I followed every step in trying to make text forwarding appear in the imessages menu, and verified I had the same appleid on both devices and text forwarding still desont appear

Hello,

Do you have your phone number in the list "You can receive iMessages to and Reply From" on your iPhone in your Messages settings as well as on your Mac? I am not sure that it is needed before you can set up SMS forwarding but it makes sense that it would be needed to me.

Add or remove your phone number in Messages or FaceTime - Apple Support

"Turn your phone number on or off for your Mac

After you set up your phone number, you can turn it on or off for Messages and FaceTime on your Mac.

1. Open Messages or FaceTime. If asked, sign in with the Apple ID that you're using with Messages and FaceTime on your iPhone.
2. For Messages, choose Messages > Settings, then click iMessage. For FaceTime, choose FaceTime > Preferences, then click General.
3. Turn your phone number on or off:

• • To turn on your phone number, select it and your Apple ID in the list. If you don't see your phone number, get help with your settings or contact Apple Support. If you see a number that isn't yours, change your Apple ID password.
  • To turn off your phone number, deselect it in the list.

1. If you want recipients to see your phone number and not your Apple ID, select your phone number from the “Start new conversations from” or ”Start new calls from” pop-up menu."

I hope this helps.