Q: Unable to send images using iMessage

Please launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

          View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

What is the root cause of this problem?

That's what you have to determine. I'm suggesting a way for you to try to do that.

I don't get the pastebin part.

Pastebin is a website where you can post text for others to read. You only need it if you get an error when trying to post the text on this page.

When I try to clear the log list nothing happens.

You don't clear the log list. You clear the messages displayed in the Console window.

If the procedure I suggested is too hard for you, or if you just don't want to do it, please click the Support link at the top of this page.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest by signing in to iMessage as usual. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Did you try booting into the Safe Mode as suggested above?

What happened in Step 2?

Please back up all data.

Quit Messages if it’s running. Force quit if necessary. After each of the following steps, restart the computer and test. If the problem isn't resolved, quit again and go on to the next step.

Step 1

Hold down the option key and select

          Go ▹ Library

from the Finder menu bar. Move the following items from the Library folder to the Trash (some may not exist):

          Containers/com.apple.corerecents.recentsd

          Caches/com.apple.Messages

          Caches/com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent

          Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Caches

          Containers/com.apple.soagent

          IdentityServices

Leave the Library folder open.

Step 2

Go back to the Finder and move the following item from the open Library folder to the Desktop:

          Messages

Note: you are not moving the Messages application. You’re moving a folder named “Messages.”

If Messages now works, delete the Messages folder on the Desktop. Otherwise, quit Messages again. Put back the folder you moved, overwriting the newer one that may have been created in its place.

Step 3

In the Preferences subfolder, there may be several files having names that begin with any of the following strings:

          com.apple.iChat

          com.apple.ids

          com.apple.imdsmsrecordstore

          com.apple.imessage

          com.apple.imservice

Move them all to the Desktop. There may also be a file with the name "com.apple.imagent.plist". Move that to the Trash.

Also in the Preferences folder, there's a subfolder named "ByHost". Open it and do the same thing.

Log out and log back in. Test again. This time Messages should perform normally, but your settings will be lost. You may be able to put back some of the files you moved to the Desktop in this step. Relaunch and test after each one. Eventually you should find one or more that causes Messages to malfunction. Delete those files and recreate whatever settings they contained.

If the issue is still not resolved, quit Messages again and put all the items you moved to the Desktop back where they were. You don’t need to replace the items you moved to the Trash. Stop here and post your results.

If you later decide that you don’t like the results of these steps, you can undo them completely by quitting Messages and restoring the items you deleted from your backup.

Please back up all data.

Launch the Keychain Access application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

From the Category list in the lower left corner of the window, select My Certificates. In the list of certificates on the right, there may be one or more have a name that begins with "VeriSign". Export each such certificate by dragging it to the Desktop, then delete it from the keychain. If there are any certificates marked with a red "X" as expired or invalid, regardless of name, delete them without exporting.

Next, select Certificates from the Category list. Look carefully at the list of certificates in the right side of the window. If any of them has a blue-and-white plus sign in the icon, double-click it. An inspection window will open. Click the disclosure triangle labeled Trust to disclose the trust settings for the certificate. From the menu labeled

          Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

select

          no value specified

Close the inspection window. You'll be prompted for your administrator password to update the settings.

Now open the same inspection window again, and select

          When using this certificate: Use System Defaults

Save the change in the same way as before.

Revert all the certificates with non-default trust settings. Never again change any of those settings.

Again, delete all expired or invalid certificates.

Log out or restart the computer. Test. If all is now well, back up again, then delete the certificates you exported to the Desktop.