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

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Posted on Dec 11, 2024 2:55 PM

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!

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

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