How to sync imessage from iphone to macbook

• You can use iMessage on your Mac by signing into your Apple ID account.
• Once you're signed in, you can send and receive iMessages from your Mac's Messages app.
• Any iMessage you send or receive on your Mac will appear on your iPhone or iPad too.

Apple has spent years making sure you can send and receive text messages no matter where you are. You can send them from your iPhone, your iPad, your Apple Watch — and even your Mac.

Every Mac comes with an app called Messages pre-installed. Log into this app with your Apple ID, and you can send iMessages as quickly as you can on any other device.

Here's how to set up iMessages on your MacBook, iMac, or Mac mini.

How to set up iMessage on a Mac

1. Open the Messages app by clicking its green-and-white icon in your Dock. If it isn't already there, you can find it in the Applications folder or by searching for it.

2. Sign in with the same Apple ID you use on your iPhone to send iMessages. Depending on your account's security settings, you might need to enter a two-factor authentication code too.

3. Once you're logged in, you can start sending text messages right away if you know the phone number or email of the person you want to text.

4. If you want to see your existing conversations and have all your text messages sync across devices, click Messages in the menu bar at the top of the screen, then select Preferences.

5. Click the iMessage tab, and then toggle on Enable Messages in iCloud. If this option doesn't show up, it means that you've already enabled it somewhere else, so you're all set.

6. Under the You can reached for messages at: heading, you'll see all the phone numbers and email addresses that people can text you at. Check off which ones you want to receive texts from on this Mac.

7. Finally, use the Start new conversations from: drop-down to choose which of those numbers/addresses you want your Mac's text messages to be sent from.

Restart the Messages app, and all your existing text conversations should sync with the Mac. If you want your contacts to sync too, you'll need to log into your Apple ID in the System Preferences app.

Once you've got this set up, make sure that message syncing is enabled on your iPhone or iPad too.

1. Grab your iPhone or iPad — whichever device you primarily use to send texts — and open the Settings app.

2. Tap your name at the top of the menu to open the Apple ID menu, then tap iCloud.

3. In the iCloud menu, make sure that Messages is enabled.

Syncing your messages between an iOS device and a Mac should usually be a seamless experience, requiring very little input from you personally. But we’ve all had those moments when our devices do a sudden tech burp and iMessage stops working. If this is happening to you, here is how to sync iMessage from iPhone to Mac, to give it a little push again.

Read more: How to enable iMessage on iOS, macOS, and Apple Watch

QUICK ANSWER

To sync iMessage from iPhone to Mac, toggle off iMessage from your iPhone or iPad, and toggle it back on again. Disconnect your iCloud account from Mac iMessage and reconnect it. Then click the Sync Now button on Mac iMessage. All devices must be logged into the same iCloud account.

How to sync iMessage from iPhone to Mac

Before proceeding with these troubleshooting tips, it’s a good idea to see if the issue is at Apple’s end. Therefore, go to Apple’s System Status page and look up iMessage. Green is good, red is not so good.

If you see that iMessage is green and therefore up and running, then here is how to begin the re-sync process. We will be focusing on the iPhone, but this works the same way for iPads too.

Ensure all devices are logged into the same iCloud account

This may seem like an obvious one, but if you’re running more than one iCloud account, it can be easy to mix them up. Since iMessage syncs via iCloud, all devices need to be logged into that one account. So check that first.

While you’re there, go to the Apps using iCloud section on your iPhone and check that Messages is enabled.

Tapping on it will give you the option to Sync this iPhone. Make sure it’s toggled green.

Toggle iMessage off on the iPhone then back on again

Next, you need to go to Settings–>Messages and ensure that iMessage is toggled on. If it already is, and it’s not working, toggle it off and back on again.

Enable Text Message Forwarding on the iPhone

Further down that screen, you’ll see an option called Enable Text Message Forwarding. This ensures that non-iMessage SMS’s are forwarded to your other devices. Tap it.

You will now see your other Apple devices logged into the same iCloud account. Toggle on the ones you want to sync your messages with.

Sign out of Mac iMessage and sign back in again

It’s time now to shift your attention to the Mac. Open Messages on your Mac, and go to Messages–>Preferences at the top of the screen. Then click the iMessage tab and the Settings sub-tab.

If this is already filled out, and it’s not working:

• Sign out and sign back into the iCloud account again.
• Untick and re-tick Enable Messages in iCloud.
• Ensure your phone number is correct and then tick it. If the phone number is not correct, log into your iCloud account and change it.
• Make sure your iCloud accounts are ticked as well.
• Finally, click Sync Now, and your messages should start appearing. It may take a minute so be patient. If it still doesn’t work, restart your devices and try again.

Read more: Why iMessage is such a big deal

FAQs

iMessage is the messaging system available to all Apple device users and is free to use. SMS are the paid messages sent through your phone carrier to your iPhone and rerouted to the iMessage platform.

It could be due to things like the device being switched off for a long time, your internet connection being slow, or Apple’s servers being slower than usual. The latter is rare, though.

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