iPad and Mac stopped sending SMS Messages (a few days ago)

I have had zero problems sending and receiving SMS texts from my Mac (Mac Mini - M1 - Ventura 13.2.1) and my iPad (7th Generation, IOS 16.6) for years and this past week both have stopped sending and receiving SMS. My iPhone is working fine. I've turned off Message on the Mac and iPad and restarted all 3 devices, and then reconnected Message but the problem persists. I did get one strange message on the iPad that the Message database was different than the iMessage database in iCloud (I've listed the error as closely as I can remember it). Thoughts?

Mac mini (M1, 2020)

Posted on Sep 8, 2023 3:49 PM

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PA1974 Author

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Sep 9, 2023 10:13 AM

Embarrassingly I figured this out myself. On your iPhone under Settings/Messages/Send & Receive you have the option of recognizing different email addresses for reply/send. In my case these are simply variations of the iCloud email address (@icloud; @me, etc.). Your cell number is also listed there. Make sure the cell number is "checked" to allow reply/send. Your phone won't care if it's checked or not and will happily reply/send SMS messages. The other devices that work through your phone to send SMS; like your iPad and Mac; do care, as that's the only way SMS can be sent. I have no idea how my cell number got unchecked......

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iPad and Mac stopped sending SMS Messages (a few days ago)

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