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contacts not showing up on Mac iMessage

I got a new MacBook Air a few months ago and only some of my contacts (the names) show up on iMessage on the computer. Most show up only as the phone number, even though the contact is saved and shows up as a name on my phone. If I try to create add a name to the contact on my MacBook, it will duplicate it and create a second contact under the same name so it shows up as both on my phone.

Posted on Sep 19, 2021 11:05 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 20, 2021 8:35 AM

Hello buna2301,


Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We're sorry to see that you're experiencing this issue with iMessage on your Mac, and we'd like to provide you with support.


First, open the Contacts app on both devices and make sure that the phone number for you and your contacts are using the appropriate country prefix formatting for the region.


Next, were your contacts synced from a third-party email account (i.e. Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, AOL, etc.)? If so, we suggest logging in to the web version of the account to see if those contacts appear correctly there.


From there, try creating a new iMessage thread with your contact to see if this issue returns. You can also delete, then add back the contact in the Contacts app. Here’s how:

Use Messages with your Mac


If this concern isn't resolved, contact Apple Support for further assistance: 

Get Support


We hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 20, 2021 8:35 AM in response to buna2301

Hello buna2301,


Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We're sorry to see that you're experiencing this issue with iMessage on your Mac, and we'd like to provide you with support.


First, open the Contacts app on both devices and make sure that the phone number for you and your contacts are using the appropriate country prefix formatting for the region.


Next, were your contacts synced from a third-party email account (i.e. Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, AOL, etc.)? If so, we suggest logging in to the web version of the account to see if those contacts appear correctly there.


From there, try creating a new iMessage thread with your contact to see if this issue returns. You can also delete, then add back the contact in the Contacts app. Here’s how:

Use Messages with your Mac


If this concern isn't resolved, contact Apple Support for further assistance: 

Get Support


We hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

contacts not showing up on Mac iMessage

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