He compliments you a lot but never tries to kiss you: what to do

Look at the shape of his messages, not just the words. A compliment that comes with a question about you, a joke that refers back to something you said, or a suggestion to do something is different from a compliment that sits there as the whole message. The first kind usually means he's interested and building comfort. The second kind often means he likes being nice to you while keeping anything physical vague.

Check the pattern across several days. If he compliments you every time you talk but never steers toward seeing you, the gap between his words and his effort is the real signal. A guy who is into you tends to want time with you, and the kiss question usually comes up once there's a plan to be near each other.

Take the compliment without shrinking from it. Deflecting with a joke or a line that makes fun of yourself tells him the warmth landed somewhere awkward, and he'll likely dial back. Say thanks in a plain way, then add one specific detail that shows you noticed something about him too, like the story he told about his sister or the photo from his trip. That gives him a topic that isn't about whether he's allowed to be affectionate.

Then give him a direction that involves being in the same room. A low pressure suggestion works best, with a specific place and a specific time. Avoid asking whether he's going to kiss you, and avoid hinting so heavily that he has to decode it. He needs an easy yes or a clear no, and either answer teaches you something.

Send the plan within a day of his last compliment, while the conversation still feels warm. If you wait several days, the compliments start to feel like a text thread rather than a reason to meet. When he answers with something vague like we should or soon, make one more concrete offer with a day and time, then let it sit.

If he doesn't respond to the plan, give it about two days before one light follow up that references something from your conversation, not the plan itself. If that also gets nothing, stop initiating for a while and don't keep sending compliments to fill the silence. Stop altogether once he has had two clear chances to say yes and has used both on words instead of time. If he's still replying normally to other messages, the issue is the plan, not the chat.