iMessage on my MacBook Pro stopped working

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Level 1

12 points

iMessage on my MacBook Pro stopped working

This morning, my iMessages on my MacBook Pro stopped delivering messages. I closed it, restarted, did some of the Apple Support things, and now, when I try to start it up, it allows me to enter my Apple ID info, briefly opens iMessages, and then it immediately goes back to the screen where I have to enter my AppleID again -- and I do this 4 or 5 times in a row before giving up. I cannot access the "Preferences" in iMessages because as I try and click on it, I'm whipped back to the ID login ... very frustrating. Help?

Posted on Feb 24, 2021 1:26 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Mar 4, 2021 11:18 AM in response to AGooner

If you still have problems, 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 - Official Apple Support.

Contact Apple for help with Apple ID account security - Apple Support. (The link doesn’t always load)

Get Support Work through the screens to get a chat option.

Apple Support schedule phone call

https://twitter.com/AppleSupport

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Feb 24, 2021 1:51 PM in response to AGooner

Can you open Preferences by using command - , (comma)?

Are you running any anti - virus programs? Using a VPN?

Try setting up another admin user account in System Preferences/Users & Groups to see if the same problem continues. Also try the Safe Mode.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

Safe Mode - About.

If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown. If the log won’t post, try posting it in Pastebin and provide a link in a reply. After pasting the report in a PasteBin page, go to the top of the page, and copy the address in the URL bar. Paste that in a new reply. Pastebin.

Etrecheck – System Information.

Web site version if required. https://etrecheck.com

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Feb 25, 2021 8:09 AM in response to AGooner

You are welcome. The Safe Mode isn't a problem. If you get stuck trying to use it, just restart normally.

Also see the below.

Messages – Can’t log in.

Messages – Can’t log in 2.

Messages - If you can‘t sign in to your iMessage account or FaceTime on your Mac.

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Answer 4

AGooner Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 25, 2021 4:07 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks for the advice, Eric. To answer your initial questions -- no, I can't access Preferences using the key-functions; as soon as I try anything (once iMessages lets me into the app), it immediately switches back to the AppleID login page. The same happens with FaceTime. These are the two programs that simply won't work now. I'm not running any anti-virus or using a VPN - I am the most pedestrian of computer users.

I'll give the other user account a try today, but I have to admit that things like the Safe Mode instructions scare the Humpty Dumpty out of me, as I just don't feel comfortable trying to run these fixes on my own. We'll see how frustrated I get today. :)

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Answer 5

AGooner Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 26, 2021 6:57 PM in response to Eric Root

I tried the new admin user, safe mode, and the 'force quit' of imagent fixes, and the problem persisted in all three scenarios. No luck; frustration builds.

I have a suspicion that this is somehow linked, somehow, to AppleID -- I bought this MacBook Pro in July 2020, having lived on a 2009 MacBook for a decade. I don't own a smartphone of any kind, and am not savvy with any of this stuff. We also bought an AppleTV at the same time. When I set this new one up, and set up iCloud, and seemed to configure everything pretty smoothly on my AppleID, everything worked brilliantly -- except a few days later there appeared a software update for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, and when I tried to activate the update, it said that my AppleID wasn't the right one linked with those updates, which I thought very strange, but because I had no use for those apps, I just carried on. Those [3] updates just sat there for months, then 2 more were added in with Garage Band and iMovie, leaving [5] un-updatable for a long period of time, but again, I never used them so whatever.

On the same morning that iMessages and FaceTime stopped working, as I followed instructions to update my computer with the latest, those 5 updates suddenly worked -- voila, and updated accordingly -- but now iMessage and FaceTime do not. That seems too coincidental to be a coincidence, to me, but I don't know much about this stuff. The constant request from these two apps to re-enter my AppleID only to shut me back out and start all over again seems, again, like there is something rotten in the state of AppleIDdom.

Shall I contact Apple Support and spend some time with someone (i.e., can they press a magic button that will bring inner harmony and peace to my AppleID and, by extension, my computer)?

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Answer 6

AGooner Author

Level 1

12 points

Mar 4, 2021 11:27 AM in response to Eric Root

Eric -- I got back on with the Apple Support, pushed the idea that this seems related to AppleID, and sure enough, there was a block on my Messages/FaceTime (albeit entirely mysterious how that happened, as I don't use these with anyone but my wife). They removed the block with a keystroke, and it works now. Thank you for all your help. A lot of time wasted on this, but much satisfaction that it is working again. Thank you. Cheers.

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