I never use iMessages on my Mac, and on my iPhone, I occasionally get spam messages. I know I can disable Message app syncing with iCloud, but does that actually disable the iMessage function for my Apple Account entirely? (I am setting up a new Mac for work purposes and this will be the only device on this Apple Account, so I’d prefer to turn off iMessage altogether.)
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How can I completely disable Messages?
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Don't log into an account in the Messages app on the Mac and there will be no messages.
Doesn’t Messages automatically link to one’s Apple ID when you log in at the OS level?
I got a new Mac in December and can't remember if it logged into messages by default, but if it did, then I just logged out of Messages in the app, and I never get messages.
Right – but does that mean that there’s a queue of undelivered messages piling up in iCloud somewhere, just as if one didn’t check one’s email? In other words, if I log out on my Mac, will iMessage attempts “bounce”, just as if they were emails sent to a nonexistent email address? I’m not clear on how iMessage works wrt Macs and iCloud, and the Apple documentation is confusing.
If you don't have any devices set to use messages in iCloud, then [delivered] messages sent to that account will be deleted after 30 days, [edit: I believe.] [I've experimented a lot with this, but never with any old unread messages, so I while I know about deleted ones, I'm unsure about unread ones or undelivered ones.] [Edit to add: If you're using an account where messages will never be delivered anywhere, that's a good question.]
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Apple Support - "Deregister iMessage on your iPhone or online"
https://support.apple.com/102455
https://support.apple.com/102455