How Many Days Should I Wait to Text Him? Here's What Dating Experts Say (2023)

FAQs

How many days should I wait for him to reply? ›

Give it a few days (or even a week).

Just because a guy hasn't reached out yet doesn't mean he's not interested – he still could be! It might feel tough waiting for him to text you, but your crush might truly be busy and unable to respond to your messages right away.

A week gives the person enough time to thoughtfully respond.

Even though it's a little old-fashioned, some people will wait 3 days after a date to text you back to make you miss them more. Waiting any longer than a week could be a sign they're not interested, and it might be best to let the conversation die out.

Popularized by the romcom, the three-day dating rule insists that a person wait three full days before contacting a potential suitor. A first-day text or call is too eager, a second-day contact seems planned, but three days is, somehow, the perfect amount of time.

“And anything longer than 12 hours begins to look like something far more problematic — an illness, a crisis, or direct avoidance.” Bottom line: If they take more than 12 hours to respond and don't offer an explanation, you have reason to feel wary. What Reasons Might Your Partner Have For Their Texting Behavior?

Fifteen to twenty minutes is a loose average for a friend or mate (the Google Research study found 20 minutes was the magic number). Of course, there are often other life factors at play—everything from a demanding season in their career to the birth of a new baby will impact response times, and understandably.

Spacing out conversations instead of texting all the time can build attraction, especially when first meeting someone. Sending more than 1 followup will not only make you seem desperate, but could also annoy the other person if they don't want to talk.

If he is not responding to your text, simply say that you are sorry if you said something wrong and then ask if he is ready to talk or to ping you once he is. This dialogue comes into play if you have done something wrong or you know what you last said or wrote may have hurt his feelings.

1 He thinks you're busy. 2 He's trying to brush it off. 3 He might think you're playing “hard to get.” 4 He's worried you're ignoring him because you're upset.

Yes, in some ways, guys differ, but men still have feelings and emotions even if they don't show it. So when you don't text back, he may lose interest or feel unimportant in your life. For some reason, women think that not texting back is cute and makes them more attractive, but to men, it isn't.

160 characters in the U.S. and Canada is the industry-standard maximum for SMS messages across all carriers and phones.

How long is too long text response? ›

Reply within 30–60 minutes to play it a little cool.

While it's okay to reply later if you're actually busy, purposefully waiting to text somebody might feel disrespectful if you're available. If you had to make the person wait for more than an hour, offer them an apology and explain what kept you from messaging them.

Maximum text message length

The maximum number of characters for a text message is 160 characters, including spaces.

If it has been less than a couple of days then try to not let his lack of contact bother you. There is a good chance he is busy and this is nothing to worry about. Get home from work, put your phone on aeroplane mode and avoid checking your WhatsApp status or social media activity.

Maybe he had a rough past relationship and is still recovering. Often, men take time to open up and respond in such cases. They might be interested in you, but they are simply being cautious and taking the time to respond and reciprocate. You need to be patient with them.

Breadcrumbing is the act of sending out flirtatious, but non-committal social signals (i.e. "breadcrumbs") in order to lure a romantic partner in without expending much effort. In other words, it's leading someone on.

Out of 132 people who participated, 89% (118 people) voted that texting back quickly is a TURN-ON and 11% (14 people) voted TURN-OFF. One voter let me know she tapped “off” by accident so these results are slightly skewed, but still—the results are clearly in favor of texting back fast being a turn on.

According to their study messaging etiquette says waiting more than 20 minutes to respond can be seen as rude.

The fact is that 95% of texts will be read within 3 minutes of being sent, with the average response time for a text being a mere 90 seconds. This comes to show that if you're not getting the response you're waiting for, either the person you've texted hasn't yet seen your message or is purposefully avoiding you.

The guy may not be texting you every chance he gets free, but he may text you at least once in the day if he likes you. Just remember he has a life, a job, or maybe school and can't always text as often as you may be able to with your life. Just because he doesn't respond right away doesn't mean he's lost interest.

Tell him how you appreciate him doing things for you or how you liked the way he dealt with a certain situation. Compliments like these will re-instill is self confidence and he will start loving you more. He will automatically do more things that he knows will make you happy.

Will not texting him make him miss me? ›

The best way to make a guy miss you is to pull away. Refrain from texting or calling him for the smallest things. If you reach out to him constantly, he does not have any chance to miss you. Instead, give your special person a reason and some time to miss you.

Two or three times a week if you're keeping it casual.

Only texting them a couple of times lets your partner have some space and gives them the chance to reach out first too. You might send a text to let your partner know you're thinking of them or to plan when you're going to see them next.

So, despite being a bit shady, both experts agreed that leaving someone on read can definitely work to make you seem more desirable — but it can be a mixed bag further down the line. Keegan explains that, as a seduction strategy, keeping someone on read can work. However, it can also appear like a red flag about you.

Yes, guys sometimes wait for you to text first.

While some guys like to make the first move, others are a bit shy. Don't be afraid to make the first move! Pay attention to how the guy acts around you. If he smiles and talks to you, he might like you back.

If your dude has slowed down his responses to your texts or if he's not returning your calls, there's a good chance that he's being a wuss and slowly making an exit. "The guy may start to communicate less, so no more good morning text messages, shortened responses and fewer details about his life," explains Ritter.

Give them the benefit of the doubt, both experts agree. If you wait seven days, without sending a double text, and your inbox is still at zero, you should take that as a sign too. No response is a response, Fields says.

If you haven't already initiated contact with him, then go ahead and send a brief text. He may be sitting there waiting for you to text, just the way you're sitting and waiting for him to text. Send a quick “Hello” text, and keep it light and non-confrontational. You don't want to start a fight where there isn't one.

Should I text him back after he ignored me for days? ›

If he is ignoring you and is not texting you back, then you have to wait at least 2 to 3 days before texting him lower back. This will be a polite follow-up textual content, after which you could see what happens from there.