Yes, You Can Schedule a Text on an iPhone—Here's How (Feb 2023)

Can you schedule a text message on your iPhone? Learn how to use Shortcuts on your iPhone to schedule a text.

By Amy Spitzfaden–Both Updated 02/01/2023

What to Know

While you cannot schedule a text message in the Messages app, you can easily do this in your Apple Shortcuts app.
You can schedule a one-time message or schedule a reminder text to send at a set time each week or month.

Have you ever wanted to schedule a text message on your iPhone? Maybe you want to send weekly reminders of chores to your family or automatically let your spouse know when you're heading home. Scheduling a text message makes sure your text will get to your desired person at the desired time. Let's learn how to schedule a text on an iPhone.

How to Schedule a Text on iPhone

Can you schedule a text on an iPhone? Yes! But you'll need to use the Shortcuts app. This can be a little intimidating, but it turns out it's pretty easy! Scheduling texts on your iPhone is super handy if you want to send reminders on specific days, or even when you're performing certain actions, like leaving the house, or going to sleep. To learn more about iPhone shortcuts, check out our Tip of the Day newsletter.

Now, here's how to schedule a text on your iPhone:

To schedule a text, first you'll want to open your Shortcuts app.
At the bottom of the screen, tap the icon that says Automation.
Tap the Add icon. If you don't see the Add icon or have any existing automations, skip to step 4.
Tap Create Personal Automation.
In the New Automation menu, choose your text message's prompt. In this example, I will use Time of Day, but there are lots of options to choose from.
If using Time of Day, choose from Sunrise, Sunset, or Time of Day to set a specific time to send the text message.
Under Repeat, select Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.
If Weekly or Monthly, select the day(s) of the week or month. For Weekly, all the days of the week will be automatically selected, so tap any day to deselect.
Tap Next.
Tap Send Message.
In the box that says Send "Message" to Recipient, tap "Message" to compose the automated text.
Tap Recipients to choose your recipients.
Once you've chosen your recipients, tap Done.
Tap Next.
Review your automation and toggle Ask Before Running on or off, depending on whether you want your iPhone to ask you before running the automation.
Tap Done.
You can now find this in your Automations tab.
To delete the automation, just swipe left and tap Delete.

Now your text messages should send right on schedule (unless you deleted the automation)!

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Author Details

Amy Spitzfaden–Both

Amy Spitzfaden Both is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life, an award-winning novelist, and an iPhone enthusiast. Over the past decade, her work in the publishing industry has included live coverage of industry events including the Yale Publishing Course and Magazine Innovation’s ACT 9 Experience, providing editing services for several start-up publishing houses, and acting as newsstand consultant for magazines such as The Old Farmer’s Almanac and The New York Review of Books. She graduated from M.I.U. with a Bachelor’s in Literature and Writing, and has gone on to publish two novels and two short stories. Her debut novel Untold won the 2014 Chelson Award for Fiction.
Writing everything from book reviews to skincare tips, Amy discovered a passion for bringing exciting and useful information to even the most casual researcher. The mix of usability and endless possibilities is what drew her to Apple products originally, and the more she learns, the more she loves.
Amy lives in New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. When she’s not writing or glued to her iPhone, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and creating her own tea blends.