You know that feeling when you see a meme, a weird text from your landlord, or a specific set of instructions, and you just need to send it to someone else? Most people try to long-press the message and hope for the best. Sometimes it works. Often, they end up accidentally reacting with a "Heart" or "Thumbs Up" emoji instead, which is awkward if the text was actually bad news. Honestly, learning how to forward text on iPhone is one of those basic skills that feels like it should be more obvious than it actually is. Apple hides the button behind a "More" menu that isn't exactly intuitive.
Let’s get into it.
The basic way to forward a single message
If you’re looking at a single bubble of text and you want it to land in someone else's inbox, don't bother with copy-pasting. That takes too long. Copy-pasting also loses the formatting sometimes. Instead, just tap and hold your finger on the specific message bubble. You’ll see a menu pop up with "Reply," "Copy," and then "More..." at the bottom.
Tap "More."
This is the secret door. Once you hit that, the message you selected will have a blue checkmark next to it. Look at the bottom right corner of your screen. You’ll see a little curved arrow. That’s the forward button. Tap that, and a new message window opens up with the text already sitting there, waiting for a recipient.
It’s fast. It’s clean.
Sending a bunch of texts at once
Sometimes a single text doesn't tell the whole story. You might need to forward an entire argument, a long list of directions, or a series of photos. You don't have to do these one by one. That would be a nightmare.
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Follow the same steps as before: long-press one message and hit "More." But this time, instead of immediately hitting that arrow icon, look at the empty circles next to all the other messages in the thread. You can tap as many as you want. You could forward fifty messages at once if you really wanted to, though your recipient might hate you for the wall of text.
Once you’ve checked all the bubbles you need, hit that same curved arrow in the bottom right. Apple bundles them all together into one giant text block in the new message draft.
What about photos and attachments?
It works exactly the same way. If you’re trying to move a photo from a chat with your mom to a chat with your partner, just select the image in that "More" menu. The iPhone treats images, Memojis, and voice notes pretty much the same way as text when forwarding. However, keep in mind that if you forward a high-resolution video, it might get compressed depending on whether the recipient is using iMessage (blue bubbles) or standard SMS (green bubbles).
Why your forwarded texts might look weird
We’ve all seen it. You forward something and it shows up as a "MMS" or it fails entirely. If you're wondering how to forward text on iPhone to someone who doesn't have an iPhone, things get a bit finicky.
When you send a message between two iPhones, it uses Apple’s proprietary iMessage service. It’s encrypted, it’s fast, and it handles large files well. But the second you forward that text to an Android user, it drops down to SMS/MMS standards.
- SMS is for plain text.
- MMS is for media (photos, long texts).
If you are forwarding a very long message or a group of messages to an Android phone, your iPhone might try to send it as an MMS. If your cellular plan doesn't have "MMS Messaging" toggled on in your Settings (under Messages), the forward will simply fail. It’s a common headache. Always check that toggle if your green-bubble friends aren't getting your forwards.
The "Copy and Paste" alternative
Is forwarding always the best move? Not necessarily.
If you forward a message, the recipient doesn't see who originally sent it. It just looks like you typed it. If you want to show who said it and when they said it, a screenshot is usually better. But if you just need the data—like a confirmation code or an address—forwarding is the way to go.
Sometimes, though, the "More" menu is just buggy. If the forwarding arrow isn't appearing, just use the "Copy" function. Long-press, hit Copy, go to the other chat, tap the empty text field, and hit Paste. It’s the old-school way, but it works 100% of the time.
Dealing with Group Chats
Forwarding into or out of group chats is where things get messy. If you're in a group chat and you want to forward a message to someone outside that group, use the steps above. But be careful. If you're forwarding a message into a group chat, make sure you actually have the right group selected.
I’ve seen people accidentally forward a screenshot of a conversation back into the conversation they were talking about. It’s a social death sentence. Double-check the "To:" field before you hit send.
A note on RCS
As of late 2024 and moving into 2025/2026, Apple has finally started supporting RCS (Rich Communication Services). This makes forwarding to Android users much smoother. You get read receipts and high-quality images, similar to iMessage. If your iPhone is updated, you'll notice that forwarding photos to your Android friends doesn't turn them into grainy, pixelated messes anymore.
Common glitches and how to fix them
Sometimes the "More" button just... disappears. Or the little checkmark circles don't show up. Usually, this happens if your phone is low on memory or if the Messages app has been open for three weeks straight without a restart.
- Force quit the app. Swipe up from the bottom (or double-click the home button) and toss the Messages app off the screen.
- Check your Send & Receive settings. Go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive. Make sure your phone number is checked. If it isn't, the phone gets confused about how to handle outgoing forwards.
- The Restart. It’s a cliché for a reason. Turning it off and on again clears the cache and usually brings back the missing forwarding icons.
Privacy and Etiquette
Before you go forwarding everything in your inbox, remember that iMessage doesn't notify the original sender that you forwarded their text. Unlike some niche privacy apps or specific email setups, Apple keeps this quiet.
This is great for sharing info quickly, but it’s a double-edged sword. Just because you can forward a private confession or a sensitive work detail doesn't mean you should. Always consider the "Screenshot Rule": Never send anything in a text that you wouldn't want forwarded to the one person you'd least want to see it.
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Actionable Next Steps
To make sure you've actually got the hang of this, go try it right now. Open a chat with yourself or a close friend. Long-press a message, hit "More," select two or three different bubbles, and tap that curved arrow. See how the iPhone bundles them together in the draft box. If it looks like a mess, you can always hit "Cancel" before it sends.
Once you realize that the "More" button is just a gateway to selecting multiple items, the whole iPhone interface starts to make a lot more sense. You can use that same selection method to delete old texts or mark things as unread, too. It’s the primary way to manage your digital paper trail.