OS X Messages (8.0) window stays blank after start.

Ralph,

Good night, sleep tight.😉

I am fully aware of the correct look and feel of the messages window in Messages/iMessages. At some point Messages started to display a completely blank message window: i.e., there is no search bar, no side bar of chats, and on the right side there is no chat detail. The message window has the three colored buttons at the top left but nothing else! I cannot initiate a conversation through the app because there is no button to start a new conversation. Really strange.

John

Hi,

Try this:-

With Message Quit use the Finder and then the GO Menu whilst holding the ALT key down to access the ~/Library and then navigate to Preferences.

In there find com.apple.ichat.plist

Drag it to the Trash.

Restart Messages. (the .plist will be recreated but with default settings)

This particular .plist holds the windowing info

If this does not resolve things then use a Browser to search for the Combo version of the last Update you did.

For instance this is the results of a search for OS X 10.9.3 Combo

This will download a .dmg of the update.

Install this over what you have. (it is the only way to get a "fresh" copy of the Messages app.).

7:38 pm Tuesday; April 26, 2016

Unfortunately neither deleting the plist file nor re-applying the OS X 10.11.4 Combo update fixed the problem with Messages. Now what?

John

Ralph,

More info... Messages works fine on my macBook Pro running OS X 10.11.4. The set up of Messages on both of my Apple computers is basically identical. This make me wonder if it is an iCloud problem, but both computers are logged into the same apple ID. I am about to go to the genius bar for help.

Hi,

Logins of iMessages are Device Specific as the Serial Number is part of the process.

On the Mac this adds the IDS: YourAppleID-Auth Token item to the Keychain.

There can be issues if the Serial Number is missing or if you Migrate the whole Mac User including Keychain to the "new" Mac.

In effect you can use the Apple ID everywhere else - FaceTime, iTunes, Game Center, iCloud, iTunes. App Store and so on but it might be blocked on the iMessages server for that Mac.

It will also work on every other device without issue.

9:20 pm Wednesday; April 27, 2016

So does this mean I need to deleted everything in the Keychain or just my apple ID? How does one do that without resetting all entries in the keychain?

John

Hi,

As I said "this Adds the

IDS: YourAppleID-Auth Token

to your Keychain".

In Applications/Utilities open the Keychain Access App.

Set Login if it is not already top left.

Passwords as the lower left.

In the right hand pane you should now be able to find the IDS item.

It is only used for iMessages. The token is basically a combo of the ID, Password and Serial Number converted into a Token.

7:54 pm Friday; April 29, 2016

Ralph,

Sorry I did not fully understand your previous reply. This is what I have tried. Opened Keychain Access, found the appropriate Login entry and deleted two similar entries IDS: YourAppleID-Auth Token. Restarted my computer. Logged into iCloud to reset the KeyChain. Verified in KeyChain Access that IDS: YourAppleID-Auth Token was back. Started Messages but see no difference: message window remains completely blank. Not able to start a conversation; can not see any recent conversations, etc. Got a message on my iPhone that a new iMac (my computer) was logged in with my apple ID.

John

Hi,

So...

Any device logging in with either the Apple ID or the iPhone Number will create a pop up on the other devices when it logs in if it has not been logged in before or something has changed about the login.

From the response of the iPhone we know the Mac is logging in to iMessages.

There can be several reasons why the Main Window is blank.

The most devastating is th lack of the AppleGothic font but this also tends to mean inaccessible menu items as well.

The Right hand pane where the ext actually is in the bubbles can be blank because it is a new chat and you have not sent anything.

It could be that all Conversations and Chats have been dismissed from the Side Bar, meaning there are now chats to display.

The Screen could be in Spilt mode and if you then narrow the Messages part you can lose the Side Bar

Or you can narrow the Side bar to show just heads.

However you seem to be saying the icon of a Pencil in Box at the top of the last pic does not work nor does the Menu item for the same thing in

Messages > File Menu (Presumably CMD + N also does not work)

It could be other Fonts - Lucida Grande and Helvetica are the most likely as they are used by the app.

It could be a windowing issue - delete com.apple.ichat.plist from ~/Library/Preferences and the Restart Messages. (Use Finder > Go Menu whilst holding down the ALT key and select the Library that appears).

It could be deeper but we will worry about that if these don't work.

8:46 pm Saturday; April 30, 2016

Ralph,

This is a picture of the blank message window. There is nothing but the three buttons at the top left. I have already tried deleting com.apple.ichat.plist then restarting Messages but that did not correct the problem. Font Book shows that Lucida Grande and Helvetica are fine and both fonts validated as safe to use.

John

Hi,

There are a couple things you could try.

In the Font Book > File Menu use the "Restore Standard Fonts" option.

If that does not work use Linc's test from the 31st Aug in this thread and if required Reset the Ownership and Permissions from this Thread Reset Home Folder permissions and ACLs Error

The first is marked as the Helpful Post and then the green Solved one.

9:28 pm Sunday; May 1, 2016