I used to be able to see messages from circa 2014 on my Macbook Pro! Now that I changed my password, though, all of my imessages from before Oct. 2015 have been erased 😟
(I don't have a time machine back up)
Can anyone help me get my messages back onto my imessages app on my macbook?
Please 😢
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)
Hi,
Do you Save chats by any chance ?
It is a setting in Preferences > General Settings about "Save on Close"
"Close" can be dismissing the Chat from the main Messages chat window, the computer going to sleep or the app being quit.
iMessages themselves should also be stored in the chat.db items in ~/Library/Messages (there are three database items here).
These link incoming Messages that use your iPhone number or Apple ID depending which people are sending to or you are Sending from.
If your iPhone Number and Apple ID are not linked then it will obviously only be the Apple ID.
Changing the Apple ID in the App means you appear to become a "different" person and the database will not see the conversation as being between the same two "people".
IF you Save chats they are stored in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Messages/Archive by date.
It is better if you Copy the path and then use the Finder > Go Menu > Go to Folder and paste the path into the dialogue box that appears.
Double clicking a Saved chat will generally open it is it's own separate window. It is unlikely to have a Text Entry field if the ID you are using is not one of the one is in the Conversation.
I.e you may only be able to view them.
Once your device, (iPhone or Mac) has received an iMessages it is deleted from the Server.
You cannot "download" them again as they don't exist. (Even if they did they would be for the other ID).
If you could give us as much info as you can about how you changed to Apple ID in Messages and what conversations were on show We might be able to point to some other things you might be able to do.
7:43 pm Sunday; February 14, 2016
Thank you!
Yeah, so I have the exact same ID! I just changed my password for it. I see all the texts from before via the path you told me to take in Finder, but is there a way I can put those back into the iMessages app?
Cause they’re organized by dates instead of by people! So it’s kinda unhelpful. Idk – am I making any sense?
Hi,
And this Apple ID is being used in System Preferences > iCloud as the iCloud ID as well and syncing the contacts Apps ?
Changing just the password at the Apple ID site then changing it so that Messages can login the iMessages account shouldn't have caused the issues you describe.
It is late where I am and there will be a gap until my next response.
10:06 pm Sunday; February 14, 2016
Yes, they are the same two emails/apple IDs. I'm not sure what you mean by "syncing the contacts Apps," though. So I signed out of everything on imessage and now even messages from the past few days have just disappeared, but it doesn't make sense: I can search for something from a week ago in the search bar, and i'll be able to see the entire conversation. Then, i'll send a new text and it'll switch back to the normal view of messages, but my new message will go above the last things I sent! it makes no sense.
To give you an example, here's a conversation with my sister:
I sent her a video at 2:16PM, and then sent her a text "tor" at 6:53PM. It appears above the older text and then her subsequent texts are below it. whattt? I'm so confused by this app. The messages are only accessible when you search for something, otherwise it looks like I deleted them all. And now it is just all out of order chronologically? I'm so confused and technologically challenged right now lol...thanks for your patience & help!😟
Ok,
Lets deal with some Possibles here as you mention two email/Apple IDs
I have a very old Apple ID from 2003 based on a dial up Internet Service I had.
When iCloud started I linked to iCloud and also got an @me.com email ID in addition. Later Apple Issued an @icloud.com name based on the @me.com one.
I can log in to iCloud https://www.icloud.com/ with any of those three Apple IDs but use the same Password.
iMessages will treat each though as separate IDs...
So...
I uses one in iMessages and other in System Preferences > iCloud to sync Mail and Contacts with other devices (I tend not to use the others)
If I change the password it does so for all three "Names"/emails.
What is also possible is to Use an Apple ID linked to an iCloud account as the iMessages Account but also Add another mail in the Messages > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages account.
This could be another Apple ID but not linked to the original the way mine is.
If you changes this Password that should just carry on working the way it did before.
However if you try to make this the iMessages Apple ID then you will have issues.
The stored settings that involve using the Serial Number are linked to the Apple ID and password you were originally using.
There are situations we have seen in the past when iMessages appear out of order.
This can be related to the Apple ID or iPhone number being Off line for a while and the server not sure which ones you have had on the Mac.
The most common "fix" is to reset the NVRAM.
I would leave this though until it is clearer about which Apple ID you are using.
The Apple ID on the Mac version and the iPhone version should match to sync properly.
8:00 pm Monday; February 15, 2016
I changed my apple ID password and now all of my imessages on my macbook imessages app are deleted
