How to see when a text message was sent, on iPhone and Mac

On the iPhone, open the conversation and swipe left: the time of every message appears on the right. On the Mac, Control-click a message and choose Show Times, or swipe left with two fingers on the trackpad. Both show hours and minutes. To see the time to the second, or to keep every time in a printout, open the conversation in Textbound.

Updated November 2, 2026

On the iPhone

Open the conversation in Messages.
Put your finger on the conversation and drag it to the left.
Read the times on the right of each message; let go to hide them.

The date appears in gray above the first message of each day or after a long pause. Under your last message you see Delivered, or Read with a time if the other person has read receipts on.

On the Mac

Open the conversation in Messages.
Control-click a message and choose Show Times. With a trackpad or a Magic Mouse, you can instead swipe left with two fingers on the message.

The exact time, to the second

Messages records the moment of every message far more precisely than it shows. Textbound reads that record from the Messages history on your Mac and shows it: hold the pointer over a message to see its date, its time to the second and the service (iMessage or SMS); Control-click and choose Copy Time to paste it elsewhere. In an export with the Record layout, every message has its date and time to the second on its row, with read times, edits and their earlier versions, and the time zone on the cover.

Download for Mac — free

Free to view every conversation · Record exports are part of Pro, $19.99 once · macOS 14 or later

Time zones

Messages stores each moment in universal time and shows it in your device's current time zone, so the same message shows a different hour after you travel. Textbound shows times in your Mac's time zone and says which on the export's cover. If the times need to match another place, for example a court in another state, choose that zone in Textbound › Settings › Times shown in before you export.

Questions

Why don't I see a time on every message?

Messages shows the time only at the start of a day or after a pause, to keep the conversation clean. Swipe left on the iPhone, or choose Show Times on the Mac, to see all of them.

Can I see the seconds a text was sent?

Not in Messages, which shows minutes. Textbound shows each message's time to the second and prints it in the Record layout.

Can I see when my message was read?

Only if the other person has read receipts turned on: the iPhone then shows Read with a time under your last message. A Record export lists the read time of every message that has one.

Does the time change if I travel?

The moment doesn't change, but it is shown in your current time zone. Textbound names the time zone on every export, so it is clear which zone a printout uses.

Can I print text messages with their times?

Yes. Export the conversation with the Record layout and print the PDF: every message has its date and time on its row.

See every time to the second

Download for Mac — free