{
  "slug": "imessage",
  "name": "iMessage",
  "maker": "Apple",
  "category": "chats",
  "verdict": "y",
  "answer": "Yes. Only you and the people you message can read your iMessages. Your iCloud backup is the exception: Apple can open it unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection.",
  "title": "Is iMessage encrypted? Messages, iCloud and backups",
  "description": "Only you and the people you message can read iMessages, with post-quantum keys. iCloud backups are only sealed with Advanced Data Protection.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "msg",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Only you and the people you message",
      "note": "Apple says it can't decrypt iMessages or their attachments.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Messages"
    },
    {
      "key": "grp",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Only you and the group",
      "note": "Each message is sealed separately for every person and device in the group.",
      "sources": [
        2
      ],
      "label": "Group chats"
    },
    {
      "key": "call",
      "status": "na",
      "words": "Not offered",
      "note": "Calls from Messages go through FaceTime, which has its own page.",
      "sources": [],
      "label": "Calls"
    },
    {
      "key": "bak",
      "status": "o",
      "words": "Only you, once you turn it on",
      "note": "With standard settings and iCloud Backup on, Apple holds the keys to your backup, which includes the key to Messages in iCloud, until you turn on Advanced Data Protection.",
      "sources": [
        5,
        6
      ],
      "label": "Backups"
    },
    {
      "key": "pq",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Yes",
      "note": "Apple's PQ3 adds post-quantum keys when a chat starts and keeps refreshing them, on iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, watchOS 10.4 and later.",
      "sources": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "label": "Post-quantum"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [
    {
      "key": "rcs",
      "label": "Texts to Android phones",
      "icon": "msg",
      "status": "p",
      "words": "Partly",
      "note": "On iOS 26.5 or later, RCS chats with Android phones can be sealed, in beta, when every person's carrier supports it, but SMS and MMS texts never are.",
      "sources": [
        9
      ]
    }
  ],
  "keys": "Your devices. Apple says it can't decrypt iMessages, but if you use iCloud Backup with standard settings, the backup holds a copy of the Messages in iCloud key.",
  "can_see": "Apple keeps logs of lookups that check whether a phone number or email can get iMessage for up to 25 days, and delivery details like timestamps and routing aren't sealed.",
  "business": null,
  "fix": {
    "title": "Seal your iCloud backup, once",
    "steps": [
      "Open Settings, tap your name, then tap iCloud.",
      "Scroll down, tap Advanced Data Protection, then tap Turn on Advanced Data Protection.",
      "Follow the steps to set up a recovery contact or a recovery key, then turn it on."
    ],
    "after": "Your iCloud Backup and Messages in iCloud are then sealed with keys only your devices hold. Keep your recovery methods safe: Apple doesn't have the keys to help you get your data back. Apple no longer offers this to new users in the UK."
  },
  "fix_line": "Turn on Advanced Data Protection: Settings › your name › iCloud › Advanced Data Protection.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "can-apple-read-my-imessages",
      "q": "Can Apple read my iMessages?",
      "a": "No. Apple says iMessages and their attachments are end-to-end encrypted, so no one but the sender and receiver can read them, and Apple can't decrypt them [1].\n\nThe catch is iCloud. With standard settings, if iCloud Backup is on, your backup includes the key to Messages in iCloud, and Apple holds the keys to that backup [5]. If you turn on Advanced Data Protection, the backup and that key are sealed too [5].\n\nApple does keep some data about how you use iMessage. It logs lookups that check whether a number or email can get iMessage, for up to 25 days [8], and delivery details like timestamps and routing aren't encrypted [2]."
    },
    {
      "id": "is-imessage-quantum-safe",
      "q": "Is iMessage quantum safe?",
      "a": "Yes, for chats between up-to-date devices. Apple's PQ3, added in iOS 17.4, mixes a post-quantum key with a classic one when a chat starts, then keeps refreshing the post-quantum key as the chat goes on [3].\n\nApple says it built this against attackers who collect encrypted messages now to open them later with a quantum computer [4]."
    },
    {
      "id": "are-green-bubble-texts-encrypted",
      "q": "Are green bubble texts encrypted?",
      "a": "Sometimes. SMS and MMS texts are not end-to-end encrypted [9]. On iOS 26.5 or later, RCS chats with Android phones can be, in beta, when every person's carrier supports it. Those chats show Encrypted and a lock at the top [9].\n\nIf you don't see the lock, Apple says the messages aren't protected from others reading them on the way [9]."
    },
    {
      "id": "advanced-data-protection-uk",
      "q": "Can I turn on Advanced Data Protection in the UK?",
      "a": "No. Apple no longer offers Advanced Data Protection to new users in the UK, and says people there who already turned it on will have to turn it off to keep using iCloud [7]. Apple says iMessage itself stays end-to-end encrypted in the UK, but iCloud Backup stays under standard protection, where Apple holds the keys [7]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "iMessage security overview, Apple Platform Security",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/security/imessage-security-overview-secd9764312f/web",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "How iMessage sends and receives messages securely, Apple Platform Security",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/security/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949/web",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "iMessage with PQ3: The new state of the art in quantum-secure messaging at scale (21 February 2024)",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://security.apple.com/blog/imessage-pq3/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Quantum-secure cryptography in Apple operating systems, Apple Platform Security",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/security/quantum-secure-cryptography-apple-devices-secc7c82e533/web",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "iCloud data security overview",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/en-us/108756",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection in the United Kingdom to new users",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/en-us/122234",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Legal Process Guidelines, U.S. Law Enforcement",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelines-us.pdf",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "What is the difference between iMessage, RCS, and SMS/MMS?",
      "publisher": "Apple",
      "url": "https://support.apple.com/en-us/104972",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "facetime",
    "signal",
    "whatsapp",
    "google-messages",
    "icloud"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/imessage/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}