Messages and Facetime don't recognize my contacts phone number

HI,

It is a known issue in Sierra.

Messages used to read a file that contained the info about the Country and the +XX numbers to be added for the country code.

It was called com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist

It used to in /Library/Preferences and if you have not deleted it it may be still there from earlier OS versions.

It also held/holds the Apple ID, any linked iPhone and any additional email you might have linked.

Removing this files then restarting Messages used to be the only way to remove unwanted emails that had become linked. (You would have to Sign in again and the iPhone number accepted over again).

However if you try this the .plist is not recreated now.

The ONLY "Fix" is to add the Country code to your Contacts where required.

You might find someone has written an AppleScript file or an Automator one that might do many more items in a batch.

8:17 pm Thursday; September 7, 2017

Hi,

See this example

Add country code to OS X Address book entries · GitHub

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8:26 pm Thursday; September 7, 2017

Hi,

Apple have decided to change something.

The details stored in the .plist seem to be somewhere else now.

The second part of the info stored in the .plist that refers to the Country Code being added to "local" numbers does not seem to be included anywhere.

I have tried many of the files in ~/Library/Preferences (this is different for /Library/Preferences) and in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Preferences

You can tell Apple https://www.apple.com/feedback/messages.html

You will not get a response but if enough people state they have an issue then it will be corrected.

As Sierra is going to be superceded by High Sierra very soon it is unlikely there will be any more updates to Sierra.

(it seems it happened in a later update to Sierra rather than being there at the beginning).

8:40 pm Friday; September 8, 2017

Hi. I have problem that I can't solve. I already read all solutions about this problem, but nothing worked for me.

Problem is that my Messages app on Macbook (macOS Sierra) does not recognize my contacts. I have connected both, Macbook and iPhone with iCloud, I get message on Macbook too, but instead of displaying contact name, is app displaying only phone number. The number is displayed in format with country code (in my case +386nnnnnnnn). My contacts have saved their phone numbers in format without country code. Until now this was not a problem (on my iMac which I sold few days ago). Now I bought new Macbook (I did not have Time Machine backup) and this problem came up. If I change contact phone number and add to their phone number country code, then the contact name is displayed in Messages app.

Is there any other way to solve this problem, because I don't want to change all of my contacts (300+) phone numbers.

I already change all possible location settings to my country (Slovenia). Language & Region on Macbook (Slovenia), Automatically set date and time on Macbook (Apple Europe), Time Zone (automatically set to Maribor, Slovenia), iCloud.com (Contacts -> Preferences -> Formats (Address Layout) -> Set to Slovenia; Contacts app on Macbook -> Preferences -> Address Format set to Slovenia.

I also log out of iCloud on both of my devices and Log in again on one device and then the other. Please help me to solve this problem it is really annoying. Thank you all.

Hi.

I don't have this file (com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist) in Library/Preferences. So the only possible way is to add country code to all my contacts? I don't understand how this can't be solved, I used to have Sierra on previous iMac but worked all fine. Apple won't resolve this with some update of the Sierra?

Ok, thanks. I will report problem to Apple. I hope this will be solved in future macOS.

Note to all readers.

This thread was started in 2014.

Messages had a Country Selection spot at that time.

The app also had Video for AIM and Jabber accounts and the "Viewing" was a new name for Formatting the Messages

It was a slide out/drop down pane as you can see when the Accounts > iMessages account had different buttons.

This later changed and the OS added the info to the .plist that held the IDs and the Country info.

The so called "madrid" .plist

See the title of the item in the pic for it's full name.

If this file is still in your ~/Library/Preferences it is not read by the app in late Sierra. See the later posts in September 2017

To access the Home Folder/Library (the ~ stands for Home Folder) you open Finder window and use the Go Menu whilst also Holding down the ALT key.

The Library that then appears in the menu is the one you need to Select (if you let go and tap the ALT key you can see the Library item appear and disappear).

You can then navigate to Preferences.

This same .plist and the ability to delete it (It was recreated on restarting the app) used to be the only way to remove emails that had been added.

See here for iPhone Numbers Deregister and Turn Off iMessage - Apple Support

At present I have not found where these two bits of info are now stored for Messages.

I have deleted my "madrid" plist but it has not removed the emails I wanted to remove and has not been recreated.

This means some file is holding the account info at least even if the OS is now not storing the Location info it finds.

9:47 pm Friday; September 8, 2017

Hi,

You are trying to Edit the Address Card in the Contacts App ?

This should allow you to change the phone number and add the Country code.

In Contacts > Preferences > Template, check if you have entered the phone number under Mobile.

In General section my setting is for the United Kingdom but I do have one contact how as a United States phone number and it allowed me to add the (+1)

I tend to find those that do not have the leading +Country code have the option to use in the "To" spot when you add the name (it shows both the plain number and the one with the country code. However it may presume that it as a Local Country Code as the app can also be set by country).

9:50 pm Tuesday; February 25, 2014

 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

Hi,

I checked my Main Messages window by starting a New Message and typing the first two letters on my name in the "To" spot.

It then lists various options for AIM, Jabber, Yahoo and iMessages IDs and Phone numbers based on Address Cards from my three computers

It showed my Landline number with the +44 for Great Britain (and the dropped leading 0) which is not the version on the Address Card it was quoting.

(Messages thinks any phone number is a potential iMessages contact point).

For me this is working.

An example I can post of a UK vehicle supprt service

It does not go red until you select it as the "Contact" (which I did to separate it out from the other ones starting "ra")

At this stage it is unclear if it is the Contacts app that is not supplying the Messages app with the correct info or whether Messages is not using the Info correctly.

For Messages this woiud be in the com.apple.ichat.plist file

I can only see this item

From that info it is unclear what the function is .

The Column Offset could be the amount right the drop list of potential contacts are from the "To" spot.

Deleting com.apple.ichat.plist will remove any Preferences Settings (apart from Accounts) that you have changed in the Messages Preferences.

This includes the Viewing Choices regarding Colours and Fonts and so on.

I am unsure of other apps and deleting their .plists

Generally this can be less invasive than a complete reinstall/recovery of the OS.

I would consider Repairing Permissions. (Applications/Utilities > Disk Utility > First Aid tab. > Repair Permissions button)

And possibly redoing the Update.

9:44 pm Friday; February 28, 2014

Hi,

I have the computer, Messages app and the Contacts app set to the United Kingdom.

This does seem to be something to do with the +44 that gets added to my Contacts that have iPhone numbers.

I presume it is the setting in Messages that does this.

In Messages menu > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages accounts click the Details Button and then sign in via the pane that shows up.

At the bottom of the pane that replaces that is the Country selector.

Select where you are and then Save.

9:39 pm Saturday; March 1, 2014

for the Points.

6:47 pm Sunday; March 2, 2014

i have the same problem with my iPad 2 after update to 8.4.1 changed region to my country and to +90 (number) which appears in FaceTime but still the same!

Hi,

In System Preferences > Date and Time are you using the Automatic Time Server ?

7:14 p.m. Sunday; September 20, 2015