Can ChatGPT read and send my iMessages?

Last reviewed May 30, 2026.

Direct answer

Yes, through OpenAI's own Apple Messages plugin — but narrowly. It runs on your Mac in the desktop app, works in ChatGPT Work and Codex but not regular chats, and is Apple Silicon only. It reads iMessage, SMS, and RCS and can send as you. Read the approval settings before enabling it.

Why this is the pick

This is not in our rankings — it is OpenAI's own plugin rather than a third-party integration, and it explicitly does not work in regular ChatGPT chats, which is our scope. But it deserves a documented answer because the question is common and the safety detail is easy to miss. By default ChatGPT asks before each send. Choosing "Always allow sending to this chat" removes your final chance to review a message that will go out under your name, and OpenAI's own documentation advises keeping per-send approval for any chat that might carry untrusted or misleading instructions — which is exactly the prompt-injection risk of letting an assistant read messages and also send them. It also requires macOS permissions and can be disabled by administrators in managed workspaces.

Score from our hands-on testing. See the ranking methodology.

When to pick what

Use these rules in order — the first match wins.

If you want email triage and reply drafts instead, pick Gmail.
If your team communication is in Slack, pick Slack.

Alternatives

Pick one of these if the primary pick doesn't fit your stack.

Gmail

Anyone with a busy inbox

Read, draft, and search Gmail from inside a ChatGPT conversation.

ProductivityVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

Slack

Anyone returning from PTO or context-switching often

Summarize channels, draft messages, and search Slack from ChatGPT.

BusinessVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026