"Could not share image" error when trying to access GIFs in macOS Messages

[ChromeCrescendo]

Up until 5 minutes ago, Messages on macOS Sequoia 15.5 was working perfectly on my M4 Max Mac Studio

Then, out of nowhere, when I tried sending a gif from "#images" I was met with this:

And, upon clicking on one of those grey boxes, I received this error message:

I quit Messages, restarted the computer, and still receiving that error

I also signed out of Messages, restarted computer, then signed in, still getting that same error when trying to find a GIF

"Images" works on my iPhone 15 Pro Max with iOS 18.5

Any advice? Thank you.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

I found this discussion on the Apple support forum but still no solution

Anyone have any ideas?

Thank you

Why are images not showing up in iMessage… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Well, I just booted in Recovery mode and reinstalled macOS -- the issue was not fixed

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Typically it's a service failure, not on your end. It'll correct itself when the service is fixed.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Typically it's a service failure, not on your end. It'll correct itself when the service is fixed.

Thank you - very strange that I am still able to send such on my iPhone and MacBook Air

So, is there no way to fix the service issue other than to wait it out or start over with a fresh install from Time Machine from when it was working?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Thank you - very strange that I am still able to send such on my iPhone and MacBook Air

So, is there no way to fix the service issue other than to wait it out or start over with a fresh install from Time Machine from when it was working?

Maybe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As long as it's fixed within a few hours of waiting, I haven't tried to get it working any other way. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

It's been days now (since this past Tuesday)

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Maybe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As long as it's fixed within a few hours of waiting, I haven't tried to get it working any other way. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Well, I just erased the Mac and migrated from a Time Machine backup from when #images was working in Messages

The result: still have the grey boxes

This is nuts

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

There is a fix (of course, I didn't see it until I erased everything and have been installing every app, plug-in, and library fresh)