Hi
I have just upgraded to a new MBP and upgraded the OS to the latest Ventura 13.2.1. I have just noticed that my iMessages are not syncing so I don't see them on the MBP. I did have this problem previously, but I thought it was my previous MBP, which was very old. Perhaps it is the iPhone at fault?
Any help greatly received.
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 13.2
When is Apple ever going to fix this? iMessage never syncs correctly on macOS, whereas on iOS, iPadOS it works 100% fine. This has been happening for the past years, over many macOS versions.
All of the tips that everyone continues to give do not work. I even tried several clean installs on all devices.
On the Mac, only a few messages are synced, but about 50% to 75% of messages is always missing, confusing the user. Not talking about SMS messages, but iMessages.
They only sync correctly if the Messages app is running on the Mac WHILE THE USER IS using iMessage on other devices. Mac computers that are sleeping, turned off, or don't have the app running, will immediately get out of sync.
This is so horrendous that iMessage on the Mac has become practically unusable.
I contacted Apple support and it looked like the issue was fixed. But it osn't. As Colpolyp, above, says, iMessages does not sync on the Mac if it is not open. I got mesages this morning that are not visible in the iMessage app on my MBP.
Shame.
Thanks for reaching out Flybr1dge,
It sounds like you're having trouble receiving messages on your MacBook Pro. We can help.
A great place to start is with these steps to Access your messages on all your Apple devices:
Turn on Messages in iCloud
1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu> System Settings, then do one of the following:
- If you need to sign in to your Mac: Click Sign in with your Apple ID at the top of the sidebar, then sign in with your Apple ID. Use the same Apple ID you use to sign in to Messages.
- If you’re already signed in to your Mac: Click [your name] at the top of the sidebar, then make sure you’re signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID you use to sign in to Messages.
Note: Most users only have one Apple ID. If you have more than one, go to System Settings on your Mac, and Messages Settings in Messages, and make sure you’re using the same Apple ID for both.
2. Click Password & Security on the right, then make sure that Two-Factor Authentication is on. If it’s off, see Set up your Apple ID password and security information.
3. In the Messages appon your Mac, choose Messages > Settings, then click iMessage.
4. Click Settings, then select Enable Messages in iCloud.
5. The messages from your other devices that use the same Apple ID appear on your Mac.
Note: Depending on how many messages you have, it may take a while for all of them to appear. You can send and receive messages during that time.
6. After you turn on Messages in iCloud, your messages stay up to date automatically. If you want to make sure a new change takes effect immediately, choose Messages > Settings, click iMessage, click Settings, then click Sync Now.
Hope that helps.
Take care.
Thanks for the reply. When I checked the settings mentioned they were all set. However, in the iMessage settings there is a section headed You can be reached for messages at:, which lists a few email addresses (not sure how they got there) and my mobile number. The email addresses were ticked, but the mobile number was not.
The Sync Now button is greyed out. It was open and I clicked it, but it is now greyed out, but no messages are appearing in Messages. I sent some test messages from my mobile and they only appeared on my MBP when the phone number above was ticked, so I have left that ticked.
It says it can take some time for messages to sync, but the only entry on my MBP is the 1 thread I used for the tests, and that only includes the two messages sent when the mobile number was ticked.
Will it take a long time for the history to sync onto the MBP, or is there something else at play here?
FYI, I don't think I'm bothered about the chat history, but if it needs fixing then it would be good to fix it.
Hello Flybr1dge,
At this point, we recommend reaching out to Apple Support directly.
Contact - Official Apple Support
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Take care!
iMessage not syncing with my new MBP
