How to get out of annoying group texts on iOS and Android

Anyone who’s gotten stuck in an unwanted group text knows how terrible it can be. Your phone blows up uncontrollably, and all you can do is hope the thread eventually quiets down.

Luckily, Apple added support way back in iOS 8 to easily remove yourself from an iMessage Group, and it’s still here in iOS 16.

Android finally started offering an iMessage equivalent called Chat for all users in 2019. You can’t leave a group message as you can an iMessage. But you can mute future updates so your phone doesn’t keep alerting you every time someone responds to the group conversation.

Below, we’ll walk you through how to opt out of a group text on your iOS and Android devices.

How to leave group texts on iMessage

1. Open the group text you want to leave

Remove yourself from group texts on iOS
Credit: Apple

First step is to open the Messages app in iOS and select the Group message you’d like to leave.

2. Select the “Info” button

Step 2 for how to get out of group texts on iOS
Credit: Apple

You’ll want to tap right under the status bar on the images or initials of those in the Group chat. This will open a new drop-down menu, and you’ll select the “info” button

3. Select “Leave this Conversation”

Remove yourself from group texts on iOS in three steps.
Credit: Apple

Tapping the “info” button will bring you to the details section. Just select “Leave this Conversation” at the bottom of the screen, and you will be removed.

If the “Leave this Conversation” option is not shown, it means someone in the group text does not have iMessage on or isn’t running the latest version of iOS. If that’s the case, you won’t be able to leave the conversation. The workaround is either to delete the message or mute notifications by selecting “Hide Alerts.”

How to leave group texts on Android

For Android users, Chat does not allow users to leave a conversation entirely. Instead, you’ll need to mute the conversation (Google calls this “hiding” the conversation). The conversation will still live on in Chat, but your phone won’t be constantly going off every time someone responds.

To mute a group text in Android, follow these steps:

1. Tap the group conversation.

2. At the top, tap the down arrow, then select “Hide Conversation.”

If there’s just one major offender on the group text, you unfortunately can’t hide updates only from them. You must hide the entire group conversation. However, you can block that person from messaging you directly.