topic iMessage not working after porting number in Get Support

iMessage not working after porting number

DebSpencley — Sat, 23 May 2026 00:10:55 GMT

I ported my number on Thursday when I changed my service from Lucky to Public. Now, iMessage will not work with my phone number, and I have tried everything to fix it.
I’ve tried:

-restarting my phone, with iMessage off, on, and all various formats

-resetting network settings and restarting my phone

-checking that my numbers are correct in settings, and then resetting the iMessage switch

each time, I’m met with the “error during activation” message, which from my own research should mean that it’s a carrier problem?

is there anything I can do?

Re: iMessage not working after porting number

hTideGnow — Sat, 23 May 2026 00:13:45 GMT

hi @DebSpencley

you need to clearly re-register iMessage.

go to Settings, Phone, My Number menu and remove the phone number manually

Wait 15 minutes and reboot the phone. Then go back to the same menu to manually put the phone number back to re-register iMessage. It might take some time, just wait

Re: iMessage not working after porting number

DebSpencley — Sat, 23 May 2026 00:15:36 GMT

I’ll try that and let you know if it works

Re: iMessage not working after porting number

DebSpencley — Sun, 24 May 2026 09:04:23 GMT

Turns out it was an issue on Public’s end. All I had to do was wait for them to reauthorize my number, as I brought the same number from my previous carrier and it glitched the system a little. All is well now however.