How I Fix iMessage not working on Mac
iMessage keeps all your chats within one usable Mac app.
iMessage is Apple’s proprietary chat platform found across all of its devices and platforms – even the Apple Watch! It’s a secure, helpful free service Apple makes available to everyone using its various devices, supporting regular text messaging.
At times, iMessage fails, several often on the Mac. There are more minor issues, like images not loading accurately after iMessage idles too long on a sleeping Mac and severe problems like iMessage declining to work on the desktop altogether.
We’ll describe why iMessage has issues on Mac, why you can’t send iMessage from Mac at times, how? iMessage stopped working on Mac and review an iMessage Alternative app that may help everyone avoid these issues.
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How I fix iMessage not working on Mac
Why won’t iMessage work on my Mac? It’s an easy question with many possible solutions. Because each Mac has different settings and different app settings, there’s no single answer that works for everyone. However, it’s worth troubleshooting, as one of the answers here likely works any iMessage woes.
If iMessage on Mac not working on a mac is something that is dogging you, read these fixes a chance:
Reboot Mac
One of the more common problems with iMessage is a message not sending on Mac or iMessage not delivered on Mac, also when chats pop up elsewhere. Sometimes, a great ‘ol reboot fixes everything. Here’s how to do it:
- While your Mac menu bar, click the Apple logo on the top left corner
- Select “Restart”
- Follow any on-screen prompts to force close apps
Your Mac will reboot automatically. All you want to do is login if you see the boot screen after the restart.
Clear Messages Cache
When iMessages not working on Mac, is troublesome. You likely want to clear your cache. Keep in mind for iMessage, and the cache is your message history so that you may miss your chats across all devices. You can delete the chat inside iMessage by clicking the ‘x’ icon to the right of a profile picture if you hover over a chat, but a more thorough way is to delete the cache in Finder. Here’s how it’s made:
- Open Finder on your Mac
- Press Command + Shift + G at your Mac’s keyboard
- While the text entry box that appears, enter the: ~/Library/Messages/
- Delete files in the Messages folder titled chat.db-shm, chat.db, or chat.db-wal
- Clear your Mac trash folder to delete your iMessage cache forever
That’s all it needs!
A more innovative alternative to keep iMessage running efficiently is to keep your Mac running in peak condition, and there’s no more helpful app for this than CleanMyMac X.
CleanMyMac X has many features that aim to keep your Mac operating its best, but one of its more prominent services is ridding your system of useless files and folders. Rather than letting things like iMessage attachments clutter your system, make CleanMyMac X pave a path to best performance.
Clean up your macOS
CleanMyMac X will assist you in clearing messages cache and eliminate redundant system junk to make your Mac faster.
Its most commonly used service is its Smart Scan feature, which eliminates junk, monitors your Mac for malware and other threats, then optimizes your Mac for speed. It’s the fastest, most straightforward way to ensure your Mac is operating at peak performance.
You can also do a deeper cleanse for your Mac via the Maintenance module in CleanMyMac X, which goes far more profound to clean much more of your Mac’s system.
Re-enable iMessage on Mac
You can also stop slight of logging all the way out by re-enabling iMessage on your Mac. It’s more comfortable to accomplish but has a bit of a catch at the end. Here’s how it’s done:
- Open iMessage on your Mac
- In the menu bar, choose “Messages.”
- From the drop-down menu, choose “Preferences.”
- In the window that appears, choose “iMessage” at the top of the window
- Toggle the checkbox next to “allow this account” off under your Apple ID
- Toggle the setting back on
- Quit the Messages app, then reopen it on your Mac
The last step re-engages iMessage on your Mac. If you give’t restart Messages, your iMessage chats may be left in limbo, including inadequate sending or receiving messages.
Re-login In To iMessage
If restarting your Mac and clearing chat history doesn’t work, old-fashioned logging out and back in the scheme may set you on the right path. That helps your iMessage app on the Mac re-engage with the cloud; you won’t lose any chats, both!
Here’s how it’s made:
- Open iMessage on your Mac
- In the menu bar, choose “Messages.”
- From the drop-down menu, select “Preferences.”
- In the window that seems, choose “iMessage” at the top of the window
- Pick “sign out” next to your Apple ID
- If logged out, sign in overusing your Apple ID
Check Keychain Access
Like many apps, Messages does Keychain Access to authorize services like iMessage. We can read to you how to check Keychain Access for iMessage keys, though you can’t change anything in your Keychain Access for iMessage. Hither’s how to check:
- Open Keychain Access on your Mac
- “iMessage” Enter in the search field on the top right corner of the window
This will perform all of the encryption and signing keys iMessage has logged for your Mac. In this case, not understanding anything is cause for concern.
Check time-zone settings
Your Mac checks the time and date of messages received. If it sees a message is coming from the past, that may slot that message way back in the chat history, and you won’t know the news come through. Therefore, if the message appears to be coming from the future, your Mac will prevent it from being received.
If you see you’re not receiving messages on Mac, or the app is giving you notifications of new messages just not displaying them, it could be your time and date settings that have been changed. Here’s how to check it:
- While your Mac’s menu bar, click the Apple logo on the top left corner
- Choose “Date and Time”
- Click the lock icon at the base of the window and enter your password
- Following the “Date and Time” heading, make sure the “set date and time automatically” option is toggled on
- Click the lock again to safe your Mac
That should take care of it. To double-check this setting worked well, check both the date and time are correct before shutting the window.
Reward tip: How to have all your messages in one messenger
Although indications are your chats are divested across various platforms, especially social services like Facebook Messenger and work platforms like Slack, we all prefer iMessage. Instead of tracking them all down individually, iMessage not working on Mac try iMessage for Mac.
iMessage allows you to log in using just about any chat service you like. Also, it holds all of your chats in one central app. You can send plus messages on services like Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, Skype, Telegram, Gmail, Slack, and LinkedIn. iMessage also supports hotkey switching, so you can bounce around various services without your fingers ever moving the keyboard.
You have complete customization over notifications, and IM+ allows you to send and receive media like videos and GIFs in each chat.
Final words:
iMessage is the heart of the Apple ecosystem of programs like iPadOS, iOS, watchOS, and macOS. It’s the first rule for exchanging messages and has become a rich platform with app plugins and other exciting features not found wherever other.
Now’s decisions typically, iMessage start to work on Mac when it fails, but you should also consider how often you use Messages. Should you worry about it breaking, or are you more active on other platforms?
If you are, IM+ is likely a more useful app for you, and it’s available free during a seven-day trial, the world’s best followers of productivity apps available for the Mac. In addition to iMessage not working on Mac, you’ll gain immediate and unlimited access to almost 200 other incredible native Mac apps, all free for seven days!