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Phantom Messages Badges
- Thread starter foonon
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I've had this happen with both Messages and Mail on my iPhone as well. Not sure if it's happened on any of my Macs, though. First, I'd try simply rebooting if you haven't already. The only other thing I would try if that doesn't work is going to Messages > Settings > iMessage and then sign out and sign back in.
Since my original post, a message from 5 weeks ago showed up and when I read it, the badge count went to 1.
I did as you suggested and logged out of messages. The red badge with a 1 in it persisted.
I logged out of the system and logged back in. No change.
I restarted the system and logged back in. No change.
I then logged back into Messages. Still no change. The red badge of '1' remains.
Maybe a message from the past (or the future) will show up and clear it out.
Still, I'm open to any ideas, short of bombing the laptop from outer space.
~f
This probably won't work, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Go to System Settings > Notifications > Messages and disable "Allow Notifications." Restart just for good measure. Then go back and re-enable them.
I have this happen on a Monterey Mac all the time. It seems more likely to happen more when some devices aren't running concurrent OS versions (i.e. your Mac is current with major macOS releases, but your iPhone is one version behind current, or your Mac is behind current, but your iPhone is current, etc.). Going into Messages
Admittedly, this happens much more often when I go long periods of time without using the Mac in question. Messages on Mac has come a long way since the pre-Big Sur era, but it still has a bit to go.
Funny you should say this. That is my current situation.
I have one Mac still running Monterrey (for work reasons, but I should be able to upgrade to Ventura next week), and all my other Apple devices are up-to-date, operating system-wise. Unfortunately, the afflicted system is the MacBook running Ventura.
I'll try noodling a bit more with it and then just wait until all are updated and then try again!
~f
I have a feeling that it's not specific to Monterey. Though, that does sort of nix the notion of "devices not all being of the same/contemporary OS versions" element of my guess.
Thanks, this fixed it for me (this time, for now) without a reboot. Other times I've had to sign in and out on the Mac.
I’ve had this happen as well. I usually just end up clicking on every recent message conversation in the messages app and eventually it finds one that was “unread” even though it had been read on another device. I find it is usually a SMS conversation that causes this. And to note as another poster said, it usually happens after a few days on inactivity on that Mac.
Nope. I *seemed* to work initially, but as soon as received 1 new message, the badge said I had 2. I read the new message and it went back to 1.
*sigh*
~f
Thanks to all who replied.
There definitely seems to be something hinky with the sync'ing between my remaining Monterey system and the Ventura MacBook and fully upgraded i-Things. Updates made on an upgraded device hit all other devices, including the Monterey (12.6.3) host. If I delete a message on the Monterey host, nothing else seems to get the memo.
As I mentioned before, I'll be able to upgrade to Ventura next weekend, so I'll check again when I've done that. I'll let y'all know what happens.
~f
There definitely seems to be something hinky with the sync'ing between my remaining Monterey system and the Ventura MacBook and fully upgraded i-Things. Updates made on an upgraded device hit all other devices, including the Monterey (12.6.3) host. If I delete a message on the Monterey host, nothing else seems to get the memo.
As I mentioned before, I'll be able to upgrade to Ventura next weekend, so I'll check again when I've done that. I'll let y'all know what happens.
~f
Is yours fixed? Mine came back, but only on the Mac running the old user account. The newer ones I started from scratch on Monterey are fine, as is the iPhone. I've tried the solution from this thread, signing out of iMessage on the Mac, and forcing a sync. Any temp fix is reset every time I get a new message, and it goes back to 27. They're both on 13.2 and iPhone is on 16.3.
Edit: I fixed it somewhat unconventionally. I deleted everything under ~/Library/Messages and rebooted. Then I waited several minutes (if I didn't, it would hang on "Downloading messages from iCloud") for chat.db and other files to regenerate before opening Messages. At that point, I got the downloading text at the bottom. I left it downloading overnight without sending anything on any devices. Today the # was down from 27 to 1 (an actual unread message).
Of course, this only works with Messages in iCloud.
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So, before I upgraded my last Mac to Ventura this past weekend, the FINAL unread message showed up on my MacBook Pro. This message was from August 2022. I read it (a gripping missive from a car dealership in another state about a sale that's long since over) and the offending "1" badge went away, returning only when there was an ACTUAL new message.
Patience is a virtue, I guess.
~f
Ask Siri: "Show my unread messages"
Siri will show nothing, but ask you if you want to reply, no. If you have multiple phantom unread messages, Siri will continue asking you if you want to reply. After going through all phantom messages, the badge count will correct.
Siri will show nothing, but ask you if you want to reply, no. If you have multiple phantom unread messages, Siri will continue asking you if you want to reply. After going through all phantom messages, the badge count will correct.
signed up for an account specifically to thank you for this genius workaround, i have been trying to fix this for over a year.
This worked for me too. Brilliant workaround thank you so much.
For those wondering what the unread messages were, they were various automated text messages I had previously received from the cell company i used when i had another simcard overseas
I signed in to Macrumors for the first time in probably 10 years to say thank you for this too! I couldn't figure out how to trigger Siri on my Mac and had to Google that first.
Thank you! This worked well. There were a number of legitimate messages that Siri read to me - mostly spam that I likely deleted on my iPhone. I could not find them on the Mac. App Badge is clear!
Like others, I registered specifically to thank you. Your suggestion worked! Much appreciated!!
Never hurts to boot into Safe Mode. Wait a few minutes and then reboot normally. When the machine boots into safe mode, it clears the various caches. That's helped me in the past.
By the way, for me it only crops up occasionally. I've had the problem for more than a few years going through all the versions of the OS in that time. I generally keep up with all the new releases. But I'm not syncing computers with different versions of the OS. Or with any other computer at all. But I do sync with iCloud. I have a feeling the problem occurs with being logged in to iCloud, but I've never proven that. Sometimes logging out of iCloud, rebooting and then logging back in to iCloud seems to help. Same might apply for logging in and out of iCloud+ features.
By the way, for me it only crops up occasionally. I've had the problem for more than a few years going through all the versions of the OS in that time. I generally keep up with all the new releases. But I'm not syncing computers with different versions of the OS. Or with any other computer at all. But I do sync with iCloud. I have a feeling the problem occurs with being logged in to iCloud, but I've never proven that. Sometimes logging out of iCloud, rebooting and then logging back in to iCloud seems to help. Same might apply for logging in and out of iCloud+ features.
This did the trick for me! I've tried the other "solutions" without any luck. Was driving me nuts! I don't use Siri and have actually turned it off but was willing to try anything and reenabled it. Siri found the unread messages which appear to be part of 2-part messages with on part being read and the other part "hidden". Now my iMessage notifications match on iPhone, MBA and Mac Mini. THANK YOU! And Siri is disabled again. I also signed up for an account to thank the OP, kylebarker72.