How to Secure Your iPhone Text Messages: Tips to Keep Them Private

If you want to keep your text messages on your iPhone private from prying eyes, there are several ways you can do so. Whether you’re planning a surprise party, want to keep sensitive medical information private or simply prefer not to share your conversations, here are some methods for securing your iPhone text messages.

Lock Your iPhone to Prevent Unauthorized Access

1. If you haven’t already set a passcode on your iPhone, it’s important to do so immediately. You can do this by going to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode > Enable Passcode.
2. If you already have a passcode, but someone you don’t want accessing your messages knows it, you can change it by going to Settings > Touch ID (or Face ID) & Passcode > Change Passcode. Enter your old passcode before creating a new one.
3. Make sure your passcode is not easy to guess, as this is the only thing keeping someone from accessing your iPhone. You can use up to 6 digits for added security.

While this will prevent unauthorized access to your iPhone, it won’t prevent notifications from appearing on your lock screen and revealing that you received a text message.

Hide Alerts for New Messages

1. Go to Settings > Notifications and find Messages.
2. Select Show Previews, which is set to Always by default, and choose Never to keep alert content private even when your phone is unlocked. You can also choose Unlocked, which shows content only when your phone is unlocked.

You will still receive alerts, but the message content will be hidden so that only “iMessage” is visible instead of a preview of the message.

If you don’t want to receive certain text messages at all, you can take the following steps:

Stop Receiving SMS Notifications

1. Go to Settings > Notifications, and tap on Messages.
2. Turn off Allow Notifications.
3. This stops all message notifications, including text messages that appear directly in your Messages app.

The downside of this approach is that you won’t receive any notifications for incoming messages, which could be a problem if you’re waiting for important news. However, you can also choose to stop receiving notifications from a specific person or a specific messaging group.

Stop Notifications from Only One Person

1. Go back to Settings > Notifications and find Messages. Turn on the Allow Notifications button if you previously turned it off.
2. Open the Messages app and find the conversation you want to mute. Tap the (i) in the top right corner.
3. Select Hide Alerts. This will prevent you from receiving notifications for that conversation only.
4. The next time you open Messages, you’ll see a moon icon next to the conversation. You’ll still be able to read the most recent message, but you won’t receive notifications when that person sends a new message.

Hide Messages from a Specific Person

The most drastic method of keeping messages private is to remove the person from your contacts. Here’s how:

1. Go to Contacts on your iPhone and find the person you want to remove. Tap Edit.
2. Scroll down and tap Delete Contact.
3. In Settings, go to Messages and scroll to Filter Unknown Senders.
4. Turn on this option to turn off notifications for iMessages from people who aren’t in your contacts.
5. The person’s messages will then be filtered and separated from your main messaging list.

By implementing these tips, you can secure your iPhone text messages and keep them private from unauthorized access or unwanted attention.