Digital Smarts - How to Stop a Text From Sending on Your iPhone

One of the first rules of sending a text or email when you are angry is to write it, stop, breathe for 5 minutes, and then seriously consider how the person on the other end is going to “receive” it before pushing send. When you forget that rule and experience immediate regret upon sending a text, is there any way to get it to stop?

It is difficult to do, but if you have an iPhone, here is the trick: while your text message is in the process of being sent -- that is, when ‘Sending Message” is still shown at the top of the Messages app along with the blue status bar creeping its way across the screen -- quickly swipe up from the bottom of the screen to pull up the Control Center and tap the Airplane Mode button. After a few seconds, you'll get a notification that your message failed to send, and when you exit Airplane Mode, the text message will not resume sending and will show up as Not Delivered. But hurry, it can be really hard to move faster than the speed of your angry text, especially if it is short or you have great signal.