iMessage font changed in preferences but does not stay in chosen font when i next login On my 2007 Mac running 10.9.3

Question

Level 1

4 points

iMessage font changed in preferences but does not stay in chosen font when i next login On my 2007 Mac running 10.9.3

I goto iMessage Preferences > Viewing > then change my background clour, font colour and font as well as senders. Tbis works for current session but whenever I login again I have to go throught the process all over again.

I have tried right clicking > fonts > show fonts but neither method works after I switch Mac off.

I can't imagine that we are unable to save our chosen viewing of iMessage conversations so I ask the Apple Community if I am missing some thing or if my fears are true and we are unable to set our own default font.

User uploaded file

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)

Posted on May 17, 2014 5:05 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

May 17, 2014 6:55 AM in response to meddler23

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iChat.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Show Info in Finder (or just Show Info)

from the contextual menu.* An Info dialog should open.

Does the dialog show "You can read and write" in the Sharing & Permissions section?
In the General section, is the box labeled Locked checked?
What is the Modified date?

If you don't have read and write access to the item, change the settings as directed here. Note, however, that if one file has wrong access settings, most likely others do as well. If the item is locked, unlock it.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Open a TextEdit window and paste into it ( command-V). Select the line you just pasted and continue as above.

Reply

Answer 2

meddler23 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 23, 2014 3:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hello Linc

Thank you for your response

I followed your instructions but Unfortunately it appears I have both read and write permisssons and item is not Locked and modified date always shows as time when I open the dialoge box

Main problem is any Font changes I make within iMessage do not remain beyond the current session so that when I next switch my machine on the Font reverts back to Default.

I suspect that this may be just how things are with iMessage and there is no way to retain my chosen Font settings beyond te current session

However if anyone does know how to keep my Font settings please advise

regards

Reply

Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

May 24, 2014 4:45 PM in response to meddler23

Back up all data.

Right-click or control-click the same line above and select

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Quit the application if it's running. Move the selected item to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Relaunch the application and test. If there's no change, quit again and put the item you moved back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Otherwise, delete the item you moved.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Reply

Answer 4

meddler23 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 23, 2014 5:48 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc

I still don't understand what you have told me, bit of a nube regarding iMac.

I previously tried your first suggested method but no change and I can't understand the rowing suggestion.

Would it be possible to provide a step by step guide to resolving my iMessage font problem.

Everytime I open iMessage app on Mac i have to

Open iMessage > Preferences > viewing the select font, size and colour but next time i open iMessage the font returns to default and I go through the above process again

Reply

Answer 5

Jul 18, 2014 2:51 PM in response to meddler23

Hi,

I had the same issue with my mid-2012 13" MacBook Pro and the steps below resolved it.

Quit your Messages app.(Don't just close the windows, be sure it's not running.)

Open finder and click on "Go" menu in the menu bar along the screen. (Between "View" and "Window)

Then press the alt/option key on your keyboard which will give you the "Library" option in the Go menu.

Click "Library". This will open a finder window. Find the "Preferences" folder and open it.

Find the file "com.apple.iChat.plist".

You can drag that file to the desktop or select it, hit the return key on your keyboard and rename it to "com.apple.iChat.old".

Relaunch Messages. Change the font settings to your desired settings.

Quit and relaunch again to see if the settings stay.

If they do, you can delete the file you renamed.(Or delete the file you moved to the desktop.)

If they don't stay, quit the app again, go to the folder/file as previously stated.

Delete the 'new' com.apple.iChat.plist file, rename com.apple.iChat.old back to com.apple.iChat.plist.

Hope this helps.

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 14, 2015 8:49 PM in response to hoover1701d

Tried it, but it didn't work. Any other ideas? And thanks for trying to help!

Reply

Answer 7

Feb 21, 2015 10:48 PM in response to jennymacs

I contacted AppleCare twice about this issue. The first rep said to call back when it was happening (the font size too small), so I did so and the second rep did not have an answer. Normally I have excellent luck with AC, but there apparently is no good answer for this. At least from Apple.

Forgot to add, I did try the apple plist suggestion and I didn't even have it in my library! I need to check since i called about another issue and found that i had tons of adware. Great rep (Regina) this time. I'll ck now and report back if it works.

Reply

Answer 8

Feb 21, 2015 10:55 PM in response to hoover1701d

So far, your suggestion worked perfectly. Fingers crossed. Thanks so much! Maybe you can call Apple and let them know! 😉

Reply

Answer 9

Mar 24, 2015 3:10 PM in response to jennymacs

Big bump. It worked perfectly for a long time, but the same thing is happening again. Argh! I'll redo it and see what happens. I haven't upgraded to Yosemite - wonder if that would make a difference. Just thinking out loud now. Not that I would upgrade just for that. 😉

Reply

Answer 10

Mar 31, 2015 8:11 AM in response to Linc Davis

btw, Linc, that services trick to show in finder or show info was awesome! I've been a mac user for nearly 25 years and never knew about that one! so many times in articles and forums you come across paths to files and have to copy/paste into the go menu or some other launcher (Qs, alfred, spotlight, etc)... but if the path is there it's not necessary! thanks. and for the record, your reply is how a forum/community response should be done each and every time. great stuff.

Reply

Answer 11

Apr 7, 2015 10:15 AM in response to hoover1701d

Thank you very much. I could not understand the other solutions, but this one work perfectly. Best regards.

Reply

Answer 12

Apr 7, 2015 12:49 PM in response to meddler23

I fixed it and it worked perfectly - so simple and obvious. Messages>Preferences>Viewing. Choose your desired font. Easy peasy!

Reply

Answer 13

meddler23 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 8, 2015 11:03 AM in response to jennymacs

Hi JM

Unfortunately the Fix you speak of is a Pre Yosemite solution and not present on current IOS and when I tried this Pre Yosemite it would not keep settings after logging off/switching Mac back on

Thank you anyway

Reply

Answer 14

Apr 8, 2015 11:08 AM in response to meddler23

Well, that stinks! 😉 I have Mavericks on my iMac and Yosemite on my MB Air. It might help others who still have Mavericks. I REALLY don't like Yosemite (just esthetics mainly). Thanks for the info!

Reply