User profile for user: johnmbergman
johnmbergman Author
User level: Level 1
11 points

Unable to use Apple ID for iMessage

For the past >1 year, I have been unable to sign into iMessage using my Apple ID. I am able to send and receive iMessages using my phone number, however when I attempt to use my Apple ID for iMessage I always receive an error message stating "iMessage Activation - An error occurred during activation. Try again."


I have tried many things to

* Turning on/off iMessage and Facetime in various orders.

* Signing out of my device and signing back in.

* Resetting my device.

* Resetting my Apple ID.

* Attempting to sign in from other devices.

* Removing all devices from my Apple account and doing the above steps.


I am at a complete loss on what to do next. It seems completely outside my control.


I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced this issue, and if so how they resolved it?

iPhone X, iOS 12

Posted on Jun 22, 2019 7:40 PM

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User profile for user: Eric Root
Eric Root
User level: Level 10
684,939 points

Posted on Jun 22, 2019 7:54 PM

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


Have someone else attempt to sign in using their Apple ID. If they can successfully sign in and use Messages/FaceTime, it may be your Apple ID. Someone I know had this happen and I was able to sign in using my Apple ID. After a call to Apple Support and then being elevated to a tier 2 support person, it turned out it was a problem with their Apple ID. It took the software engineers 3-4 days to fix the problem. When calling Apple, make sure you tell them it is an Apple ID problem so you don't get charged.


You can also try signing in on another device/computer. There have been a couple of posts where people's device/computer was blocked. You will need to contact Apple for that problem also.


There is a contact link.


Apple ID Support


Apple ID Support (2) 


Apple Support by e-mail or chat         


Apple Support using Twitter


Or fill out and submit this form.

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User profile for user: Eric Root
Eric Root
User level: Level 10
684,939 points

Jun 22, 2019 7:54 PM in response to johnmbergman

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


Have someone else attempt to sign in using their Apple ID. If they can successfully sign in and use Messages/FaceTime, it may be your Apple ID. Someone I know had this happen and I was able to sign in using my Apple ID. After a call to Apple Support and then being elevated to a tier 2 support person, it turned out it was a problem with their Apple ID. It took the software engineers 3-4 days to fix the problem. When calling Apple, make sure you tell them it is an Apple ID problem so you don't get charged.


You can also try signing in on another device/computer. There have been a couple of posts where people's device/computer was blocked. You will need to contact Apple for that problem also.


There is a contact link.


Apple ID Support


Apple ID Support (2) 


Apple Support by e-mail or chat         


Apple Support using Twitter


Or fill out and submit this form.

Reply
User profile for user: johnmbergman
johnmbergman Author
User level: Level 1
11 points

Jun 23, 2019 8:18 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks for your reply. I'm following up with some more details in case someone else encounters this issue.


I tried to sign in with my wife's Apple ID and it worked successfully. I then called Apple support, where I was escalated to a Senior Support Engineer who verified my identity over the phone and determined that the issue was that my Apple ID somehow got associated with spam. This resulted in Apple's servers refusing me to use my Apple ID with iMessage. Apple support reset something on my Apple ID and the issue has been resolved.


There's nothing that can be done on the user side to prevent this or resolve this, and you'll need to contact Apple Support if you're experiencing this issue.

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Unable to use Apple ID for iMessage

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