Why are my messages not showing up

No, I haven't been able to fix it and no one seems to be of any help.

I've been around Macs since the MacPlus, so I pretty much know what I'm doing and I'm at a loss.

I've deleted most everything and tried to start over and I'm still having the problem. I've deleted & rebuild the iMessage Preference file, done the same with FaceTime, Email, iCloud ... anything I could think of. I've re-started the computer, every time I've deleted preferences and/or shut things on & off.

I still have some iMessage conversations, where I'm not getting the incoming messages. It doesn't make any sense to me. In one case, a conversation was getting the incoming texts and suddenly stopped.

I feel your pain!

Thank you for responding, I will let you know if I figure anything out. Oddly, I recently received a group text that did not appear on my computer but did appear on my phone but when the person who initiated that text sends me a message directly it comes through on both my computer and phone. I also have someone who only shows up on my phone when texting me directly.

Not the problem.

My correct phone # is "grey" and is checked.

I've reset my phone at least 10 times.

Restarted the computer at least 10 times.

Deactivate all the email addresses & the phone # in "Messages" on the iPhone.

Done the above on the computer.

Signed into & out of iCloud & restarted the computer between sign outs.

I have 3 or 4 conversations running, where I can't get incoming SMS or iMessages on my computer.

How would they possibly be addressed to both?

Someone send me a text from their telephone, they send it to my telephone #.

This is driving me nuts. I now have 8 text conversations that INCOMING won't show up on my computer ... 10 other conversations going on, that work fine.

I'm doing to re-state my question, in the hope that *someone* can offer some legitimate insight to this baffling problem.

ALL texts I receive are addressed to my phone #.

My phone number is properly linked to my iCloud account and my iCloud account is properly logged in from both my telephone and computer.

I have reset every possible connection between iCloud, my telephone and my computer.

80% of my texts work perfectly fine. Whether I originate them on my telephone or iMessages on my computer, they properly show up on both sources.

With 20% of my text conversations, the "incoming text" ONLY shows up on my phone and does not transfer to my computer, regardless of whether my originating, outgoing text came from my phone or computer.

When the other person is responding, the "3 dots" appear on both my phone & computer (which proves that my computer is properly link to my iCloud account & to my phone). The "3 dots" show up until the person on the other end hits "send" ... at which point, the dots disappear on my computer and the text appears on my iPhone.

That incoming text won't show up on my computer. It makes no difference if the incoming text is an SMS or an iMessage ... it won't show up on my computer.

HELP !

Ralph, no offense .. but you don't know what you're talking about and you're either not reading or simply not understanding the issue. You've posted at least 6 different responses, none of which are of any value.

Is there anyone on this forum who understand the iMessage/SMS process and knows why I can't get ALL my incoming messages to sync to my computer?

I have the same problem and was flummoxed. I'm on same iCloud account. Same Apple ID but messages stopped coming to my mac in July 2016 and nothing I do can get it working again. Just found I was only using my mobile number for iMassage so have added Apple ID and now can see Text Forwarding - isn't available if you are using your phone number which is why Ralph's instructions didn't work for me! setting text forwarding up now. Still doesn't work! Have just sent test message to my phone from my iPad and it hasn't been forwarded. On the iPad its not receiving either. I've tried adding it on my phone but the code number required does not appear on the iPad so its impossible. Code appeared on mac but it doesn't work. Very very tedious and so typical of Apple that things become more complex and opaque so that the value of the formerly great user experience is now reduced. Oh and now just checked - iPad got the test message forwarded but shows as not being forwarded to on phone while Mac does not get messages but does show on phone as being forwarded to. Truly daft.

I have had this problem as well and have a suggestion that may work. First, open Contacts and look at your own information. Assuming you are using an iPhone, is your iPhone phone number categorized as "iPhone" (the dropdown menu to the left of your phone number when it the editing mode) or is categorized as something else (mobile, other, customized)? If it categorized as something else then change it to "iPhone". I believe there is something in Apple's software that uses this information for messages/texting. Also, if you use an email from Apple ( .icloud .me .mac etc) then select "iCloud" beside the address (in the same edit mode of Contacts).

I typically don't like "hey, try this..." advice because it rarely works but I have not had issues with messages recently and this may have been the fix...although it could have been something else I changed/fixed without knowing it or the problem may still exist but hasn't reared it's head again.

Anyone reading this, please post if this suggestion did or did not work for you. It would be great to know if this is a fix or if it is not worth wasting anyone else's time with.

Good luck!

peru9800 wrote:

I have had this problem as well and have a suggestion that may work. First, open Contacts and look at your own information. Assuming you are using an iPhone, is your iPhone phone number categorized as "iPhone" (the dropdown menu to the left of your phone number when it the editing mode) or is categorized as something else (mobile, other, customized)? If it categorized as something else then change it to "iPhone". I believe there is something in Apple's software that uses this information for messages/texting. Also, if you use an email from Apple ( .icloud .me .mac etc) then select "iCloud" beside the address (in the same edit mode of Contacts).

It makes absolutely no difference what the phone number is labeled. Apple software does not use this information for iMessages/Texting. I never use the label "iPhone".

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Thanks Ralph..I think I fixed my problem. Apparently, I have two iCloud accounts and was logged into a different one on my phone and Mac. I synched them up and it's working now. Hooray!

I have done this. (Resetting, and receiving new code). It worked as far as updating with the missed messages, but new messages do not show up. My replies/outgoing messages show up, but not incoming.

I have a little more information.

On the conversations I'm having trouble with: About half of my outgoing messages are "blue" and the other half are "green".

Did you ever straighten this out? I have the same issue and would love to resolve it. Thank you.

-a

You might want to start your own post since this one is from last year. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.

Did you look at the links I posted on 9 May 15?