User profile for user: ChaCha2529
ChaCha2529 Author
User level: Level 1
31 points

Texts from a person via iMessage are coming from both their email and phone number separately

Since I upgraded my iPhone 15 Pro to iOS 18 a few months ago on the public beta(now off the beta and the issue persists), receiving messages from just one contact have been messed up, but only seen in notifications on the phone. My Macbook Air M2 doesn't have this notification issue nor does my Apple Watch series 9.


When receiving texts from this specific person through iMessage the notification on the phone states it is coming from 2 of the same person through a group chat, one saying "Maybe: FIRST LAST"(coming from their Apple ID I assume) and the other saying the name I have set for them in contacts.(screenshot below)


I have tried many things to solve this problem on my own:

  • Deleting and re-adding the contact
  • Changing settings to only send and receive messages from either email or phone number(neither fixed it)
  • Disabling iMessage and using SMS
  • Removing email or phone number from contact*


*About the last solution I tried, this one came with many other issues. In the contact of the person causing the issue, I have both their email and phone number listed. If I were to remove the email, the problem with the notification would be fixed, but all message history would disappear and in iMessage the contact would appear blank with no name or picture, just the phone number as the name. The same thing happens when I remove just the phone number.


I would also like to add that my contact for them on all their devices has no issues, its just on my end.


This issue causes no problems when trying to contact them in any way, but it just looks weird and has become quite annoying to look at over time and I want it fixed. If anyone has a follow up question or an idea for a solution, please reply😃. Thanks.

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 8:45 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: thebagman
thebagman
User level: Level 1
14 points

Posted on Feb 8, 2025 12:26 PM

I FIXED IT! I hope it works for you.


I was having the same issue, all of a sudden receiving texts from my wife showing her name and iCloud email. And then the same thing started happening with texts from my Mom. Sometimes it would show their phone number and name. Or sometimes I just saw their phone number and email, but no name. Drove me insane for months! It wasn’t happening on their end though, just messages to me.


I read all the threads and I threw everything I could at this to try to fix it without deleting years of text messages and then today I stumbled on where I think the bug is.


I think it stems from NOTES collaborations - and likely from NOTES that I shared with them in the past via iMessage where I invited them to collaborate. So I went into the NOTES app and found every “shared” note and disabled sharing or stopped collaborating.


Then I had my wife sent me a text and it only said her name and I almost cried. And then my mom sent me a text and it worked there too.


I really hope that is the fix for you all.


I’m guessing the update bug has something to do with using iMessage to initiate a collaboration/share for a note in NOTES (or maybe even another app), and then the collaboration connects with their iCloud account, but the invite went through their phone number. So now iMessage is treating the entire thread as a group message. That’s my guess.


I just hope it works for you. Good luck!

View in context

Similar questions

40 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: thebagman
thebagman
User level: Level 1
14 points

Feb 8, 2025 12:26 PM in response to ChaCha2529

I FIXED IT! I hope it works for you.


I was having the same issue, all of a sudden receiving texts from my wife showing her name and iCloud email. And then the same thing started happening with texts from my Mom. Sometimes it would show their phone number and name. Or sometimes I just saw their phone number and email, but no name. Drove me insane for months! It wasn’t happening on their end though, just messages to me.


I read all the threads and I threw everything I could at this to try to fix it without deleting years of text messages and then today I stumbled on where I think the bug is.


I think it stems from NOTES collaborations - and likely from NOTES that I shared with them in the past via iMessage where I invited them to collaborate. So I went into the NOTES app and found every “shared” note and disabled sharing or stopped collaborating.


Then I had my wife sent me a text and it only said her name and I almost cried. And then my mom sent me a text and it worked there too.


I really hope that is the fix for you all.


I’m guessing the update bug has something to do with using iMessage to initiate a collaboration/share for a note in NOTES (or maybe even another app), and then the collaboration connects with their iCloud account, but the invite went through their phone number. So now iMessage is treating the entire thread as a group message. That’s my guess.


I just hope it works for you. Good luck!

Reply
User profile for user: ChaCha2529
ChaCha2529 Author
User level: Level 1
31 points

Dec 11, 2024 2:55 PM in response to HD-35

Thank you so much for this🙏. It seemed a little scary signing out of my phone, I thought I might lose some data but I didn't. Just obviously lost access to Apple services, but everything came back in the end after signing back in later. But it does seem to be working for the time being! And for others, the following is exactly what I did in detail:


1) On iPhone, go to Settings>Apple Account>Sign Out. Then follow the steps on the screen until you are successfully signed out.

2) Go to Settings>Apps>Messages, then uncheck the box that says iMessage.

3) Power off the phone. I let it sit powered off for a few minutes for good measure.

4) Power on.

5) Once on and unlocked go to Settings>Apps>Messages, then check the iMessage box.

6) I reccomend only using your phone number for iMessage unless strictly nessacary. To do this enter the menu titled "Send & Receive" just under the iMessage check box. From there, make sure that just your phone number is selected.

7) Go back to the Apple Account menu from earlier and sign back in.


This is the process I used and it is working so far, hopfully is stays. I'll update later or if it breaks when i can. Thanks again!

Reply
User profile for user: tlscott1219
tlscott1219
User level: Level 1
26 points

Oct 12, 2024 6:52 PM in response to ChaCha2529

I’m having the same issue. I have my fiancé’s number saved but when he iMessages me it shows his number and contact as if it’s a group text, but it’s not (attached pic). When I click on the notification, it opens messages with his saved contact. I contacted Apple, and they said to restart my phone, remove and add his contact, disconnect from network and reconnect. But nothing fixes it.

I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max iOS 18.0.1. Didn’t start until I updated my phone. Also, some of my messages he’s not getting.

Reply
User profile for user: ChaCha2529
ChaCha2529 Author
User level: Level 1
31 points

Feb 3, 2025 5:13 PM in response to LEVI1564

The issue has been mostly resolved for me, tho I still have some issues when messaging my partner, and only her. She has also lately had issues messaging me which is unfortunate.


For me, I just can't see her read receipts no matter what I do; although sometimes they will just randomly start working again and then turn off again within the hour. Also, when she sends me a message while I have airpods in, they will say "message to you and HERNAME, from HERNAME", almost like it is doing the dumb notification thing from a while ago, but its just in my ear. weird.


For her, sometimes, when she will go to text me I will have turned into a green bubble and the imessage won't go through to me, even as an SMS, MMS, or RCS. She has to go into my contact and select message from there where she can click my email directly, but for some reason my phone number and iCloud are green but my gmail is blue, so she clicks that one and messaging will work as normal for a while after that.


Apple really needs to look into these issues because clearly they haven't noticed and I'm really over always having to find new solutions to the problems on my own.

Reply
User profile for user: Bridgetp1002
Bridgetp1002
User level: Level 1
8 points

Mar 12, 2025 7:31 AM in response to ChaCha2529

I’m having a similar issue. I have a friend who has an android. We have a group chat where she uses her EM so she doesn’t make the group messages green. However I’ve always texted her directly using her phone. All of a sudden, her texts have been defaulting to email. I’ve deleted the email from her contact and created a new contact with her email under a different name. Didn’t work. Then I deleted her contact(both phone and email) completely and backed up my phone to update…even checked iCloud on my PC to make sure she was no longer in my contacts. All clear. I re-add her only adding her phone and now her email is just reappearing and sending two messages in two separate threads…one phone and one EM. Note her email is no longer in my phone!!!

I don’t know how to resolve but I can’t text one of my best friends and it’s really ******* me off!!!

The only other option I have thought of a is phone reset but I don’t want to do that!

Reply
User profile for user: ChaCha2529
ChaCha2529 Author
User level: Level 1
31 points

Oct 13, 2024 9:47 AM in response to tlscott1219

I have also been noticing recently that some of my messages have not been going through. It wouldn't be un-delivered or have the sending bar like it is trying to send, but the message would just sit there without going through. But weirdly, if she were to text me, then everything would start to work again like magic. The previous messages I sent without going through still wouldn't send, but when composing a new one, it would go through fine from there. This issue appears every few hours after not messageing her for that time.

Reply

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Texts from a person via iMessage are coming from both their email and phone number separately

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up