Level 1

72 points

Cannot send iMessages on my Mac but can receive them

I changed my main Apple ID email address yesterday, and also changed from my iPhone 5C to a iPhone SE.

Once I did changed my Apple ID email address, I had to sign out of all my devices, and sign back in with the new email cause I was getting error since the apps were trying to log in with the old email.

After that, everything was working on all devices except 1 thing. I cannot send iMessages from Messages on my Mac. iMessage is working on my iPhone correctly. I can receive iMessages on both Mac and iPhone. I can even send SMS (non-imessage) messages on my Mac. Really, all I can't do is to send iMessages from the Mac.

What I did :

- Restarted my computer
- Log out and back in of Messages on the Mac
- Log out and back in of iCloud on the Mac
- Deleted Messages related Preferences files
- Deleted Keychain passwords that were using the old email

Not sure what else to try. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm running El Capitan by the way (10.11.4) on a 2012 15 inches Macbook Pro.

MacBook Pro, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on Apr 11, 2016 6:18 AM

Top-ranking reply

midonz

Level 1

13 points

Posted on Feb 20, 2018 12:07 PM

Try this:

1. go to Keychain Access app in the Utilities folder

2. under the File menu, choose *Lock Keychain "Login"*

3. go to the File menu again and choose *Unlock Keychain "Login"*

4. enter your password when prompted.

I'm on Sierra. I could receive messages on all my devices but after an OS security update I could not send or reply in Messages on my laptop. I finally got a useful error message (STKeychainErrorDomain error -25299) from a third-party app (Airmail3) indicating it had a problem accessing the Keychain. They sent me to a lengthy Apple help forum about rebuilding my Keychain. I started with the easiest possible suggested fix (above) and (ridiculously) it solved all my problems.

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111 replies

marclarin Author

Level 1

72 points

Apr 15, 2016 3:59 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Thank you so much Ralph!

I managed to make it work by creating a new user on the computer.

when I opened the Messages app, logged in, I was able to send iMessages again!

So glad it's working again.

Do I really need to re-arrange everything? Preferences on all apps, passwords saved in the Keychain, and so on?

Or do you know what was wrong now that I know that switching user make it work?

Thanks again!

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 15, 2016 5:10 PM in response to marclarin

Please back up all data before proceeding.

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

~/Library/Keychains

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

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Desktop. Log out or restart the computer. Test.

Then put the folder you moved back where it was, replacing the new one that may have been created in its place. Log out or restart again.

*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 may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Apr 16, 2016 11:15 AM in response to marclarin

Hi,

At this point follow Linc's Advice.

Essentially there are two choices now.

Move items to the new Mac User Account bit by bit in the hope that the corrupt item is not moved as well.

Or work on the old account and fix what is wrong.

Actually the second option can be a long haul but is does save moving Pictures, Movies, Documents let alone Passwords and Preferences fro all the apps you use and may have bought.

7:15 pm Saturday; April 16, 2016

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
 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

Mar 16, 2017 7:38 AM in response to Eric Root

This worked for me, thank you!

Jun 22, 2017 7:36 AM in response to Eric Root

Deleting the iChat plist and restarting helped me.

Apr 12, 2018 10:21 AM in response to midonz

Thank you! I was also having trouble connecting my MacBook to Apple TV. This suggestion fixed both problems.

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Cannot send iMessages on my Mac but can receive them