Q: iMessage wont activate my number, note that its working on my laptop, what should i do?

Hello aljoharahmj,

Thanks for that info and choosing the Apple Support Communities. I know how important activating your number on your iPhone for Messages is to you! If I understand correctly, you are unable to activate your phone number for iMessage on your iPhone, but your number is shown in Messages on your Mac. Good news is I have had this issue myself and I resolved this issue using these steps:

1. First, sign out of your Apple ID for iMessage on all your devices. On your iOS devices, go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive and sign out of your Apple ID. Then go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.

2. On your Mac Mini, open the Messages app, then go to Messages menu > Preferences > Accounts. Click on your iMessage account in the left sidebar, then click Sign Out, then Sign Out again.

3. Restart your devices as the shut down and start up process is important to keep the software running properly:

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
How to turn on or turn off your Mac

4. Now, sign back into iMessage on your iPhone first. Go to Settings > Messages, turn on iMessage and sign into your Apple ID in Settings > Messages > Send & Receive. Make sure you're successfully signed in, iMessage is activated, and you see your phone number and email available for both “You can be reached by iMessage at” and “Start new conversations from.” This is because iMessage uses your iPhone’s SMS to activate iMessage on your Apple ID.

If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime

Cheers!