Most of the time, when a guy doesn't respond to a text immediately, he's just busy. Either he is busy with work, or maybe he's visiting family. He could also be running some household errands. Give him some time, and he'll get back to you.
Truth – When a guy just stops texting you or replying to your messages or gives silly one-word answers, it's a pretty clear indicator he's not interested in you anymore. Perhaps, he just doesn't want to say it. Many guys drop the hint and hope you are the one that figures it out and moves on.
A guy may not text you for various reasons. He might be genuinely busy with his life, or something important must be going on with him. However, if you don't hear from him for over a week, he might not be into you anymore and is probably ignoring you.
Give him a day to think about things, and if he doesn't text you by morning, you can text him to ask if everything is okay between you. Again, don't make it a confrontational text. Simply ask the question and wait for him to respond before you send another text.
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.
Well, in short, just three days. While every relationship is different, three days is enough time to consider yourself ghosted. Sure, everyone has emergencies or can come up with a valid excuse for not responding, but letting things linger for three days or longer is enough to categorise it as a ghosted situation.
Give it a few days (or even a week).
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. Waiting 2–3 days or up to a week before reaching out gives him a chance to text you first once he realizes what he's missing.
Dry texting is what happens when someone gives you short, non-engaging replies in a texting conversation. It can also be super repetitive and just plain boring, says Claudia Cox, a relationship coach and founder of Text Weapon.
If a guy truly starts to ignore you, it's usually either because he is upset with you and needs you to give him space, he is losing interest, he feels like the relationship is moving too fast, he is playing games with you or trying to lead you on.
He may be motivated by revenge; he feels that you've ignored him, so he's doing the same. If you're mid-argument, he might be ignoring you until the situation calms down, especially if he's uncomfortable with conflict or feels the war of words is getting you nowhere.
Here's another term to know: breadcrumbing. Someone who breadcrumbs leads you on by dropping small morsels of interest — an occasional message, phone call, date plan, or social media interaction. These happen sporadically and usually don't have any followthrough.
What is cold texting? In the sales and business world, cold contacting a customer is generally done via phone or email without context or a prior business relationship. Cold text messaging is similar to cold calling and emailing in this way.
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.
He might be busy, he might not like texting, or he might not be into you. Dry texting is incredibly frustrating, but try to be patient for the first couple of short texts or long response times. If he starts the conversation up again or starts sending more detailed messages, he was probably just busy.
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.
“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?
Overwhelmingly, all the experts we consulted recommend not texting anything after being ghosted. We know! It's hard. Sending a message is just not worth your time or energy, especially since you can't control the response.
Ghosting is a relatively new colloquial dating term that refers to abruptly cutting off contact with someone without giving that person any warning or explanation for doing so. Even when the person being ghosted reaches out to re-initiate contact or gain closure, they're met with silence.
It's also okay if you decide you want to call out your ghoster. Not everyone will be content to just let a ghoster go. If you want to express that what they did was hurtful and disrespectful, that's a perfectly valid response, too. But experts warn it may not bring real closure or a sense of emotional satisfaction.