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.
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
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.
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!
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!
I rarely ever subscribe to RUclips 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.
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!
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.
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.
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. 😊🏅
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!
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.
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.
@@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.
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!
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 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.
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.
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?
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....
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
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"
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!!!
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.
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?
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!
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
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!
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.
I rarely ever subscribe to RUclips channels, but you got me! Clear instructions, perfect pace, great visuals ... you've got it all. Thanks SO much!
You are very welcome! :)
Finally, a pace of instructions I can follow and an actual fix for this annoying problem.
Love it!
This is great! When you mentioned, “In order,” I began listening and hearing what needed to be said! Great tutorial!
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!!!!
Awesome! Thank you so much! I'm glad it helped. :)
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.
Music to my ears! Thank you for the comment!!
- Lucas
Spot On! Finally someone who is clear, gives simple instructions and gets to the point! Keep it up I'm subscribed.
Awesome, thank you! Cheers! I hope you like my other videos too. :)
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
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.
Awesome! Thank you! I am proud of this one. 😊
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.
This problem had taken over my life as a perfectionist. After turning on text message forwarding it finally seems to be working, thanks!
Extraordinary orchestration of pacing, presentation, visual references and clarity. BRAVO!
Hey hey thank you so much! Nice to be seen. :)
None of these solutions helped
LOVE THIS! SO articulate and thorough! Thank you SO SO much!
Superb organization & presentation. Great teacher, Upbeat, good humored. Doesn't go too fast. Anticipates possible problems. I subscribed.
Thank you so much! Great to hear. :)
You like to explain things, and explain with great detail, at the same time in a simple manner. Thank you. I'm subscribed.
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!
Aw thanks! I hope you got the techie steps you needed to fix the syncing! :)
- Lucas
Omg I watched vids for months it only showed Getty’s from months ago ur the best
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!
I rarely ever subscribe to RUclips channels, but you got me! Clear instructions, perfect pace, great visuals ... you've got it all. Thanks SO much! exactly my opinion
Awesome! Thank you!!
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
You are very welcome!!
This video is perfect. Thank you so so much. I have been struggling with this for days!
Awesome - you are welcome!
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.
I'm so glad you got it! You are crafty indeed to be able to follow these complex steps!
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!
Awesome! I am glad you found my video! :D
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.
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.
I have found the sync of older messages to be slow... if you ever put your devices in airplane mode or turn off Wifi that'll make it worse.
Next to the discovery of water, this was thee most helpful vid on RUclips - Thank you!
Hah! Thanks!! 🙏
I believe you also need to make sure SEND AS SMS is turned on in the iphone MESSAGES setting. Thanks for your video.
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. 😊🏅
thanks so much, I just got a new Mac Studio and couldn't figure out how to get my text messages from my friends not on iphones.
Very good explanation! Thank you! I bookmarked this for future one-on-one needs, subscribed, sent to others.
Awesome, thank you so much! :)
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!
You da man! I had a couple settings wrong on my MBPro that wasn't able to send, but now all messages are going to the right places. Thanks!!!!!
Love it! You bet.
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.
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.
Thank you! Yes indeed it takes some time to sync the history... I am glad this was helpful! :)
- Lucas
Amazing video. Kudos to Apple for not making this even more complicated.
Thank you. I had an issue with a new MacBook Air not texting to Androids but you solved it!!! Was a toggled off switch on my iPhone. Thanks.
Awesome! Yes that one is an easy fix but in a strange place!!
Thank you. You explain everything very clearly. I still don't have all messages on my Mac, I guess I will wait and see if it straightens itself out.
Did they show up?
@@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.
Excellent video to solve an annoying problem. Thanks for your great work!
So glad it helped! Yes I am proud of this one.
Thank you very much, solved did not have the phone number selected.😍👍
Nicely done -- clear, easy to follow, and SOLVED my problem!!!
Thank you so much for your clear directions, you're the best! and looks are a great bonus 😉
Well shucks, thanks! :)
Phew. Got my Mac sending texts again. Now I just hope it eventually Sync's messages between devices. Patients :^D
this is incredibly useful, clear and generous!
You sir. Are a God. Thank you very very much. Soooo clear. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you so much!! I've been trying to fix this for a long time!!
Excellent walkthrough. Thank you so much.
thanks for the clear and concise steps
it worked! thanks so much for this helpful video!! new subscriber here!
Love it! Thank you! :)
Superb, this was truly helpful. Thanks so much. Subscribed.
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!
Indeed!
Excellent thank you !
i think this one you just explained gonna work. it currently syncing. i let you know if its works or not!
Heck yeah
this helped. thank you
Thanks. Excellent video. It fixed my problem.
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.
great Video sir,thank you for this video. my I message start on my Mac properly.☺
Thank you, this was very helpful!
Excellent - thanks!
I followed step by step instructions, but imac messenger stays off line. Can receive not send. OS High Sierra 10.13.6
Wow, this worked! thanks man! Subscribed.
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.
thank you very much you helped me with my problem.
Finally, I was looking video throug video and this one help! Thank you so much
That’s great! That was my hope when I made this video!
- Lucas
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.
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?
Doesn't;t seem to work with IOS Version 17.5.1. Can't sync iPhone 14 promax with MacBook Pro
This was such an awesome video. Thank you so much. I was so frustrated. I called apple support and they couldn't help me.
Love it - thank you!
What does it mean if your phone number doesn’t pop up with the check but your email and iCloud does?
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....
Awesome vid! Love how to the point you are! The only thing is 'text message forwarding' still will NOT show up despite doing all the steps.
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
that happened to me too the first time around, then I realized that there's a different menu with iCloud, I was in the wrong place!
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 so much!!!
This still doesn't work for me unfortunately. Same issue with contacts not syncing.
thanks so much for this video!!
You’re very welcome!
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"
I don't have an option to sync with iCloud for some reason.
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!!!
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.
Not sure how to fix that Facebook thing without looking at it... let me know if you need a hand!
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?
Hi! On the "start new conversations from" the only options I have are my emails. How do I add my phone number to there?
The "Enable Messages in iCloud" button doesn't show up on my MacBook Pro w/ Sonoma 14.4.1 -- any suggestions? Thanks!
Thanks,worked for me
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!
I wish you’d do a video on syncing Calendars across devises. Ten years and I still don’t get the same appointments on everything.
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
@@lucasmacinhome
Many thanks
thank you so much :)
VERY VERU HELPFUL!
Thank you! :)
Thank you!
Cheers!
Thanks.
thank you so much
my Mac does not have "enable Messages in iCloud"
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!
Thank you so much for the great video, straight to the point with no BS, great work.
Thank you! :)
I appreciate the help !
Hello, i did all the steps and messages are still not syncing!! Help!!
Ugh!!!!! So close until I got to the "Enable Messages in iClould" I don't have that.. Should I update my mac?
Am looking for the "Syncing with iCloud Paused" video
Usually it just pauses because you are not plugged into power, or you are not on Wifi.
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.
Yes I do address that at 05:47, the last item on my bullet list!
- Lucas
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.
Great video!! Fixed my issues
Awesome, that’s great!
- Lucas
Great video, solved my problem!
Great news!! 👍👊😁
- Lucas
Don’t see text messaging forwarding why ?