Several users have reported that they are unable to send and /or receive text messages and iMessages on Mac. This article explains how you can troubleshoot this issue.
See also: iMessage Won’t Send Pictures
Users report that when they attempt to send a message, they see a little red exclamation mark symbol next to my message, and they cannot resent it.
Using the Messages app on the Mac, you can easily send and/or receive SMS text messages (normal text messages) and iMessages (Apple’s messaging service).
If you are having this issue as well (not sending or not receiving), here is how you can fix it:
1- Force quit Messages app and then reopen it. To do this, choose Force Quit from the Apple menu () in the upper-left corner of your screen.And then select Messages and click Force Quit. The re-open the Messages app.
2- Restart your Mac. Simply click the Apple menu and select Restart.
3- Sign out and then sign back in. Open Messages, then select Messages and Preferences from the Menu bar. The click Sign out. Then open the Messages app and sign in with your Apple ID.
4- Open the Messages preferences window and select the Accounts tab (Messages > Preferences), select iMessage (left list), make sure that the checkbox “Enable this account” is checked, if not checked, check the box.
5- Make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet. Try to load a web site to check your Internet connection. If you do not have an Internet connection, you may try some basic troubleshooting tips like restarting your Mac, Router, Wi-Fi spot etc.
6- Your problem may be because of your date and time settings. Lets resolve this. Click Apple menu > System Preferences > and then Date & Time; select the Time Zone tab and the “Set date and time automatically” checkbox, if it is already selected, unselect and wait a few seconds and reselect again. You may need to enter the admin password if the checkbox is dimmed.
7- On your Mac, Messages > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages Account; and on your iOS device, iPhone or iPad > Settings > Messages > Send and Receive the account should be same.
8- The issue may be because of Keychain problem. Here is how you can resolve this issue:
- Launch Keychain Access (Launchpad > Keychain Access) then click File and Lock Keychain “Login” and then again go to File > Unlock Keychain “Login”, enter your admin password when you are asked. This will rebuild your Keychain Access which may fix this problem.
If you are still having this problem, please contact Apple support.
See also: Change Mac Screenshot Locations
Jon Marc says
October 25, 2018 at 9:43 pmThe Keychain one fixed it, but I have no idea what I actually did in doing that–could someone explain?
Thomas Martin says
November 22, 2018 at 10:06 amI fixed my problem by switching my iPhone to Flight mode, and back to normal mode. Its as if the cell network needed reactivating.
Shy says
December 5, 2018 at 5:51 pmKeychain thing did it. It still didn’t synch to evrything that was currently on my phone, but at least I could send/recieve and everything would be synched from here on out.
Peter says
December 19, 2018 at 5:02 pmKeychain thing did it for me. iMessage kept saying I needed to update some setting but just kept making me enter my password. Went into keychain, lock, unlock, boom. Good as new.
lola says
January 19, 2019 at 11:58 pmKeychain did it for me
Roman says
January 22, 2019 at 1:02 pmThanks, the issue was Keychain related
Molan says
January 22, 2019 at 5:51 pmDid all steps in order — final one (Keychain Access) is what worked… maybe put that one first 😉
Neon says
January 24, 2019 at 3:57 amIt worked thank you thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Jeanne says
January 24, 2019 at 10:54 pmOH, I really thought keychain was going to fix it!, When I typed a name, it came up green instead of red, I was able to type the message and send… Then the dreaded Exclamation Point showed up, Msg not delivered.
I then tried Airplane mode, still no luck.
Any other ideas?
Armand says
January 28, 2019 at 4:02 amFor whatever damn reason, the key chain thing also worked for me.
God damnit, Apple.
Sandra Dee says
February 4, 2019 at 2:10 amThe Keychain thing worked for me!!
Amy says
February 4, 2019 at 3:30 amThe Keychain worked for me as well- I think the new MAC OS update messes with the Messages/face time. I didnt realize where “file” was so heads up- its on the top left corner when you open the keychain
Walter Brown says
February 4, 2019 at 4:45 pmThe above did not work for me. I had this same problem a few years ago, lasting for nearly a year. Apple support tried to help me for several hours, but to no avail. Then, one day, Messages magically started working again. It worked for many months, and then stopped working once more. I’ve gone through the above steps to solve the problems every few months, but have never had any luck.
@9andahalf says
February 7, 2019 at 3:43 pmLove you guys. Thanks a lot!
John Coor says
February 21, 2019 at 2:53 amAnother happy keychain customer. Thank goodness for this post!
scott ferguson says
February 22, 2019 at 6:13 pmthanks, this fixed my “messages” problem on my mac book pro
fredrick says
March 10, 2019 at 2:28 amNO luck…any other ideas?
Sonia Huelsenbeck says
April 3, 2019 at 9:53 pmAfter trying all the suggested fixes, I contacted Apple. They had me do the following and it worked:
Sign out of Messages on the MacBook. We can do that by opening Messages, then going to the top left corner of the screen and click messages -> iMessages. We should be able to sign out from there .
Up next we’ll go on the iPhone to Settings -> Messages, turn off iMessage, restart the iPhone, then turn iMessage back on.
Go back on the MacBook and get signed back into the Messages app.
Go on the iPhone to Settings -> Messages -> Text Message Forwarding. We should be able to flip a switch for the Mac to allow us to send SMS and MMS messages from the MacBook, and hopefully sort out the last of it.
Enter the code that pops up on your screen.
Julie Pruitt says
March 16, 2019 at 12:01 amNumber 8, Keychain Access, instructions worked for me. Thank you very much. It was driving me crazy. Why did this happen? Thanks again!
B says
March 21, 2019 at 5:49 amKeychain Access fixed it! No idea how this happened. Thank you.
Carol says
March 23, 2019 at 11:40 amI lost my ability to send from my Mac after setting up a new phone with a new AppleID. iMessage would receive on my Mac, but I couldn’t send. The Keychain reset recommendation didn’t help me, but I found another recommended fix online.
Go to Keychain, search for: com.apple.facetime: registrationV1
Then delete it and reboot the computer. Log back into iMessage. It worked! When I returned to Keychain, I saw that the com.apple.facetime was in Keychain again. My guess is that the registration was rebuilt by the Mac after I logged back in. Can’t say for sure how or why, but this solution seems to have worked for me.
Jenna says
April 12, 2019 at 3:25 amCarol, THANK YOU!!! Nothing worked for me…have been trying for months. Your solution worked!! THANK YOU!!!
Martin S says
March 24, 2019 at 1:29 pmthanks mate, the keychain access solved it for me.
regards,
JMB says
March 26, 2019 at 5:28 pmNone of these worked for me. apple really should be ahsmaed of the waste of customers’ time when we ‘upgrade’ to latest OS
Docb says
March 28, 2019 at 9:02 pm# 8 Keychain, worked for me thanks!!!
Jim Demers says
March 29, 2019 at 7:24 pmIs the problem limited to some recipients and not others – specifically, those not using iPhones? Those are the folks whose messages are in green, rather than blue. They aren’t actually using Messages, they’re using SMS, and your texts to them are actually being processed through your iPhone.
For that to happen, your Mac needs to be “turned on” in your iPhone’s Text Message Forwarding.
On the iPhone:
Go to Settings>Messages
Select Text Message Forwarding
You will see a list of the devices that use your Apple ID for Messages
Be sure that forwarding is on for all the devices you use.
(You might have to enter a confirmation code into the iPhone.)
If you migrated your user ID to a new Mac (or perhaps just a new SSD or hard drive), it may have the same name as your old Mac, but your phone sees it as a different device. The name may show up twice on the iPhone.
Austin says
April 10, 2019 at 1:15 pmmy customer had exact same symptoms as Carol’s comment above. Only after I did what she posted did it start working. Thanks Carol!
>> Go to Keychain, search for: com.apple.facetime: registrationV1
>> Then delete it and reboot the computer. Log back into iMessage.
Jacqueline Bocian says
April 10, 2019 at 8:33 pm#7 did the trick for me. Thank you SO MUCH for your expertise. I am so grateful!
Herb says
April 23, 2019 at 6:56 pmThank you Carol!!! I was getting very frustrated, trying all the suggestions, and then yours, and it worked!!!!! xxxxxxxxoooooooxxxxx
William Hatch says
May 1, 2019 at 5:21 pmSuch a pathetic application. This has been an issue for years, and still a giant pain in the ass. Clearly, nobody at Apple cares the quality of their software anymore, as it’s been consistently degrading for the last ten years. And they do little to nothing to even test their software, let alone fix it.