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How to fix iPhone messages not forwarding on Mac

Messages from your iPhone should appear on your iPad or Mac when the setting is enabled. However, some users are experiencing issues with SMS and RCS messages from their iPhone not showing on their Mac after updating to iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26. Here are some workarounds you can follow to fix this problem.

 

Check your Apple account on each device.

Make sure your iPhone, iPad, and Mac are using the same Apple account. If you're using a different account, sign out and sign back in with the same account.

Check your internet connection.

The Messages in iCloud and Text Message Forwarding features both require your device to be connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or cellular data.

 

Restart the device

Try restarting your Mac and iPhone to fix the issues that are preventing you from forwarding iPhone messages to your Mac.

Check out the iPhone message forwarding feature.

iPhone messages will only show up on your Mac or iPad if you have enabled Messages in iCloud or Text Message Forwarding.

On your iPhone , access your Apple account, select iCloud , then select Messages , and then enable Use on this iPhone .

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On macOS , go to System Settings , then select Apple Account name > iCloud > Messages . Next, click on Use on this Mac , and you'll see that syncing is enabled.

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On your iPhone , go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Text Message Forwarding . Turn on the Mac and iPad devices you want to receive SMS, MMS, and RCS messages from your iPhone.

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Refresh iMessage

Go to Settings > Apps > Messages and tap Send & Receive .

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Next, you'll see your phone number, Apple ID email address , and any other email addresses you've added for iMessage and FaceTime. Tap the selected phone number and press Delete to unregister it from iMessage . Also, deselect any other email accounts except your primary Apple account email address .

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Wait about 15 seconds, then return to the previous screen. After that, close iMessage and wait another 30 seconds.

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Go back to the iMessage settings in the Messages app on your Mac , and you'll see your phone number has been removed .

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Go back to your iPhone iMessage app settings and re-enable iMessage . You'll see that the Send & Receive section only displays your Apple Account email address .

 

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Wait until you see the message on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac that says: 'Device Added to Your Account. An iPhone now has access to iMessage. If you don't recognize this device, you can remove it in Settings .'

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Tap Send & Receive in the Messages app settings on your iPhone and tap your phone number to re-register it with iMessage . You'll need to wait a moment while this process completes.

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After refreshing iMessage, check that your iPhone, iPad, and Mac are connected to the internet, and that your iPhone phone number and Apple account email address are selected in the iMessage settings on your Mac.

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Jessica Tanner
Share by Jessica Tanner
Update 24 January 2026