Message requests exist for your own safety and to prevent unknown Signal contacts from directly chatting or calling you.
In this article, we explain message requests in more detail. What are message requests in Signal, what do they look like, and what should you do when you receive a message request?
What is a message request on Signal?
If someone on Signal that you have never had a conversation with before sends you a message, or tries to start a call with you, you will receive a message request from them.
Message requests should be carefully reviewed to avoid engaging with a potential scammer or spammer. The person trying to reach you may be someone you know, but they could also be malicious.
The sender cannot see that you have opened the message request or that you have read the messages in the chat.
You can delete, block, report, or, if you know or trust the person, accept message requests.
What does a message request look like in Signal?
A message request in Signal appears in your chat list as follows:
As shown in the screenshot above, you can see the profile name of the person trying to contact you, with their profile picture blurred. Signal intentionally blurs profile photos to prevent misuse, like someone using your bank’s logo or a friend’s profile picture to mislead you. Remember that names are chosen by account holders and are not verified by Signal, so be mindful of impersonation.
What to do when you receive a message request in Signal?
When you open the message request, you can review it in the chat.
You can read the received messages without the sender knowing you have read them. For your safety, any links in the chat are only clickable after you accept the message request. Be careful here: if someone you don’t know suddenly sends a link, it is likely spam or phishing.
Under the profile name in the chat, Signal also shows whether you share any groups with this person. You can also unblur the profile picture by tapping “View”. However, be cautious as profile pictures can be fake.
If you tap safety tips under the profile name in the chat, you will see various tips that can help you safely review message requests:
After reviewing it, you can delete, block, report, or, if you trust the person, accept the message request as a contact.
Deleting a message request
If you delete the message request immediately without opening the chat, you remove the conversation from your device. In the case of a group chat, you will also automatically leave the group.
Blocking a person or group in a message request
If you block a person in a one-to-one chat, you will no longer receive notifications from them: no messages, no calls, and no group invites. This person will not know that you have blocked them, and they will not know that you have read the message request or the messages in the chat. Blocked users will also no longer see changes to your profile name or profile picture.
If it is a message request for a group and you block the group chat, you will automatically leave the group and group members will see that you left. You will no longer receive messages or updates from the group. Group members will not see changes to your profile name or profile picture. Once you have blocked a group, you cannot be added to it again.
Reporting and blocking a message request
If you do not know the person and it is likely spam or phishing, you can also report the person or group to Signal. By reporting a chat, you help Signal combat spam.
Signal does not receive any messages or other chat content when you report.
Accepting a contact from a message request
If you know and trust the person and accept the message request, they can see your Signal profile (name, profile picture, and optional “About” description) and send you messages or call you via Signal. They may also see that you have read their messages, if both of you have enabled read receipts (which are on by default).
They will also be added to your contacts list in Signal, becoming a Signal contact.
When accepting a message request, you’ll see a confirmation pop-up:
Summary of message requests
If you receive a message request on Signal, there is no need to panic. You have simply received a message or call from someone you have never contacted before on Signal.
This could be someone you know, but it could also be spam, phishing, or a scammer. Or it could be someone who simply typed the wrong number by mistake.
It is important to carefully review message requests and make sure the person is actually who you think they are.
Based on your assessment, you can block, report, or accept the request.
If you are sure it is someone you want to communicate with on Signal, you can accept the message request and add them to your Signal contacts.
To learn more about spam and phishing attempts on Signal, read our article: Tentativi di phishing su Signal – come funzionano e come proteggersi.
