How to Message On Tinder

Tinder can be a convenient tool for meeting new people, but its approach to sending a message to another user is significantly different from how chat is designed on other dating apps. Here's everything you need to know about how to message someone on Tinder.

How Messaging Works On Tinder

Unlike other social media and dating apps that let you immediately send a direct message (DM) to another user, Tinder requires both parties to have expressed interest in each other before lines of communication are opened.

What this means is that you need to swipe right on a user's profile and they need to swipe right on your profile in order to communicate with them. Once both parties have swiped right on each other, each of you will receive a notification within the app about a new match and you will be added to each other's chat tab.

In addition to swiping right, you can tap on the heart icon on a user's Tinder profile to express interest. Both actions perform the same function.

Sometimes this can require a bit of a wait for the other user to view your profile and like it after you've liked them. If they've already liked you, you will be immediately notified of the match as soon as you swipe right.

Conversely, if the other user never sees your profile or chooses to swipe left on it due to them being uninterested, you will not match and will never be able to message each other on Tinder.

Learn 5 ways to optimize your Tinder profile.

How to Message Someone On The Tinder App

Once you've matched with someone on Tinder, you'll be able to message each other via the chat tab within the mobile app. These instructions are the same for both the iOS and Android versions.

After you've matched with someone on Tinder, tap on the icon that looks like a speech bubble in the upper-right corner of the app.

If you immediately match with another user after swiping right on their profile, you may be presented with a fullscreen message prompting you to message them. If you see one of these notifications, simply tap on it to begin composing a chat message.
You will now be shown a screen with all of your matches listed horizontally across the top with a vertical list of received messages underneath. Tap on the image of the user you want to message from the top list.
A chat window will open. Tap on the text field along the bottom of the screen and type your message.

Alternatively, you can also tap on the GIF icon to send an animated gif or the Bitmoji Sticker icon to send a sticker.
Select Send.
Your message will now be sent to the other person and you'll both be able to chat as you would on other messaging apps like WhatsApp, Vero, and Facebook Messenger.

How to Send A Message On The Tinder Website

You can also send messages to other Tinder users on the official Tinder website. Here's how.

Like with the Tinder apps, you will only be able to send a message to someone else on the Tinder website if you have matched with one another.

Go to the official Tinder website and log into your account.
On the left side of the screen, you should see a list of everyone you've matched with on Tinder. Select the profile of the person you want to chat with.
Along the bottom of the screen, select the text field where it says Type a message.
Type your message and select Send.

All Tinder messages will sync between the web version and any apps that use the same account information. That means you can start a chat on your computer and continue it on the Tinder app on your smartphone or vice versa.
Your Tinder chat will now be active.