Messages not working on Mac since upgrading to Sequoia 15.4

I had this same issue after updating to Sequoia the other day. Unable to send any messages as iMessage.

But it's fixed now after I logged out of my iCloud account on my macbook and logged back in. The settings look a little different, as if they've been updated, and the messages are sending now as iMessage. So my hunch is that there was an issue with the OS update that glitches when the user is logged in to iMessage and it won't properly update the Messages app until you log out and log back in.

It took me a few tries to log back into my iMessage, it failed a couple times and I was worrying I had made the situation worse. But a few minutes later I tried a third time and it works fine, and now everything's working again.

I think there are a slew of problems being mixed together here, but this solved at least some of my problems AND I HAVE NOT SEEN THIS SOLUTION ELSEWHERE IN SPITE OF A LOT OF GOOGLING:

Following an update to 15.4.1 (skipping 15.4, and enabling ADP at roughly the same time), syncing between phone and Messages.app stopped, and I could not send SMS (i.e. to non-Apple-phones) from OSX. Turning on iCloud sync was a non-starter for me, due to the volume of messages (due to the fact that too many people refuse to use email for non-urgent messages--personal kvetch). Besides, this worked just fine without iCloud previously, and I've found avoiding iCloud entirely makes my computing experience more deterministic.

In messages.app, under settings, under "iMessage", the "you can be reached ..." option for my phone number had been deselected. As a result "start new conversations from" was using my email address, which is no bueno for SMS. Ticking the phone number box changed the default "start new..." setting, and I can now send SMS, and at least some syncing appears to be happening that wasn't.

Q: is there any difference in the two colors of green (not blue) text bubbles when sending to Android? The closest answer I could find was from Gemini, which I don't trust: "The slight differences in the green color are likely minor variations in how the app renders or visualizes the message bubbles. They both still represent the same underlying message type: a standard SMS/MMS text. "

This solution worked for me- I went to setting >> iCloud >> show all, and found out Messages was off from iCloud after the Sequoia upgrade last night. So I switched it on for iCloud, restarted the Macbook and the messages works again.

It’s been roughly 2 weeks for me now. Spoke with 3 different Apple reps on the phone, no fix yet. The last thing we did was screen record the issue and sent it to their engineers. I am waiting for resolution

It's clear that's what being described here is a whole slew of very different problems, so people saying "I did this and it fixed 'it' " isn't really telling us anything about any one of our specific problems.

I was not able to SMS to Android, and for me, the update had unticked the "send from this phone number" box, but left the "send from this email" box in Message settings. This configuration would never work for Android, and that part of my problems went away when I re-ticked the box. Good luck.

• Have you contacted Apple directly?

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

• Logging out of iCloud and back in has solved the issue for many seen here. Have you done that?
• Are you using a VPN?
• Have you verified that it still does not work reliably in Safe Mode? Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
• Are you running any AntiVirus known for blocking ports?

I have a MBP M4 on Sequoia and an Intel MBP that went from Ventura to Sonoma and now Sequoia without any problems messaging and they also appear on the iPhone as well. Waiting for Apple to solve a problem for you that is not affecting the vast majority of users is not likely going to lead to a resolution. If you do not want to call Apple or schedule a Genius appointment, then you would have to at least let us know what steps you have taken yourself.

PSA *if you are having the above issue and are not able to solve it - consider reaching out to Apple Support because if enough of us do the issue will be upgraded for engineers to review and hopefully issue a patch

I have had this issue for a while where I couldn't send and SMS via my macbook, only iMessages. After digging around a bit I learned it was actually an issue on my phone.

To fix:

Open Settings on your iPhone > Scroll down and open Apps > Scroll down and open Messages > Scroll down and open Text Message Forwarding > Enable the toggle on your device

You might have to go and "Sync Now" in your messages preferences on your other device, but after that it worked as it should.

Hope this helps because it was a constant issue for me that I couldn't figure out for way too long.

Hi Just called Apple and a great tech person--had me go to settings, iCloud, messages, and hit sync. This reset things and all is working perfectly now.

I believe the problem started with Sonoma. It has now continued into Sequoia. And even though so many people are complaining about the problem, Apple doesn't seem to care at all.

I switched directly from a 2011 iMac running High Sierra to a Mac Studio running Sonoma. I've been working with Macs long enough to know how to help myself when problems arise, but some problems are caused by Apple and there's not much you can do about them.

So with the Mac Studio and Sonoma, this problem started where messages repeatedly fail to appear on the Mac. It happens almost every day.

I exchange messages with a friend almost every day. He writes them all from an iPhone – always the same one. So why most of his messages arrive on the Mac, but some repeatedly fail to do so, is beyond me.

All of his messages appear reliably on my iPhone. Every time!

I now also use a MacBook Pro M1, which also runs on Sequoia. Some of the messages don't arrive there either. I see the messages on my iPhone, but I usually reply to them on one of the Macs. Replying is no problem, but the message from him that I'm replying to simply remains missing.

And here's the thing: 

on my old MacBook Pro from 2011, which still runs High Sierra, ALL messages appear reliably.

And that leads me to conclude that there is a problem with macOS since Sonoma that the folks in Cupertino should finally address! It's just extremely annoying when you spend thousands of dollars or euros on Apple hardware and then get ignored by Apple when problems arise.

That is fine. To me it just does not make sense to come on a Support Site and think it is too much trouble to call Apple directly because people on YouTube and other forums are having trouble too. As you can see there has not been 1 fix that has helped users here, so your case indeed may be unique. Apple can perform remote diagnostics and also pull log files to see what is going on and it costs you nothing. You are not seeing people on Social Media telling you that everything is working great, the only posts are for those where there is a problem. That may led you to believe it is much more pervasive than it actually is.

After dealing with this for countless months now here is what I found, not a fix but causes. We live in a rural area with terrible cell service. Internet service is great 750mps. I have WIFI calling on. The following happens on a laptop, desktop, iPAD or iPhone, all Apple equipment. When I send a message to an Android device it will not go through unless I have 2 bars on cell service. Yes even using a desktop, my iPhone has to have 2 bars. Does not mater that I have full bars on WIFI. I can not make phone calls unless I have 2 cell bars to an Android phone or even Apple phones. Yes again, full WIFI bars. NOW using Face Time Video, iPhone to iPhone works perfectly, cell bars or no cell bars, or even SOS displaying it works. I believe the issue is somehow connect with WIFI calling.Not the ISP, this does it with 2 different providers.

After countless visits to websites and forums (including this one), I still haven't found a solution. Here's an example from my everyday life: Two days ago, I received four messages (three from one person, one from another), all of which arrived on my iPhone. Due to time constraints, I didn't read them, but only registered them on the lock screen. I wanted to deal with them when I got home. Once I got home, I did the following test:

I started up both M1 Macs (Studio and MacBook Pro).

None of the four messages arrived on the Mac Studio. They haven't yet. Three messages from one person arrived on the MacBook Pro. But the message from the other person is still missing.

And it keeps going. Even when the Mac Studio is turned on, a few messages keep failing to arrive. It can't be the sender's fault, because a friend who lives far away, in particular, texts me daily from home. So, why messages from him sometimes arrive and others don't, is a mystery.

And why all messages arrive reliably on my old 2011 MacBook with High Sierra is also a mystery.

For me, it's clear that the fault lies with Apple, and they failed at least in this regard with their Sonoma-era systems. And they won't care. They're more likely to care about visual gimmicks like their glass design.

It's been an issue (especially with non-iPhone messaging Android RCS) for about a year already! No better on 15.6.1. Happens mostly on OS X, as opposed to iPhone. Get it together, Apple!