Messages App Not Updating On Mac

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With Messages for Mac, you can send unlimited messages to any Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that uses iMessage, Apple's secure-messaging service. iPhone owners can use it for SMS and MMS messages, too.

Set up iMessage

Jan 23, 2019  It’s not easy to fix Messages on macOS. There’s a lot going on within the app that cannot be touched by the user, and there’s a lot that relies on Apple’s own servers. If you continue to encounter problems with Messages on macOS, you may want to reach out to Apple’s tech support to see if they can offer you a more detailed fix.

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iMessage is the Apple messaging service you get automatically with your Apple ID.If it's not already set up, you're asked to sign in when you first open the Messages app. Sign in with same Apple ID that you use with Messages on your iPhone and other devices. It's usually the same Apple ID that you use for iCloud, the iTunes Store, the App Store, and the account you created when you first set up your Mac.

Have a conversation

  1. Nov 30, 2019  Open the Settings app Tap on the Update Apple ID Settings message You may have other messages here so be sure to choose the right one Enter your password if the Apple ID is already filled in, if not enter your Apple ID as well.
  2. Dec 27, 2019  Choose Send & Receive. Under “YOU CAN BE REACHED BY IMESSAGE AT”, make sure the phone number or email address is checked. How to Fix iMessage Not Syncing with Mac. Check iMessage Settings on Mac. Open the Messages app on your Mac Click “Messages” in the top menu. Click “preferences Choose “Accounts”.
  1. Click at the top of the Messages window.
  2. Address your message by typing the recipient's name, email address, or phone number. Or click and choose a recipient. If they're in your Contacts app, Messages finds them as you type. To start a group conversation, just add more recipients.
  3. Type your message in the field at the bottom of the window, then press Return to send it.
    • To include emoji, click.
    • To include an image or other file, just drag or paste it into the message field. Or use Continuity Camera to capture a photo or scan directly from your iPhone or iPad camera.
    • To include an audio recording, clickand record your message.
  4. After starting a conversation, click Details in the corner of the window to take other actions, including:
    • Choose not to be disturbed by notifications about this conversation.
    • Use FaceTime to start an audio call or video call .
    • Share a screen .
    • See the recipient's location—if they're sharing their location with you.
    • Review all of the photos and files that were exchanged in the conversation.
    • Add a group name, add members to a group, or leave a group. If the group has four or more members, you can remove members: Control-click the member's name, then choose Remove from Conversation.

With macOS Sierra or later, you can also use Siri to send, read, and reply to Messages:

  • ”Send a message to Susan and Johnny saying I'll be late' or ”Tell Johnny Appleseed the show is about to start” or ”Text a message to 408 555 1212.”
  • ”Read the last message from Brian Park” or ”Read my new messages.”
  • ”Reply that's great news” or ”Tell him I'll be there in 10 minutes.”

Add a Tapback to a message

macOS Sierra introduces Tapback to the Mac. A Tapback is a quick response that expresses what you think about a message, such as that you like it or think it's funny. In the image above, the heart next to ”See you then!' is a Tapback. Here's how to do it:

  1. Control-click a message bubble to open a shortcut menu.
  2. Choose Tapback from the menu.
  3. Click a Tapback to add it to the message bubble.

Your Tapback is visible to everyone in the conversation who is using iMessage with macOS Sierra or later or iOS 10 or later. Other iMessage users see 'Liked' or 'Laughed at' or 'Emphasized,' for example, followed by the text of that message.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch also have Tapback, as well as other message effects available only on those devices. Most such affects look the same on your Mac when you receive them. Others appear as a description of the effect, such as ”(sent with Loud Effect).”

Send text messages to anyone from your Mac

If you have an iPhone with a text messaging plan, learn how to set up text message forwarding so you can send and receive SMS and MMS messages from your Mac.

Delete a message or conversation

When you permanently delete a message or conversation, you can't get it back. So make sure that you save important information from your messages.

To delete a message:

  1. Open a message conversation.
  2. Control-click the blank area of a message bubble that you want to delete.
  3. Choose Delete.
  4. Click Delete.

To delete a conversation:

  1. Control-click a conversation.
  2. Choose Delete Conversation.
  3. Click Delete.

Learn more

  • To learn more about Messages, choose Messages Help from the Help menu in Messages.
  • If you get an error when trying to sign in to iMessage, learn what to do.

FaceTime is not available in all countries or regions.

One of the best things about a Mac is the range of free apps that come pre-installed. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t download and install other applications from time to time. It should be easy — like most Apple tasks — but that isn’t always the case. This post explains what you can do if your Mac won’t install apps.

Contents

  • 10 How to fix app problems in macOS Catalina

Related:

Quick Tips

Try out these quick tips to update or install new apps on your Mac, or read the full post for more details:

Messages App Not Updating On Mac Windows 10

  1. After trying to open a new app, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy to allow it.
  2. Update macOS and reboot your Mac to resolve all manner of related problems.
  3. Delete the app from your Mac and install it again from scratch.
  4. Temporarily turn off your firewall from System Preferences > Security & Privacy.

Common error messages when installing Mac apps

When trying to download or update apps, you might get one of the following messages:

  • “App can’t be opened because it is not from the App Store.”
  • “App failed to download. Use the Purchases page to try again.”
  • “The application could not be downloaded. The installation could not be started.”

If this, or something similar, has happened to you, we have the solution below. But first, let’s make sure you’ve got the basic requirements to install an app.

What do you need to install apps on a Mac?

In order to download, install, or update an app on your Mac you will need the following three things:

  1. a good Internet connection
  2. ample free storage
  3. an administrator password.

Check your Internet connection by streaming a video online. If the video is slow to load, contact your Internet service provider for assistance.

Check your storage by clicking the button in the menu bar and selecting About This Mac > Storage. Ensure you have at least as much space as recommended by the app developer. Preferably a bit more.

You’ll often need an administrator password to complete the installation of an app. If need be, ask the administrator to log on and install the app themselves. Otherwise, they may need to enter their password when prompted from your account.

How do I open apps that aren’t from the App Store?

Macs benefit from a lot of in-built safety precautions, but when downloading third-party apps they can sometimes appear overzealous. By default, your Mac won’t install apps from anywhere other than the App Store, although this is easy to bypass.

After downloading an app, control-click the file in your Downloads folder and select Open from the menu. You’ll get the same ‘unidentified developer’ warning as before, but this time you’ll have the option to open the app anyway.

You can reduce the frequency of these alerts by going to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. Click the padlock and enter your administrator password to unlock the settings, then choose to “Allow apps downloaded from: App Store and identified developers.”

Update macOS and reboot your Mac to reduce issues

Messages Not Working On Mac

Update macOS to the latest version, unless it isn’t compatible with the app you’re trying to use. Developers typically list the recommended operating software wherever you download the app from.

Check for updates in macOS by clicking the button in the menu bar and selecting About This Mac > Software Update.

A reboot of your Mac is another effective troubleshooting tool. Shut down your Mac using the button in the menu bar, and leave it powered off for a minute or so before powering on again. After doing so — and allowing all the background processes to close down and start again properly — your Mac is likely to run with fewer issues.

Messages App Not Updating On Mac Iphone

Delete the app and then try to install it again.

Before deleting any apps from your Mac you should make sure you have a recent backup of all your valuable data.

It could be that the app, or the app installer, has become corrupt and this is why your Mac won’t install or update it. The only remedy for this is to remove the app from your machine entirely and download it again from scratch.

Close down any version of the app if it is currently running on your Mac by using the Quit [App] button in the menu bar. Then open Finder and go to the Applications folder, find the relevant app and drag it to the Trash.

You should check the Application folders for individual users on your Mac. This can be done by navigating from your Hard Drive > Users > [User Name] > Applications.

Empty the Trash, then restart your Mac and download the app again.

Temporarily turn off the firewall on your Mac.

The firewall does a great job of keeping your Mac safe, but it can sometimes get in the way of installing or updating other apps. You can turn it off in the System Preferences, but you should remember to turn it on again after so your Mac is not left vulnerable.

Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall. Click the padlock and enter your administrator password to unlock the settings, then click the Turn Off Firewall button.

You should also turn off any antivirus software, as this may also be interfering with app installations.

After your app installation or update is complete, remember to turn your firewall and antivirus software on again.

Restore your Mac to its factory settings.

This is something of a nuclear option, but it’s there if you want it.

If, after all the other steps listed above, you still can’t get your Mac to install or update apps, a complete factory restore may offer the solution. Doing so will erase all your data and reinstall the macOS, so ensure you have a backup first.

You should also be aware that the entire process can take quite a long time, upwards of six hours depending on your internet speed and how much data you have.

Problems with updating your apps

Recently, Mac users have experienced a new problem in the latest version of macOS Mojave. In this problem, users can’t update their stock apps such as Keynote or Pages. They need to click an accept button in their account, but that accept button doesn’t exist!

This doesn’t happen to everyone: some users can find the accept button without any problems. But if yours is missing, you can still update the app by deleting it from your Mac and downloading a fresh copy from the App Store.

The easiest way to delete an app is to move it to the Trash from the Application folder in Finder. Then it might be worth restarting your Mac before you download the app from the App Store again. And once you do, you’ll have the recently-updated version of it.

How to fix app problems in macOS Catalina

What to do if you can’t approve new apps in macOS Catalina

Another beta problem in macOS Catalina is the inability to approve new apps from the Security & Privacy System Preferences. We explained one way to do this above, but lots of users running the beta version of macOS Catalina have found it doesn’t work.

It seems the solution is to disable Gatekeeper temporarily while you install the new app. We strongly advise you to turn it on again afterward. You can do this by going to System Preferences > Security & Privacy, click to padlock and enter your administrator password to unlock it. Under Allow apps downloaded from: select Anywhere.

If there is no Anywhere option, open Terminal and enter the following command line:

Restart System Preferences and you should see the Anywhere option. You can undo this at any time using the command line:

Make sure you enable Gatekeeper again after installing your app, or you will leave your Mac vulnerable to attack!

What to do if you can’t update or sign in to the Mac App Store

If you’ve been test-driving macOS Catalina through Apple’s Beta Software Program, you might have experienced problems using the App Store on your Mac. Lot’s of users are unable to update or download new apps because the App Store doesn’t let them log in.

Despite entering the correct Apple ID username and password, the Mac App Store still appears as though they aren’t logged in. If this has happened to you, try the following user suggestions to resolve it:

  • Sign out of your Apple ID from System Preferences > Apple Account.
  • Sign out of Apple Music by going to Account > Sign Out from the menu bar.
  • Try downloading the apps or updates from a different user account.
  • Update macOS Catalina to the latest beta version, or revert to a stable public release of macOS Mojave.

We hope one of those tips let you install and update apps without any more issues. Leave a comment below to tell us which trick worked for you! Or if you’re still having trouble, reach out to Apple directly and tell us what they say so we can help more readers.

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Messages App On Macbook Not Updating

Dan is a freelance writer based in South West England.

He spent two years supervising repairs as a Genius Admin for Apple Retail and uses that knowledge to keep our troubleshooting guides up to date.

Long before that, Dan turned to Apple products from a musical background. Having owned iPods for years, he bought a MacBook to learn sound recording and production. It was using those skills that he gained a first-class Bachelor of Science in Sound Technology.

Messages Not Updating On Mac

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