My Messages App On My Mac Is Not Working
Thank you for all the advice! I actually came to my computer today to find that iMessage was working again! My computer had restarted to update to a new version of some app and it walked me back through some of the systems settings questions I had answered when I first got my computer. Using iMessage is a breeze, just turn it on in the settings app and use the Apple ID with a password to sign on. Apple’s Messages app supports SMS and MMS on Macs, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and iPod touch. Send iMessages using Messages in macOS and OS X (Mountain Lion and above.). I’ve updated my Mac to the latest version and ever since I haven’t been able to open the messages app. It always says Messages quit unexpectedly. I looked through a thread that said was able to solve the problem because their antivirus Afee or whatever was blocking it but I do not use that antivirus so I have no idea how to resolve this.
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Find iMessage on your Mac not working when you want to use it to send messages? Read this article to get some fixes of this issue.
Problems viewing messages and mailboxes. If a mailbox is offline. If searching doesn’t find the right emails. If emails aren’t displayed or look strange. If emails appear to be missing. If you can’t open Mail. If messages are in a Recovered Messages mailbox.
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Q: Hi, my iMessage isn’t working on my MacBook. My ID is fine and the network is also good. I can sue iMessage and Facetime on my iPhone. What should I do?
——A user from Apple Communities
You know that iMessage is a chat and instant messaging service provided by Apple, which is considered a free alternative to text messages or SMS. With iMessage on your Mac, you can send unlimited messages to any Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod user who uses iMessage. However, many users encountered the issue of Mac iMessage not working sometimes. Well, what is the mean of iMessage not working on Mac, it may stick on a display, it may receive messages, or it may say Not Delivered, etc. No matter which situation you may meet, you can try the following methods to see if they’re working for you.
Image Credit: apple.com
Potential Fixes to iMessage Not Working on Mac
First of all, you need to check your network condition, if it’s working normally, then try out the following solutions one by one.
1) Check iMessage settings
Make sure that you haven’t disabled iMessage on your Mac. You can check it by launching iMessage, and going to Messages > Preference > Accounts, ensure that “Enable this account” is ticked or your status will be displayed as Offline.
2) Force quit iMessage and reopen it
Sometimes, the iMessage app is just going to stuck, and that might lead to an iMessage send and receive failed on your Mac. You can force quit it and reopen it to see if it works again.
3) Restart your Mac
Restarting can solve lots of annoy issues, and it may work well with the “iMessage on mac not working” case. So, turn off your Mac, wait for a few seconds and turn on it to try again.
4) Sign out and sign back in
This is another solution you can have a try to fix the “Mac iMessage not working” issue, and in most cases, it works well. Open iMessage and click on Preference, come to Accounts display, click on Sign Out and confirm it. After that, it’s better to wait for a while or just restart your Mac, then sign in with your Apple ID.
How to Fix iMessage on Mac Not Working – 4
5) Update Your Mac
If the problem remains, check if your macOS is the latest version. If not, you can have a try on updating your Mac to the latest version to get the latest iMessage. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Software Update to check for updates.
Don’t Miss: How to Delete iMessages on Mac Permanently >
Bonus Tip: Export iPhone Messages to Mac in Readable Format
Sometimes, you may want to preserve some meaningful messages forever, or want to print messages for some reason. To do this, you can export messages from your iPhone to the Mac or PC, well, how? In this part, we’re going to tell you how to export messages from iPhone to computer in some readable formats. After that, you can check and print messages at any time. What you need is an iPhone transfer tool named AnyTrans. It has many outstanding features, like:
- Enables you to export SMS messages and iMessages from iPhone to computer to view them directly.
- Allows you to save iPhone text messages in PDF, TEXT, or HTML format.
- Besides messages, it also supports transferring other kinds of iOS data including photos, videos, songs, ringtones, notes, contacts, and more from iPhone to Mac or PC.
Here is a screenshot of how to manage iPhone iMessages with AnyTrans:
Export iPhone Messages to the Computer
For Mac users, here are more articles about how to optimize your Mac:
The Bottom Line
That’s all for how to fix the “iMessage not working on Mac” issue, the methods have been listed above, and hope one of them can work for you. By the way, if you want to export text messages or iMessages from your iPhone to computer, no matter on Mac or PC, you can have a try on AnyTrans.
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Whether you are on an iPhone or an iPad, the Messages app is that one stop shop that lets you seamlessly communicate with other Apple devices via iMessage. And on the iPhone, it’s also how you go about sending SMS messages. So obviously, it’s not a fun thing to wake up and find it missing from your iPhone's Home screen.
Thankfully, iOS tightly weaves Messages app into the core system that it’s practically impossible for you to remove the app accidentally. And since it’s also such an essential app, it can’t be hidden using Screen Time restrictions either. Very likely, the issue is caused simply by the app icon disappearing in the wilderness of multiple Home screen slides or folders.
So, let’s see how you can find this missing icon ASAP. There’s also an issue where the Messages app fails to appear on the Share Sheets of certain apps — Photos, Safari, etc. If that’s the case, you are going to learn how to fix that as well.
1. Use Siri Search
Once again, if you have multiple Home screen slides or folders, it’s more than likely that the Messages app icon was accidentally pushed around and lost. And obviously, it will take a bit of effort to search if it is hiding in one of the random folders.
If you are in a hurry to get to the Messages app, you can easily do that via Siri Search instead. Simply swipe downward on the Home screen, and then search for ‘messages.’ It’s just a matter of tapping Messages from the Applications in the search results.
Rarely, you may not see the Messages app show up among the search results. That happens when the app is blocked from showing up within Siri Search. Use the following steps to set things straight.
Step 1: On the Settings app of your iPhone or iPad, tap Siri & Search. Next, scroll all the way down to the bottom, and then select Messages from among the list of apps.
Step 2: Turn on the switch next to Siri & Suggestions.
Exit the Settings app, and you can now search for the Messages app using Siri Search.
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Read More2. Reset Home Screen Layout
Having to rely purely on Siri Search can get old pretty fast. If you still can’t locate the Messages app, then consider resetting the Home screen layout. That places all apps into their original position and works a treat when it comes to getting back lost app icons. However, you will lose all the folders that you’ve created over time.
Step 1: On the Settings app of your iPhone or iPad, tap General, and then tap Reset.
Step 2: Tap Reset Home Screen Layout.
Step 3: Tap Reset on the confirmation pop-up.
And that’s it. You will find all the apps in their original locations. The Messages app should be present within the bottom bar of your iPhone or on the dock of your iPad.
3. Reset All Settings
Thanks to iMessage functionality, the Messages app lets you share photos, videos, files and more from other apps. However, there might be instances where you may fail to see the Messages option within the Share Sheet of an app. That is an annoying technical issue and requires that you reset all settings on your iOS device to fix it.
While a settings reset doesn’t result in any loss of data, your device will forget certain preferences that you’ve made over time, such as location, privacy settings, and even remembered Wi-Fi hotspots. Macos mail app alternative. So after the reset, you’ll have to spend a bit of time tweaking any settings that were rolled back to their defaults.
Step 1: Verify that you’ve got iMessage turned on for the Messages app. Certain apps such as Photos requires that you have it activated for Messages to show up within the Share options. To do that, tap Messages within the Settings app of your iPhone or iPad.
If iMessage is disabled, turn it on, and you have already fixed the issue. Otherwise, proceed with the reset.
Step 2: On the Settings app, tap General, and then tap Reset.
Step 3: Tap Reset All Settings.
Step 4: On the confirmation pop-up, tap Reset.
After the reset, you will find the issue resolved. If you rely on Wi-Fi for internet connectivity, remember that you'll have to manually connect to a nearby hotspot before you can use the Messages app properly.
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Click here to see our messaging articles pageAbout MDM (Mobile Device Management) Profiles
If the above fixes didn’t work, it’s likely that your iPhone or iPad has an MDM (Mobile Device Management) profile installed. Usually, this happens when your iOS device is part of an organization that wants tight supervision over what features that you may or may not have the access to.
You can check if this is the case pretty quickly — on the Settings app of your iOS device, you should see a message labeled ‘This iPhone/iPad is Supervised and Managed by..’ if the device is under supervision. For additional details, tap General, and then tap Profiles and Device Management.
If allowed, you can choose to remove the remote management profile in an attempt to regain access to the Messages app. However, that is NOT recommended since certain features, such as the Mail app, may fail to work afterward. Hence, it’s best to seek help from your organization’s IT department without removing the profile yourself.
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Read MoreStart Messaging Now
As you saw, a missing Messages app is a pretty simple issue to resolve. Try using Siri Search first, and then consider resetting the Home screen layout if you don’t want to wade through dozens of folders trying to search for the thing. And in the case of a missing Messages option on a Share Sheet, a complete reset of settings should be able to patch that up. So, any other suggestions? The comments section is right below.
Next up: Now that you've got Messages up and running, why not start spicing up your messaging experience? Here are five great iMessage apps that you absolutely must not miss out on.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextTop 5 iMessage Apps That Every iPhone Must HaveAlso See#imessage
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My Messages App On My Mac Is Not Working Better
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