Messaging allows you to communicate with other athletes without leaving the Strava app. Coordinate activities, share Strava routes and activities, and connect with your community on Strava. Messaging is only available on the Strava mobile app at this time.
Sending a New Message
Message a friend or start a group chat for you and multiple other members. You can send messages to Strava athletes who follow you but you may not be able to message another athlete depending on their privacy controls.
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- Tap the Message button on the profile of the athlete you wish to message.
- Tap the speech bubble icon from the Home and Groups tab. Tap the pencil icon in the upper right to choose from a list of athletes that follow you.
Tap the share icon on an eligible Strava activity, event, or route to share it in a chat. You’ll have the option to choose from existing chats or create a new one.
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- To share your own activity, the activity’s privacy controls must be set to “Everyone” or “Followers”. Please be aware that everyone in the chat will be able to see a preview of your “Followers” activity but only participants that follow you will be able to view the full activity details.
- For others to share your activity, the privacy controls must be set to “Everyone.” However, another Strava athlete who follows you could copy and paste the link to a “Followers” activity in a chat.
Viewing Existing Messages
Tap the speech bubble icon to open a list of chats you’ve already started and any message requests.
Long pressing on messages will reveal emoji reactions and additional options depending on whether you sent or received the message:
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- Reply to and copy any message.
- Edit and delete the messages you sent.
- Flag messages you’ve received. This will send a copy of the message to the Strava Trust & Safety team for investigation.
If you are blocked by an athlete, all messages will be deleted, and you will not be able to return to the conversation.
Chat Settings
You can control certain aspects of individual chats by opening the chat and tapping the icon in the upper right of the channel.
Creators can:
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- Name the conversation, if it's a group chat.
- Delete the conversation.
- If you created a group message you can also manage (add or remove) participants and control whether participants can invite other athletes.
Members can:
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- View the participants.
- Mute the conversation.
- Invite participants if it’s allowed by the creator.
- Leave the conversation.
Why Can’t I Access Messaging?
You’ll need to have entered your date of birth in your settings in order to access messaging.
If you've entered your birthdate and you're still unable to access messaging, please be aware that we have implemented mechanisms to detect and prevent suspicious, underage, or unsafe activity on Strava which may include limiting access to messaging. Please note messaging is only available to users 18 and over. We are firmly committed to athlete safety, persistently reviewing and improving our systems to uphold the utmost standard of safety and security for all our athletes.
Messaging Privacy Controls
Managing Who Can Message You
Tap the settings icon in the upper right of the You tab, then tap Privacy Controls and look for Who can message you on iOS or Messaging under “Additional Controls.” Alternatively, tap the speech bubble icon in the upper right corner of the Home or Groups tab. Tap the setting icon in the upper right corner of the next page.
Choose between the settings below to decide who can message you:
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- Following: Anyone you follow will be able to message you.
- Mutuals: Only people you follow and who follow you back can message you.
- No one: No one can message you first but you can start chats with others.
Online Status
Tap the speech bubble icon in the upper right corner of the Home or Groups tab. Tap the setting icon in the upper right corner of the next page. Look for the “Show When Online” toggle.
When you have the Strava app open, a green dot will appear next to your profile picture in the chat list to indicate when you are currently online. The top of individual chats will also show your status or the last time you were online. Disabling this setting will hide your online status from other participants in direct and group messages.
For further information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
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