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!

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!

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!

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.

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!