"Messages" won't sync

[cheddar-caveman]

When a Message comes through from a non iPhone (Android), it appears on my iPhone 12mini but not on my MacBook Air laptop. I guess somewhere I have to turn something on the MacBook Air (sync)???
Any help will be appreciated...........

 

[ignatius345]

The iPhone actually has to pass the incoming Android messages over to the Mac. On the iPhone, check that Text Message Forwarding is enabled. Once you do this, you should start seeing incoming messages on the Mac. I’m not sure if you’ll get any old ones, but new ones should come in at least.

Set up Messages on Mac

On your Mac, sign in to your Apple Account to set up Messages and sync with other devices where you sign in.

support.apple.com

Important: To receive and send SMS, MMS, or RCS messages on your Mac, you must be signed in to the same Apple Account and be using iMessage on your iPhone and Mac. See the Apple Support article Continuity features and requirements for Apple devices.

1. Go to the Messages app
   
   on your Mac.
2. Choose Messages > Settings, then click iMessage and make sure you’re signed in.
3. On your iPhone, go to the Settings app
   
   , tap Apps, tap Messages, then turn on iMessage.
4. Tap Send & Receive, then make sure the Apple Account selected below “Start new conversations from” is the same Apple Account you’re signed in to on your Mac.
5. Tap
   
   , then tap Text Message Forwarding.
   
   Note: If you don’t see Text Message Forwarding, make sure you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on both your iPhone and your Mac.
6. In the list of devices, turn on your Mac.

All messages you send or receive appear on both devices, even if you’re texting someone without an iPhone.

 

[dizmonk]

Try singing out, restarting and signing back in.

 

[ignatius345]

Try singing out, restarting and signing back in.

Only as a last resort. Signing out of iCloud is quite disruptive. Not a good routine troubleshooting step unless you enjoy waiting hours or even days for all your stuff to re-sync correctly.

 

[Bazza1]

Variation on this: I have three Apple devices, iPhone 16, Mac Mini M2 and an old MacBook Air - all signed into the same account for Messages. If I read / delete / create initially on one device, there's no guarantee the action will be sync'd over to the others.

Then again, in Contacts, the app (including online) was mass-producing duplicate Contacts / Groups and sync'ing the mess to all of my devices. Deleting the duplicates did nothing - it would start all over again. Went so far up the Apple Support chain - over many, many days - I think they were about to knock on Tim Cook's office door. They were totally flummoxed. Turns out I came up with an inelegant solution. Turned off Contact sync and cleared all duplicates from my iPhone. Created a brand new Apple account just for Contacts and directed my iPhone to use that. It sent the corrected Contact List to that. Then I signed out of the Contacts on the other devices and then signed into the new account. Worked.

iCloud may be great. When it works.