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. "

**TEMPORARY FIX**

Just spent 45 mins on the phone with Apple support trying to fix iMessage not syncing or sending on my Mac. After jumping through a bunch of steps (including deleting some system library files), they had me create a brand new user profile on the Mac and sign into iCloud/iMessage there. Surprisingly, everything worked perfectly under the new profile—so it seems like the issue is tied to something corrupted in my original user account. Waiting to hear back from Apple Engineering, but in the meantime, if anyone else is dealing with iMessage issues, try testing it on a new user account. Curious if anyone’s had luck fixing it without having to switch profiles completely.

I had this issue too (in the shape of Messages being super busy with the rainbow wheel shortly after launch, to the point of being completely unusable).

Solved by deleting /Users/you/Library/Messages and restarting the Mac. Note that this might lead to loss of message history, but in my case the Mac was less than a week in use, so not an issue.

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.

**Fix** I had to `force quit` from `Activity Monitor`. Then restarted iMessage and it comes up as expected.

Note: When I did this via right-click on the dock and clicking `force quit` - that did not work.

There is a problem with Messages Version 14.0 (1402.600.41.1.5) and Sequoia 15.5. The Synchronization in Message Settings/iMessage Synch Now command is not working.

T

he only way around this is to use the System Settings /Apple Account/iCloud/Messages Synch Now function.

Try going manually to Messages settings on Mac, and, on the section iMessage, click on "Sync now". If this doesn't work, try uncheck Messages in iCloud settings both on your iPhone and Mac. If none of this work, try log out of your Apple ID on your devices and login again.

Just fixed this issue with the help of support. They had me confirm that text message forwarding was turned on from my phone and then asked me to sign out of imessage on my computer and sign back in :) Hope this helps!

If you have a Time Machine backup done in a earlier version of macOS - in this case, ideally in macOS 15.3.2 - you can always erase the Mac and reinstall it through the Time Machine backup

Finally made Messages work. The key thing to use a new internet connection. Try logout completely from iCloud and sign in again. Then visit Messages settings again.

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 was having the same issue. The suggestion to sync Messages with iCloud is not practical for me as iCloud storage will be exceeded. To fix the issue after updating to Sequoia, I went to Messages, Settings, iMessage. Select Sign Out and then sign back in. For me, this worked.