iMessage Out of Order! 10.7.5

I am also seeing this behavior in 10.15.7 fully patched Catalina installation on a seemingly random basis. As with you simply quitting and relaunching the app clears the problem but it does return once in a while. Since Catalina is now only receiving security updates we may have to just live with the issue.

Hi evelurie,

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. We understand your messages are showing in the wrong order on your Mac, and we're happy to help.

To begin, does the issue remain after closing/reopening the Messages app? If so, let's also try restarting your Mac to see if that helps with the issue, even if it's just temporary: Log out, sleep, wake, restart, or shut down your Mac - Apple Support

If still occurring after restarting your Mac, check in the System Preferences to make sure Date & Time are showing correct and that "Set date and time automatically" is enabled. If it is turned on already, try turning if off briefly, then turn it back on. After that, check your messages to see if they're displayed in the correct order.

Keep us updated on the results after going through those steps, and we'll continue from there.

We hope this helps.

Take care!