This is the best tech support youtube video I've ever seen for pace, clarity, and usefulness of information. My iMessage is now working as it should. Thanks!!!!
I watched a couple of videos trying to resolve this issue that suddenly popped up and none of them spoke in a tech-language I understood. Your instructions were simple, clear, and it fixed my messaging problem immediately. Thanks so much for this.
I don't usually leave reviews. This video was sooo helpful. I watched 2 other videos before finding this one. Happy to say everything is working properly now.
Seriously the BEST video out there! I was having an issue with my Mac not syncing with my iPhone messages. It was driving me crazy! I even tried to solve this with Apple support with no resolve. I watached several videos and articles before finally ending up on your video. Thanks to you, I am synced on all my devices. Thank you :)
Hey that's the best news ever, thank you! Yes indeed this video was borne of fixing it hundreds of times so I am not surprised my steps work - good on you for following them carefully! It's a doozy of a job! - Lucas
Thank you for a concise, clear and understandable set of instructions to fix the Messages not syncing on Mac and not sending messages from Mac to Android users..
Thanks for this! Just encountered problems after updating to Sequoia and iOS 18. I did find I had to restart both the Mac and the phone, but now the universe is back in order.
What delightful, empathetic and caring personality you have! Thanks for being you and helping demystify the iMessage weirdness I've been having. I guess I've got to be patient with the icloud sync!
I rarely ever subscribe to RU-vid channels, but you got me! Clear instructions, perfect pace, great visuals ... you've got it all. Thanks SO much! exactly my opinion
Great video! You walked me right thru getting my imessage to work with my android friend. I haven’t had a laptop since 2008 so its like learning all over again. Thank You
At last! I read several web pages & viewed other videos before discovering this. Finally restored synching of SMS between iPhone, iPad & MacBook. Thank you. No one else suggested checking iCloud setting. I wonder how that got turned off on my iPhone & iPad.
Omg I've been struggling to get some messages syncing for years, I had no idea about the forwarding options for Android users (I swear it's never been there before), but things are finally working!!! Thanks!
This really helped me . Thanks for creating the video. I finally got it sorted and became excited when my messages were printing. Now, I need ti figure out how to send a file to my attorney to be used in court. Thanks again. Keep up the informative tutorials.
The video is excellent - crystal clear and coherent. Unfortunately, these steps don't work in my case. I still can't sync iMessage messages from my iPhone to any of my other devices - they show on my iPhone, but won't sync to my iMac, MacBook or iPad. Every now and then, I can force a sync by using the "Sync now" command in Messages/Settings/iMessage, but even this doesn't always work and in any case the messages are at least a day or two old even if it does manage to sync.The problem coincided with my getting a new iPhone 15 Pro, but this may be purely coincidental.
Might be a health issue with your Mac or your setup then... I can help with that in a one on one consult. Let me know if you want me to send you my booking link! It's about $145 USD per hour. - Lucas
Thanks for your reply Lucas. Since I have the same problem on my MacBook and iPad, it doesn't seem to be a specific issue with my Mac. Messages do eventually show up in all three devices, but after a delay of 48 to 72 hours. I'll pass on making a booking for the moment.@@lucasmacinhome
I have the same experience, intermittent "sync now" etc...I have signed in and out of icloud to no avail. And restarted both the laptop and the desktop multiple times. Since I am retired I have plenty of time for workarounds but it's still frustrating as all get out.
Thanks for this vid. Mine was already set like this, but it's like something isn't automating every 10 mins or whenever a sync is required. It's like the phone and other devices are asleep.
@@lucasmacinhome Most times they do and sometimes they don't. I will see a message on my phone but it's not on the Mac. If I reply on the Mac, sometimes the previous message will come up.
@@jasondevonshireportraits8908 If the text syncing is unreliable then I would turn my attention to your wifi/internet, and general Mac and iPhone health. If you have spotty wifi or cell, or if you are sometimes turning on airplane mode, things like that - it can be an issue. If your Mac has been imported a couple times from previous Macs then some dust and cobwebs can accumulate in the OS and it makes it glitchy or slow.
Wow, what a great tutorial! Thanks so much, it seems to be working smoothly on all my devices! I can now send and receive seamlessly with all devices! YAY!
This was a great video thanks! Also thank you for clarifying that the syncing will take some time, other videos didn't make that as clear and made seem as though it should start syncing immediately. Maybe that's common sense, but I'm not tech savvy despite being raised in the tech era lmao.
I had a problem in the Mac Messages app where it didn't show my phone number in the settings and I wasn't getting messages there. I was able to fix that problem by signing out in Messages and then signing back in. After that, the number appeared and I was able to start sending/receiving messages there again. 😊🏅
Thank you!! I've been trying to find a way so that I could message my mums android phone on my MacBook for the past 6 months and now realised that it didn't work because my macs messages didn't tick my number box.
Then I would sign the iPhone out of iMessage and sign in again… might need some troubleshooting! Happy to help if you like. Book anytime: macinhome.com/booking/ - Lucas
Bought a Mac mini and mac air. Only some contacts show as names but most of them only show as phone numbers I have all the history of iMessages just they have a phone number next to it. When I click contacts those numbers are not in contacts
Thank you, VERY helpful! I just got a new MacBook and couldn't understand why everything seemed fine except messages...the key was waiting. It took about 4 hours, then all of a sudden all the messages appeared. You'd think Apple could give a heads up on that!
Great Instructions, but for some reason, my iMac refuses to sync with text messages. I know it should and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Do I have to sign out on my iPhone12 and my iPad Pro and the iMac running Mojave 10.14.6?
My Apple ID on my iPhone is different from the one on my Macbook Air. Can I still sync them both so I can see and text my messages on both devices? I followed your instructions just fine until I get to 2:55 and what is displayed on my Mac is different from my iPhone. On my Mac only my email address is shown. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
Why do we need to set "Start new conversations" to a phone number? I have 3 different eSIMs (phone numbers) tied to my iPhone so setting Start new conversations to my Apple ID email adress works better for me.
I just have one problem. I have all my texts on my Imac but the photos are not there. It's just empty squares. I try to change my profile picture and in imessage in my imac and it says unable to Load Photos. To view and select photos, update your photo library. I thought I updated on both. the imac says everything has been currently updated.
Sweet! Baby! Jesus! Finally an answer. I had a new M1 Pro laptop and a new IPhone Pro 15 and suddenly I couldn't be master of my universe anymore. Which seriously stunk after spending all that money. Thank you sir!
Unfortunately doesn't work for me. This is the second time this has happened... my Mac "tries" to send messages forever, but always fails. But curiously, every morning when I get back to my office, it's been synced overnight. I did all the settings stuff you suggest, logged out and in over and over, doesn't work. Last time this happened a couple of years ago, it just suddenly started working again some day.
I appreciate the suggestion but I wouldn't make a video about that... there are too many variables / causes for that problem and one video can't solve them all. These days people have calendar "cloud" accounts in iCloud, Google/Gmail, Exchange, and even some saved locally on device like Mac or iPhone. So first we need to see where the calendar info is, and then get that somehow to the other devices. But I bet I can solve the calendar sync issue for you in under an hour if you want to book a consult with me. macinhome.com/booking/ - Lucas
how do I unpause the syncing? My iMessages on my Mac are paused after following the order you specified in this video, when I hit "Sync Now" it started then now it says "syncing with iCloud paused" . how do I fix this?
imessages is not even showing up on my iMac desktop at all, in applications or anywhere! How can I get imessage on it? My laptop has it and syncs with my phone but....
Great info! I'm having a problem with FB messenger every time I try to use messenger chat from my mac book pro FB messenger sends a code to my iPhone I can't see my history conversation until I enter the code that FB sent to my iPhone then everything is back to normal until I delete my chrome history for today and shut down my mac book pro for the night but then the next day I go back on FB w/my mac book pro and it ask for the code again. This does not happen on my iPhone only on the mac crazy!! Thanks for all your help.
My iPhone is all set up correctly. The problem is my Macbook pro, I try to sign into iMessage, and it spins endlessly. Just says "An unknown error occured"
Thanks for clarifying how long this would take - Apple Support said to just "give it a little bit" but at this point I'm only seeing text messages from 2020 (I have some pretty long ongoing conversations) and stuff from today, but nothing in the three years in between. Additionally, only my girlfriend's name and contact photo is showing up, everyone else is a phone number. Guess I'll bug them again if it's not synced tomorrow, but I'm assuming this is... normal? Ish?
Do you see all the messages on your phone? If so then make sure you turn on iCloud Messages in the phone settings, from Settings -> Tap your name at the top -> iCloud -> iCloud Messages. Then your phone will only be uploading the history when it's on wifi and plugged into power.
@@lucasmacinhome Oh yeah, I see everything on my phone and that button is checked, it basically just did a big burst of old messages early this morning and then did tiny, tiny little bits for the rest of the day, plus whatever other messages came in during the day. Having the same issue with Photos, too, so I'm gonna let it sync overnight with the phone plugged in and figure that'll sort it out. Thanks for the reply!
Great video. Very well communicated and edited. Clear and concise. However, I have a problem you don't address. The addition of a new .icloud email address. It is in addition the the existing email address. Followed all your steps. Messages are still not synching between devices. Logged out and back in to Apple ID. Do we infer that the issue is still "it takes some time to sync the history"? Or is there something else going on?
It's normal to have an @icloud.com account even if you don't ever use it as an email address. I do address that in the video... I say it is weirdly important to leave those enabled for receiving iMessages even if no one has that address for you and you will never use it. So go through the video again knowing that and then see if it syncs up in a day or two. - Lucas
@@lucasmacinhome I rewatched the video. Lucas, again great video. Things look a bit different on IOS 17.2.1. Per your directive (@1:37), I did and still do have both the old email address and the new .icloud address checked. I manually synched from the phone and all the messages synched up to 10pm last night. Not the messages from this morning. Do you think that this shows it working at that it will eventually "catch-up" and synch in real time? @3:15 of your video you show the desktop version and you show your phone number. What do you do if there is no phone number appearing? Only the email addresses? Nor is there an ability to start a new conversation from the phone number. The number is not in the pull-down. Your video doesn't mention how to trouble shoot that. I will sign up for an hour of troubleshooting with your team if necessary.
I think that was it. Now my cell number appears on the messages I can be reached at on the desktop and the number shows up in the drop down to start new conversations. Oh, and now the messages just started synching.
I don't have a "Text message forwarding" toggle. I that because I don't use iCloud? I have not used iCloud in a very long time but could still send texts from my laptop?? I will not use a cloud. Must be. I checked and it is android friends that don't receive my texts!!!
I have a new Mac Mini. I used Migration Assistant to transfer everything. iMessage on the new Mac will not send or receive messages. I checked all the settings on this video several times. There must be some potential problem you've missed.
I worked it out myself. Here is the fix. The hints on Apple's home page didn't help. Still iMessages didn't send after going through all the suggestions. This is what worked: Messages - Settings - iMessage - DISABLE messages in iCloud by unticking the box. Wait a few seconds. Enable messages in iCloud. If all else has failed THIS WILL WORK.
