Why are all of my messages now showing up with initials instead of names?

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Level 1

13 points

Why are all of my messages now showing up with initials instead of names?

Now, when I receive a message, on MacBook and on IOS, I only see initials. This appears to be a feature in Big Sur 11.4 and IOS 14. When I went to see if there was a preference, I was asked to enter my name. I really don't want to send my name. I wanted the recipient to see my name if they had me in their contacts.

Are we to understand that now messages will send our name and icon out to others? I did notice that I can set it to only send to my contacts. Could I be getting initials even though these people are in my contacts because they haven't given Apple permission to share their name?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jun 5, 2021 1:19 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

mikehenrysr Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 8, 2021 3:34 PM in response to Old Toad

First of all, this issue is in messages. I tried rebooting in safe mode and then going back to regular mode. Nothing changed.

I have some images from contacts, but even for those, I have initials showing instead of the names.

These are both family members in my contacts.

This next one is a mix of Android and iPhone:

The one name that is spelled out is in my contacts with no image and he uses an iPhone. So his says "CF" in the circle, but it says Chris for his name. Two of the others are iPhone, and 2 of the others are Android.

Any ideas?

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

210,627 points

Jun 5, 2021 2:34 PM in response to mikehenrysr

The photo in the Contact card that is used to display the person in a message is for local use only. It is not sent to others.

If you have photos in the contact cards for people you text to that image should be shown instead of the initials. If you have photos in the Contact card but are still getting only initials in emails try the following:

Boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to nearly twice as long as a normal boot as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

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Answer 3

mikehenrysr Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 9, 2021 2:53 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks very much. I invested a few minutes removing those apps even though I thought that was not going to work. As I was reinstalling the apps, then I realized that the messages show up on my phone and iPad (and MacBook Pro) without names. I don't run Sophos or CleanMyMac or Malwarebytes for that matter on my phone or my iPad. Both show initials.

So thanks for the help, but I'm pretty sure this is something that changed in Messages or in the operating systems. It doesn't make any sense to blame software applications that didn't change.

I do run several other applications on my MacBook Pro that are not from Apple. But the problem only occurs in the ones from Apple.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

210,627 points

Jun 8, 2021 4:19 PM in response to mikehenrysr

mikehenrysr wrote:

Yes, Sophos and Clean My Mac. They've both been on here for a while.

There's your problem. First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac. This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs. There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear. They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware. Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it. The free version is more than adequate for most users.

Often some apps will work OK with earlier systems but as systems get more complex and more secure these apps cause trouble.

Also, unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer's or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint: Public VPN's are anything but private.

So uninstall the two apps according to the developer's instructions. You can check to see if you've removed all of the supporting files by downloading and running the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with the application's or the developer's name in the file name. For two mentions apps you'd do the following search(es):

1 - Name contains cleanmymac

2 - Name contains macpaw

3 - Name contains Sophos

Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop or Trash bin in the Dock for deletion.

FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.