessages are held by Apple for up to 30 days. A Mac or iPad signed in to your Apple Account can get iMessages, but nothing, forwarding apps included, can receive SMS for an iPhone that’s off.

**What you need:** nothing to get held texts back; turn the iPhone on where it has signal. To read a number’s texts while you’re away from its iPhone, you need that iPhone left on at home, on iOS 26 or later, with Fwrd and a chat or phone to send them to.

## What happens to texts sent while your iPhone is off?

They wait, then arrive when the iPhone reconnects. Who holds them depends on the kind of text.

- **SMS texts wait with your carrier.** Rogers, for example, says texts sent while your phone is off are stored for delivery for up to 3 days (72 hours) and can’t be delivered after that ([Rogers](https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/my-phone-was-off-when-someone-sent-a-text), checked October 17, 2026). Each carrier sets its own limit.
- **iMessages wait with Apple.** Apple says iMessages are queued for delivery to offline devices and stored on its servers for up to 30 days ([Apple Platform Security](https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949/web), checked October 17, 2026).

## Off, Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb: what’s the difference?

Off, Airplane Mode and no signal hold SMS texts back. Do Not Disturb and other Focuses only silence them.

| Situation | SMS texts | iMessages |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone off or battery flat | Held by your carrier, then delivered when it’s back on | Held by Apple for up to 30 days; a signed-in Mac or iPad can get them now |
| Airplane Mode | Held, unless Wi-Fi Calling brings them over Wi-Fi | Arrive if you turn Wi-Fi back on |
| Do Not Disturb or a Focus | Arrive silently | Arrive silently |
| No signal | Held, unless Wi-Fi Calling brings them over Wi-Fi | Arrive over Wi-Fi |

- **Airplane Mode** turns off every radio except Bluetooth, though Apple says you can turn Wi-Fi back on if the airline allows it ([Apple](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108785), checked October 17, 2026).
- **Do Not Disturb** silences calls, alerts and notifications ([Apple](https://support.apple.com/en-us/105112)), and people who text you see you’ve silenced them ([Apple](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/turn-do-not-disturb-on-or-off-iph5c3f5b77b/ios)).

## Can you get your texts on another device while the iPhone is off?

A Mac or iPad gets iMessages, not SMS, while the iPhone is off. Apple encrypts each iMessage separately for every one of the receiver’s devices ([Apple Platform Security](https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949/web)), and you can use your iPhone’s number with Messages on a Mac or iPad ([Apple](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108758), checked October 17, 2026). So a Mac or iPad signed in to the same Apple Account gets its own copy.

SMS is different. Text Message Forwarding shows your iPhone’s SMS, MMS and RCS texts on your Mac or iPad, but Apple says the iPhone must be turned on and connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network ([Apple](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102545), checked October 17, 2026). With the iPhone off, those texts wait with the carrier like any other. [Reading iPhone texts online](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/read-iphone-texts-online) covers the Mac and iPad setup.

## Can a forwarding app get texts while your iPhone is off?

No. No app, Fwrd included, can forward texts from an iPhone that’s off. Forwarding runs on the iPhone that receives the text, from a Shortcuts automation, so a phone that’s off has nothing to forward. Fwrd’s FAQ says the iPhone must stay on, receive the message and have internet access.

What does work is the opposite: a phone you leave on. If you have a spare iPhone, or you’re travelling without the one that has your home number, keep that iPhone on at home and forward its new texts to a chat you can read anywhere, or to the phone you carry.

## How to read a home iPhone’s texts while you’re away

Do this on the iPhone that stays home, with the number’s SIM or eSIM in it.

1. **Put it somewhere it stays on.** Plug it in where it has signal and Wi-Fi.

2. **Add a destination in [Fwrd](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6759069713?pt=128544281&ct=blog-iphone-off&mt=8).** Open Fwrd, tap +, and choose Telegram, Slack or Discord. Paste your bot token and chat ID for Telegram, or the channel’s webhook URL for Slack or Discord. Tap Send Test Message, then save.

3. **Create a Message automation.** On iOS 27, open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, then +. If you see Describe a shortcut, tap Edit. Tap Automation, then Message. On iOS 26, open the Automation tab, tap +, and choose Message.

4. **Choose which texts to forward.** Choose Message Contains (on iOS 27, change Sender to Message), then type a word your texts share, such as code. Or type a single space to forward any text with one.

5. **Make it run without asking.** On iOS 27, tap the arrow beside the trigger and check that Confirm Before Run is off. Under ⓘ, then Privacy, check that Allow Running When Locked is on. On iOS 26, choose Run Immediately, then tap Next and Create New Shortcut.

6. **Add Fwrd’s action.** Search for Forward and add Forward Message to All Destinations. Set its Message to Shortcut Input (on iOS 26, Shortcut Input, then Message). Tap back to save (Done on iOS 26).

7. **That’s it.** New texts with your word now reach your chat on their own, with the home iPhone unlocked or locked.

Fwrd posts to Slack, Discord, Telegram, Microsoft Teams and webhooks itself. To get the texts on the phone you carry instead, add Another phone in Fwrd, then Apple’s Send Message below Fwrd’s action, set up as the [flip phone post](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/forward-iphone-texts-to-flip-phone) shows; Messages does the sending. The [travel page](https://www.fwrdsms.com/get-texts-while-traveling) covers banks and roaming.

## What forwarding can’t do

- **It can’t reach a phone that’s off.** If the home iPhone runs flat or is switched off, texts wait with the carrier, and nothing is forwarded until it’s back on.
- **Unlock it once after a restart.** Fwrd keeps your destinations behind the iPhone’s lock, so it can’t forward until the first unlock.
- **Unlock the iPhone at least every three days.** Since iOS 18.1, an iPhone that isn’t unlocked for three days restarts itself, and that can’t be turned off.
- **Turn off automatic iOS updates.** Settings, General, Software Update, Automatic Updates. Updates restart the phone.
- **It only forwards new texts, and only their words.** Texts from before you set it up, and pictures, stay on the home iPhone.
- **The free plan covers 15 forwards a month.** A single space as the rule can pass that on a busy number; Fwrd Pro removes the limit.

The [troubleshooting guide](https://www.fwrdsms.com/guides/troubleshooting) helps if forwards stop.

## Questions about texts when your iPhone is off

### Will I get the texts I missed when I turn my iPhone back on?

Yes, if it comes back on within your carrier’s limit for SMS, or within Apple’s 30 days for iMessages. Carriers set their own limits; Rogers, for example, holds texts for up to 72 hours.

### Do I still get texts with Do Not Disturb on?

Yes. Do Not Disturb and other Focuses silence calls, alerts and notifications, but the iPhone stays on its network, so texts still land in Messages, just without a sound.

### Do I get texts in Airplane Mode?

Usually not SMS texts, because Airplane Mode turns off the cellular radio, unless your carrier sends SMS over Wi-Fi Calling. iMessages arrive if you turn Wi-Fi back on.

### Can Fwrd forward texts while my iPhone is off?

No. Fwrd runs on the iPhone that receives the texts, so that iPhone has to be on and online. Keep a spare iPhone on at home and Fwrd can forward its texts to a chat or another phone, free for 15 forwards a month.

## Keep reading

- [How to Forward Texts From Your Old Number](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/forward-texts-from-old-number)
- [What to Do With a Spare iPhone: Make It a Text Hub](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/uses-for-a-spare-iphone)