Why isn't the link in my SMS tappable?

Updated 9 October 2026 · 127 views

A link in an SMS is turned into a tappable link by the recipient's phone, not by us. We deliver the message as plain text, and the phone decides whether a piece of that text looks like a web address. If a link arrives as plain text, the cause is almost always one of the three below.

Phones only recognise a link that stands on its own. Make sure the address starts with https:// and has a space before it and a space after it.

These will not be recognised on most phones:

  • Support our appeal.https://example.com/appeal (no space between the full stop and the link)
  • Book here:https://example.com/book (no space after the colon)
  • Visit example.com/book (no https://)

This will:

  • Support our appeal. https://example.com/appeal

The same applies when you use link tracking. The short https://addr.au/ link we insert is a full web address, so it just needs the same spacing around it.

iPhones and senders not in the contacts list

If the recipient uses an iPhone and the message comes from a number that is not saved in their contacts, iOS shows any links as plain text. This is a security feature in the Messages app and applies to every sender, including well-known companies. It is not something we can change from our side.

The links become tappable once the recipient does any one of these:

  • replies to the message, with anything at all
  • reacts to the message (press and hold it, then tap the thumbs up)
  • saves the sender's number to their contacts
  • copies the link and pastes it into Safari

Sometimes the phone enables the links on its own after a short delay. Because this only affects first contact, links in later messages from the same number are usually tappable once the recipient has replied or saved the number.

Messages filtered as spam

Both iPhones and Android phones disable links in messages that the phone has filtered as junk or moved to an unknown senders list. If the recipient finds the message in that list, moving it out or marking it as not junk restores the links. See Why was my SMS marked as spam on a phone? for how that filtering works.

Checking your own message

Open History and view the message to see exactly how the link was written in the text that was sent. If the spacing and https:// are correct and the message was delivered, the phone-side rules above are the reason.

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