Why are my messages not syncing between iPhone and MacBook?

I've had this issue for months, and have been searching for a solution every couple of weeks when I get frustrated. I found this on Reddit, and it actually worked:

So, assuming message syncing was previously working across both devices (and now that it's not working you've gone ahead and reconfirmed that both devices are still setup that way), what worked for me was:

1. On iPhone, go to: Settings -> iCloud (top section that displays your name) -> iCloud -> Under 'Apps using iCloud' press 'Show All' -> Messages in iCloud -> (assuming this is on) press 'Sync Now' -> Wait for it to sync.
2. On Macbook, go to: Messages App -> Settings (Top Menu Bar within the Messages App press 'Messages' and then 'Settings' from the drop down list) -> iMessage (When the iMessage settings pop up appears, select the 'iMessage' header - for reference I see three, which are 'General', 'imessage' and 'Shared with You') -> Press 'Sync Now'.

This worked for me. It seems like even though imessage on my iphone was appearing as if it were syncing correctly, it didn't actually sync and pull through those messages until I completed action 1 above. Then after doing this and following action 2, it allowed the messages to be pulled through to my Macbook.

Note, I've heard other people having to continually manually pull through messages using the above method fairly regularly, indicating that this may be a persistent issue until a new iOS/OS update comes. Hopefully it will be fixed soon or hopefully I am able to grow a brain and workout what setting I've enabled that causes this issue (my hubris blames others for its mistakes).

Minor caveat:

• While newer messages have synced, for whatever reason newly synced messages that are unread on my phone appear as read on my Macbook. Potentially unrelated, but just wanted to let people know.

Reference - iOS/OS version:

• IOS: 17.4.1
• Mac OS: 14.4.1

dmccann14 wrote:

Why are my messages not syncing between iPhone and MacBook?

Thanks Larry! I just setup my new Mac and couldn't figure out why the messages were not syncing with my iPhone. Your suggestion took me to the right place on my iPhone where I needed to turn on access to my new Mac.

But when I turned on the new Mac in Message Forwarding, the Mac did not immediately sync up. So I went back into Messages on the Mac, clicked on Messages at the top left and then Settings, and then the iMessage tab. There I found the "Sync Now" button, which I clicked and then things immediately synchronized! I bet the Mac would have eventually done this itself, but this was a quick way to make it happen without waiting.

Thanks Again Larry!

If you specifically mean text messages and iMessages, go to Settings/Messages/Message Forwarding and make sure other devices that are logged in to your Apple ID are visible and turned on. Also go to Settings/[your name]/iCloud/Messages and verify that it is turned on.

If you mean email messages make sure you have the same email accounts set up on both devices. Email does not sync device to device; all devices sync through the email server.

Hi!

Welcome to the community. Without knowing the application you are using, it is difficult to solve the problem. Could you specify the messaging app you are using?

If you are using imessage, there are some solutions you can try. The first one I suggest is the most useful. Open Settings, then go to "Your name", press "iCloud" and press "Show all" in the list. At this point press on "Messages" and activate the option with the stick.

Another solution would be to disable and reactivate imessage on both devices.

Otherwise try checking your imessage settings on iPhone and make sure your phone number is associated with your Apple ID. Also, you might try to verify that both devices are connected with the same Apple ID.

If you are using another messaging app, contact the app developer.

If the problem persists, contact Apple Support.

I hope I helped you!

My problem was synchronization of all messages, but in your case my only suggestion is to make sure that both your Mac and iPhone have all the same email addresses listed that can receive messages. If one of those email addresses is missing on your Mac, then messages being sent to that email address will likely not show up on the Mac, but just the iPhone.

So you did this:

• Verified that your Mac and your iPhone share an Apple ID
• Went to Settings/Messages on your iPhone, tapped Text Message Forwarding, and turned on the switch for your Mac

Most of us here know our way around these issues. What is abundantly clear is that the best remedy is a manual synch every time you suspect a no-sync situation, which is not only unacceptable but also points to the fact that there is a synching issue between MacOS and iOS, specially when it comes to Messages app. I will stop looking for solutions since there is none unless Apple fixes this issue.

I have also tested and witnessed that if I have both devices on and open at the same time, then the messaging and other apps, will do fine. Otherwise, they have issues synching via iCloud if the above scenario is not set up as I stated. I'll wait for Apple to fix this!

I have the exact same problem (as o 09/07/23 but it's been happening for a while). My iMessages that are synced to the cloud are not appearing in my Messages app on my MacBook.

I called Apple tech support and went went through ALL the settings on both may iPhone and MacBook and even with screen sharing, she was not able to help. She said it could be the operating system (which is completely up-to-date as it was the first thing she checked) and wanted to reinstall it. I had not done my Time Machine backup lately so I said I would need to do that and call back. I would rather not do this if there is another answer out there.

Looking forward to any other solutions.

Thank you!

Did you ever get a useful response to this? All my settings are correct. My text messages have been syncing between my iPhone and my Mac for years. My iPhone shows all messages sent and received from both my Mac & my iPhone. But my Mac only shows some of the messages from my iPhone. It syncs some text messages, but not all; even for the same person on the same text thread. If you found a fix, I'd be very grateful!

Thanks,

Chris

Christopher, I am in the same boat as you. All solutions are repeating the classic solution to the basic synching but I have done everything and the sporadic issue remains. Again, I have done everything including the synching initiated from MacOS. Not sure where to go from here.

Hi - were you ever able to resolve this? Encountered exact issue. iPhone on latest firmware displays all imessages and is syncing to iCloud. Whereas MacBook also in latest MacOS is signed into same iCloud Apple ID, syncs message history but is missing intermittent texts that exist on the iPhone. You name the suggested “fix”, I’ve tried it. Have not gone as far as reinstalling MacOS clean as that shouldn’t be required.

Thanks. Yes, I’ve confirmed both the iPhone number and email address (Apple ID email) are both selected. And it’s actually like all messages have synced to Messages app on Mac. Though that doesn’t appear to be true. There are a block of messages from same individual that appear on iPhone but not Mac Message app. Incidentally these messages also contain photo links of photos that are stored in iCloud. They’re iMessages and not SMS. The Sync Now on Mac seems to ignore them altogether.

All, I have tried all of the above who are natural steps to anyone a bit tech savvy! I truly believe that empirically speaking there is a latency in iCloud synching between the two OS's. MacOS and iOS are just not in lockstep one hundred percent to the times. I also witness that with iPhotos as well. Once I manually synch my messages on both platforms, then I notice that there is a few responses to certain messages that simply did not synch up. there is a fundamental issue here and we are skirting it.

I’m currently fully updated on iOS and MacOS yet only the iOS iMessages client seems to reflect the source of truth. Whereas the MacOS Messages app, logged in with same Apple ID (referencing iPhone number and email) is incomplete. Despite numerous attempts to reset/clear MacOS caching, etc. And the message gaps in MacOS are not necessarily sequential either. There are messages before and after a specific point in time, yet those in between (that exist on iOS device) do not seem to migrate to MacOS after

repeated manual Sync Now attempts and our iOS iCloud backup initiations.

nkbaur wrote:

Did you ever get this resolved? I'm having the same exact issue. Thanks for any advice.

Did you ever bother to read the answers in the thread you just posted to which contains several troubleshooting tips for this issue?