how to add new recipient for Messages on iMac

Question

Level 1

22 points

how to add new recipient for Messages on iMac

How do I add somebody from my Contacts list onto my Messages list? The Messages Help says to just type in the telephone number or the email and then type a message. But this does not work for me. I am running Messages 7.0.1 on an iMac (and a MacbookPro), OS 10.8.3. Right now I have just one person I can send messages to, my son, who is listed in the box at the left of the Messages screen. I can send and receive messages with him, so I know I have a valid Messages account that can work. I want to send messages to my wife, on her iPhone or her iMac. She is listed in my Contacts. But Messages does not recognize her phone number (for her iPhone) nor her email. What am I doing wrong? I do not find any mention of this in the Support listing.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 18, 2013 2:21 PM

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Answer 1

May 19, 2013 1:14 PM in response to bws5

HI,

That is one method.

The other is to type directly in to the "To" spot.

Typing "ra" for me lists several Accounts from myself (mostly)

It Lists AIM, Jabber and Yahoo options as well as iMessages

You can see there is no "New Message" active.

You can also see it is not perfect in keeping the right IDs to the right Service.

1) It thinks any phone number is a potential iMessages "Alias"

2) It thinks some iPhone numbers are only potential ones (greyed out) when they have been used.

3) It mixes Google and Jabber IDs up.

So from this method I can start either Chats to Buddies or Conversations to Contacts (Apple makes this distinction between the two) provided that their Contacts (Address) Card shows both sorts.

9:14 PM Sunday; May 19, 2013

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

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Answer 2

bws5 Author

Level 1

22 points

May 18, 2013 4:29 PM in response to bws5

Solved the problem. I do not think it is obvious. It is definitely not explained in the Messages Help.

1. Open Messages

2. At the top left is a little opening with gray letters Search and next to that an icon of a rectangle with a pencil at an angle. Click that

3. This will open, at the left, an area titled New Message. And at the top right of the Messages window will appear a plus sign in a blue circle. Click that.

4. This will open a window to all of the entries in your Contacts app. You can scroll down to the one you want or you can just start to type a name in the little Search window, and that will give a shorter list. Click on the name of the person you want to send a Message to.

5. The opened window will change to a copy of the page in Contacts. It will show some emails and phone numbers. Some may have blue circles on them. Click on one of them.

6. Now the right-hand side of the Messages is ready to start correspondence with this person. At the bottom type your message and hit the return key of the keyboard.

7. Now you have the new person added to the list at the left, which is what I was asking about how to accomplish.

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Answer 3

ssschmidt

Level 5

5,450 points

May 18, 2013 2:23 PM in response to bws5

Are you sure you are using her information as she has it listed in iMessage? Verify her sign in information, ensure that she is signed in and activated in iMessage.

Can she send an iMessage to your device?

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

685,221 points

May 18, 2013 2:27 PM in response to bws5

What ssschmidt asked can be checked by looking at your wife's account setup in Messages/Preferences. It lists the email addresses she can be reached at.

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