have you ever seen the red exclamation mark of doom every time you try to send a text message or iMessage on your Mac, informing you that it didn’t send? Are you not receiving messages, either? Have you tried everything you know, but nothing seems to be working? If this is sounds like you, read on for some solutions to your problem.
8 ways to solve iMessages not working on mac.
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Force Quit the Messages app and open it again.
Force Quit can be found in the Apple menu. Once it has opened, all you have to do is click on “Messages” and then the button labelled “Force Quit”. When that is complete, open “Messages” again.
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Restart Mac
Sometimes all you have to do is restart your device for everything to function normally again. The restart button on a Mac can be found in the Apple menu. Once that is clicked, all you have to do is wait.
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Sign out then back in again
To do this, open “Messages” and navigate to “Messages and Preferences”, which can be found along the menu. There will be an option to sign out. Once you sign out, open “Messages” and log in again.
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Enable your account
In “Messages”, open up “Preferences” and navigate to “Accounts”. Along the left, select “iMessages”. Here you will be able to see if the box “Enable this account” is checked or not. If it is not, click on the box.
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Internet Connection
You need the internet to operate some apps like iMessage. Double check to see if your Mac is connected to the internet. If it isn’t and you are having troubles connecting, here are some ideas to get the connection going:
- Make sure airplane mode is off.
- Make sure your Mac is connected to the right Wi-Fi username.
- If you’re using public Wi-Fi, make sure you haven’t been logged out and that you don’t have a limit when using their service.
- Restart your Mac.
- Restart your router.
- Use an internet cable.
- Create a “hotspot” with another device and try using that device’s internet.
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Date and time
Sometimes the date and time settings can mess around with apps. In the Apple menu, go to “System Preferences” and select “Date & Time”. Click on “Time Zone” and make sure “Set date and time automatically” is selected. If it is, deselect it, wait a few seconds and select it again, just in case it needs a nudge.
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Check that your account is the same for both Mac and iOS devices.
On a Mac, you can check the messaging account by navigating to “Messages” and locating “Preferences”. Click on “Accounts”, and then select “iMessage”.
On an iOS device, simply go to “Settings”, find “Messages”, and then press “Send and Receive”. Compare the iOS account with the Mac account, and make sure they are the same.
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Keychain Access
If none of the above options work, there may be a problem with Keychain. To fix this, through Launchpad, find and click on “Keychain Access”. Click on “File” and then lock the Keychain “Login”.
Unlock it again afterwards and enter your password when prompted. If your problem was because of Keychain access, it should be resolved.
These are the key solutions, which will let you send and receive messages again. If these doesn’t work, please contact Apple support team. They will have a look into it and resolve your issues.
See also: iMessage Won’t Send Pictures
