When I installed Mavericks on my iMac at my new job, I used my personal AppleID during the registration process. Big mistake, as everything started pulling in my personal data from my home Mac and iPhone. I changed my iCloud preferences, created a new AppleID for work and signed out of iMessages, but my personal text messages are still displayed there. How do I get my personal texts and other data off my work computer???
MacBook Air, 10.9
Hi luneluxe,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If you're still receiving iMessages on your Mac, make sure these settings have been changed:
iOS and OS X: Link your phone number and Apple ID for use with FaceTime and iMessage
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5538
Make sure you are signed out under the following setting:
On OS X, find out which addresses are enabled:
In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences > Accounts.Select iMessage in the left column. Your contact preferences should appear under "You can be reached for messages at:."
You may also want to try removing your Mac from your personal Apple ID under iCloud and Find my Mac preferences:
iCloud: Remove your device
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702
Remove a device you own
- If the device is online, first turn off Find My iPhone on the device.
- On an iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn off Find My iPhone.
- On a Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then deselect Find My Mac.
- Sign in to icloud.com/#find with your Apple ID (the one you use with iCloud).If you’re already using an iCloud web app, click the app’s name to switch apps.
- Click All Devices, select the offline device, then click Remove from Account.
All the best,
Jeremy
Hi luneluxe,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If you're still receiving iMessages on your Mac, make sure these settings have been changed:
iOS and OS X: Link your phone number and Apple ID for use with FaceTime and iMessage
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5538
Make sure you are signed out under the following setting:
On OS X, find out which addresses are enabled:
In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences > Accounts.Select iMessage in the left column. Your contact preferences should appear under "You can be reached for messages at:."
You may also want to try removing your Mac from your personal Apple ID under iCloud and Find my Mac preferences:
iCloud: Remove your device
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702
Remove a device you own
- If the device is online, first turn off Find My iPhone on the device.
- On an iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn off Find My iPhone.
- On a Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then deselect Find My Mac.
- Sign in to icloud.com/#find with your Apple ID (the one you use with iCloud).If you’re already using an iCloud web app, click the app’s name to switch apps.
- Click All Devices, select the offline device, then click Remove from Account.
All the best,
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you very much for your help. Unfortunately, neither instructions solved my problem. My personal AppleID is inactive, but still listed under Messages accounts, and the minus button is grayed out, so I can't remove it. (See screenshot below.) I am no longer receiving personal texts on my work iMac, but the ones I previously received are still there. I need to remove them and the account.
My work iMac is not listed under All Devices in my personal iCloud account.
(I deleted my personal email address from the Apple ID field above for the screenshot, but it repopulates when I close and return to the preferences.)
I was able to delete the individual conversations from Messages, but I'm guessing there's a cache or something in the Library that I need to delete as well. Can anyone help me find that?
Hi luneluxe,
Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action.
Best,
Jeremy
HI,
Start in Messages and remove any remaining Apple ID.
In System Preferences > iCloud remove the Apple ID that was used in Messages originally.
In the Finder > Go Menu hold down the ALT key to see the Library Option.
Navigate to Preferences.
Find and Delete (Drag to Trash) the following
com.apple.imservice.imessages.plist
com.apple.imessages.bag.plist
com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.ess.plist
and com.apple.imservice.ids.iMessage.plist
Shut down the Computer.
On the iPhone > Settings > Messages remove any surplus Apple IDs that are not linked to your Home Account.
If in doubt remove all Apple IDs
Place the iPhone in Airplane mode fro a few minutes.
Then on restarting normal function check the iPhone Number is ticked.
Add back the only ID you want linked to this iPhone
Restart the Computer.
Add the System Preferences > iCloud details that you want to use.
Go to Messages and Add the Apple ID there.
You will notice in iCloud and System Preference > Internet Account that you cannot enable the iCloud Account for Messages. (the Apple ID in Messages for iMessages does not have to be an iCloud ID)
The Mac should get a Pop up or two saying that the iPhone is using the Apple ID of the Mac and the iPhone Number.
Accept these.
Deny any others. (you may have to remove all IDs on the iPhone if you removed less)
8:30 pm Sunday; November 10, 2013
iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
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
Ralph, it took me a while to get to it, but I followed your instructions and believe I removed all personal data from my work Mac. (I followed up by emptying the trash.) THANK YOU for your help and for providing such clear, detailed instructions. I really appreciate it.
for the
Points.
10:05 pm Tuesday; November 19, 2013
iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
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
Somehow my personal address book is still on my work computer. Any idea how to remove that?
Personal friends are showing up in autofill and pop-ups for names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthday reminders, etc.
Hi,
That sound like the Contacts App or Address Book depending which OS the work computer is using is syncing Address Books via iCloud.
7:44 pm Tuesday; December 10, 2013
iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
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
I'm on Mavericks. I opened Contacts and my whole personal address book is on there. Not happy about that.
I looked under Contacts > Preferences > Accounts, and it only shows my work account. (We use Google.)
I also looked under System Preferences > Internet Accounts, and it similarly only shows my Google work account being used for Contacts. iCloud is inactive, doesn't have any boxes checked, and now shows the Apple ID I created for work.
My personal info would have come from iCloud via the personal Apple ID I stupidly used when setting up my work computer. That's now been completely disabled or removed as far as I can tell. So are the Contacts somewhere in the Library? Is there a cache or preference that I can delete?
Hi,
The Contacts app / Address Book is not an area an I am that knowledgeable about.
I would delete all the names in the Contacts app.
Then I would access the ~/Library/Application Support/ Address Book and delete the contents there as well.
8:02 pm Wednesday; December 11, 2013
iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
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
Thank you very much. I deleted all entries in the Contacts app. I wasn't able to find any folders/files named Address Book or Contacts in the Library. But hopefully it's resolved now. Thanks again.
Hi,
In the Finder > Go Menu hold th ALT key down and then select the Library that appears in the menu list.
This is the ~/Library (Home Library) which is Hidden in Lion, Mountain Lion and Mavericks.
8:16 pm Wednesday; December 18, 2013
iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
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
Thank you! That worked.
How do I get personal messages off my work computer?
