Here’s how to fix iOS 26 iMessage activation bug on phone number, with the fix coming straight from Apple in official capacity.
With iOS 26 final version being available to consumers for a while now, and with a bug fix iOS 26.0.1 update also being available, there are still some users having issue with iMessage activation on their phone number.
The good news is that Apple has acknowledged the problem, with a proper fix likely coming later in a future software update. But for now, Apple has shared a workaround fix that can be tried to help fix this problem.
Apple says that “when you update to iOS 26, you might not be able to activate iMessage with your phone number if you have an inactive SIM with the same phone number as your active SIM.” To fix this issue, Apple suggests to remove or delete the inactive SIM you have on your phone for iMessage activation to go through successfully on your iPhone.
Here are the steps on how to go about removing or deleting the inactive SIM you have on your iPhone.
Step 1: Head to Settings > Cellular.
Step 2: If you have two SIMs with same phone number, with one being active and one being non-active, if the non-active SIM is physical, simply remove it from the SIM tray. If it’s eSIM, then tap Delete eSIM to remove the inactive SIM.
Step 3: Once the inactive SIM is removed, head over to Settings > Apps > Messages.
Step 4: Tap Send & Receive and then tap on your phone number for iMessage Activation to go through.
This should help fix the problem.
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