Did you know that you are able to send and receive text messages on your Mac? Imagine how convenient it can be to be able to send and reply to text messages and iMessages from your Mac. This feature has been around for a while and with a few tweaks, you can also join the league of those enjoying this great functionality. In this article, we show you how to get messages on your Mac.
How to Get Text Messages on Your Mac
Texting is simple with Messages. Text anyone from your phone or computer, at any time. Dark mode has you covered with a nighttime look that's easier on the eyes. Google at your fingertips Messages makes it easy to ask the Google Assistant for helpful information, right from your conversation. Now when you add a non-iPhone mobile number into Messages on the Mac it will be highlighted in green - this is an indicator that you are sending a text message and not an iMessage. NOTE: As all text messages sent from your Mac are now forwarded via your iPhone, they will count towards any associated costs for your mobile plan (if any). Within Messages on the iPhone or iPad, adding in a line break is easy—you just press Return Unless you have a keyboard attached to an iPad Pro, then Return sends the text.
To receive text messages on your Mac (from non-Apple devices or when iMessage is unavailable), follow these simple steps follow these simple steps to turn on text message forwarding on your iPhone, so the messages can be available on your Mac.
Step 1: Tap on Settings on your iPhone and then tap 'Messages'
Step 2: Tap on 'Text Message forwarding.'
Step 3: Tap on the toggle next to your Mac to enable the feature.
If you are signed in to Messages on your Mac and Text forwarding is enabled on your iPhone, you will be able to get text messages on your Mac.
How to Get iMessages on Your Mac
Before you can begin to send and receive text messages or iMessages on your Mac, you need to ensure that you are signed in with your Apple ID to the Mac messages app. Follow these simple to get iMessages on your Mac.
Step 1: Launch the Messages app on your Mac. If it's your first time, you'll be prompted to sign in with your Apple ID. If you have launched the app previously, simply click on the 'Messages' tab in the menu bar to continue.
Step 2: Click 'Preferences > Accounts > iMessage'. Enter your Apple ID and password.
Step 3: Once you're signed in successfully, You should see all your details including the phone numbers and emails you can be reached at as well as the number or email new conversations will start at. Excel 2016 for mac tutorial.
Your phone number is the default number where new conversations will start. You can change that by clicking on the number and entering a new one.
Transfer iMessages and Texts from iPhone to Mac
While the above method will work for all the new text and iMessages you get on your iPhone, there may be some old ones that you would like to transfer to your Mac. In this case you need a program whose specific purpose is to let you to export data from your iPhone to your Mac. The best one is D-Port Pro.
The following are just some of the features that make it the ideal choice.
- It is a backup and restore tool that you can use to create a backup or all the data on your device in a single click.
- Restoring data from an iTunes, iCloud or iMyfone backup is also quick and easy.
- You can also use D-Port Pro to export data from an iOS device to the Mac or from a backup file to the device or the Mac.
- It can also be used to backup only a section of your data, specifically your messages, WeChat or WhatsApp Data.
How to Transfer Messages from iPhone to Mac via D-Port Pro
To begin, download and install the program to your Mac. Once the installation process is complete, connect your iPhone to the computer and then follow these simple steps.
Step 1: Launch the program on your computer and on the main window, select 'Back Up & Export from Device' from the let panel. Then, click 'Export Data.'
Step 2: Select 'Message' as the type of data you would like to export and then click 'Next.' The program will begin scanning the device.
Step 3: When the scan is complete, you should see a list of all the contacts on the device on the next page. Select the ones you want to transfer to the computer, select an output format and then click 'Export' to complete the process. This will export both your text messages and iMessages.
How to Stop Getting Messages on your Mac
As useful as it is to get text messages on your Mac, sometimes they can just be too much especially when you don't remember enabling the feature. Whatever the reason, you can easily disable this feature at any time and stop getting iMessages on your Mac. Follow these simple steps to do it.
Step 1: On your mac, open the 'Messages' app.
Step 2: Click on 'Messages' at the top bar and select 'preferences' from the list of options that pops up.
Step 3: This will open the Accounts window. Tap on your Apple ID on the left column and then uncheck the box marked 'Enable this Account' or click 'Sign out.'
This will easily disable the feature and you won't be able to receive the messages on your Mac. If you want to re-enable the feature at any time in the future, follow the tutorial above to do it.
Sending and receiving messages through iPhone is, obviously, extremely convenient. In the palm of your hand you have the power to send text and media to contacts all over the world.
This convenience comes at a price - many of us have thousands of messages on our phones, taking up storage space and becoming increasingly hard to manage.
If you have a lot of messages on your device, searching through your messages, finding the conversation you're looking for and viewing it can be tricky. This guide will take you through the top three ways to view your iPhone messages directly on the big screen of your PC or Mac computer.
Quick Jump to..
1. View iPhone messages directly on your computer (PC/Mac)
Our first method explores how you can view your iPhone messages in a clear format on your PC or Mac using TouchCopy.
TouchCopy is a popular app which allows you to view and export media from iPhone to computer.
We can use this tool to easily view and search iPhone messages, export them to computer, and even print them out!
What you'll need:
- You can use TouchCopy on a PC running Windows 10, 8 and 7, or Mac using Mac OSX 10.9 (OS X Mavericks) or higher.
- Your iPhone.
- Your USB cable to connect your iPhone to your computer.
Viewing iPhone messages in TouchCopy:
To view SMS, MMS, iMessage or WhatsApp conversations in TouchCopy, simply connect your iPhone and click the Messages section.
View the messages in a conversation by clicking it in the list.
You'll see all your messages, emojis, times/dates, attached media like photos, and contacts details.
Try TouchCopy free ▼
Receive an email with a link so you can download the free trial on your computer:
Our first method explores how you can view your iPhone messages in a clear format on your PC or Mac using TouchCopy.
TouchCopy is a popular app which allows you to view and export media from iPhone to computer.
We can use this tool to easily view and search iPhone messages, export them to computer, and even print them out!
What you'll need:
- You can use TouchCopy on a PC running Windows 10, 8 and 7, or Mac using Mac OSX 10.9 (OS X Mavericks) or higher.
- Your iPhone.
- Your USB cable to connect your iPhone to your computer.
Viewing iPhone messages in TouchCopy:
To view SMS, MMS, iMessage or WhatsApp conversations in TouchCopy, simply connect your iPhone and click the Messages section.
View the messages in a conversation by clicking it in the list.
You'll see all your messages, emojis, times/dates, attached media like photos, and contacts details.
Try TouchCopy free ▼
Receive an email with a link so you can download the free trial on your computer:
Note: We respect your privacy. We won't share your Email address with anyone else, or send you spam.
Searching iPhone messages in TouchCopy:
Searching messages on iPhone can be fiddly. TouchCopy makes it easy to search through your messages on a big screen.
To do this, enter a contact's name or a key word / phrase that you are looking for into the search box and hit Enter (Return) on your keyboard.
TouchCopy will return a list of only conversations in which your keyword was mentioned. You can click a conversation to see exactly which messages contain your keyword!
Find more information about viewing and searching iPhone messages in TouchCopy >
What Next?
Using TouchCopy just to view your messages is like using an iPhone only to make calls. There's so much more you can do.
Now that you can access your messages on your computer, why not export them for safekeeping, or print them off? Parallel software for macbook pro.
2. View iPhone messages from an iTunes backup (PC/Mac)
If you don't have access to your iPhone anymore, or the texts you are trying to view have been lost or deleted, you'll need to use a backup of your iPhone.
If you backup your iPhone to your computer, your messages will be saved to the backup. The problem is, you can't actually access your messages in the backup without a tool like iBackup Extractor.
iBackup Extractor is a trusted tool which allows you to access the information stored in an iTunes backup, and even extract it to your computer!
What you'll need:
- You can use iBackup Extractor on a PC running Windows 10, 8 and 7, or Mac using Mac OSX 10.9 (OS X Mavericks) or higher.
- A backup of your iPhone stored on your PC or Mac.
How to View iPhone Text Messages on Computer Without Phone:
As mentioned, you don't actually need your iPhone to be able to use iBackup Extractor. This tool accesses a backup of your iPhone stored on your computer to enable you to view your backed up messages.
What's that, you need to view old iPhone messages, or ones which have been deleted from your phone? No problem, if the messages are stored in a backup, you can get to them with iBackup Extractor.
To view your messages, launch iBackup Extractor, select the backup containing your desired messages, and select the conversation you need to view its messages!
You can also search your messages for a particular contact or key phrase by entering your query in the search bar in iBackup Extractor!
Try iBackup Extractor free ▼
Receive an email with a link so you can download the free trial on your computer:
Note: We respect your privacy. We won't share your Email address with anyone else, or send you spam.
What Next?
Making new backups of your iPhone on your computer usually means overwriting the old one. This could mean that you lose the data you need.
To avoid this, you can extract the important bits you need from your backup using iBackup Extractor: Save your SMS, MMS, iMessage and WhatsApp conversations to your computer. You can export as HTML, PDF or Plain text, or print out your messages so that you have a hard copy.
3. View messages, and text from your computer
(Mac only)
Our final method is provided free by Apple and uses the Messages app on Mac computers.
'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.' - Apple
That's right- not only can you view your iPhone messages through your Mac, you can even use it to send messages!
The only problem here is that if this is the first time you are setting up your Mac to receive your iPhone messages, you'll only be able to view new messages sent after this point. To view older iPhone messages as well, you'll need to use Method 1 or Method 2.
What you'll need:
- A Mac or MacBook with the Messages app installed.
- The Apple ID details used on your iPhone.
How to View iPhone messages using Mac Messages app:
Messages For Mac Text Message
All you need to do to get your iPhone messages on your Mac is to open the Messages app on your Mac.
If your Mac uses the same Apple ID as your iPhone, you'll see your messages. If your Mac is not set up in this way, you can sign in using your Apple ID the first time that you open the Messages app on Mac.
This initial setup will only allow you to view and send iMessages. If you'd like to view and send SMS and MMS, as well as iMessages, you'll need to set up text message forwarding.
Setting up Text Message Forwarding
- Ensure that your iPhone and Mac are using the same Apple ID..
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive.
- On your Mac, open the Messages app, click Messages in the toolbar > Preferences, then click iMessage.
- On your iPhone, open Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding.
- Tap the switch next to your Mac's name to allow it to send and receive SMS and MMS from your iPhone.
- You may receive a verification code on your Mac. If so, enter the code on your iPhone to allow this change.
The SMS and MMS you receive on your iPhone will now also forward to your Mac, if both devices are connected to the internet.
Takeaways
View Text Messages On Mac
So, now you know the best 3 ways to view your iPhone messages on your computer.
As you can see, each method has its own unique benefits. You should now have all the knowledge you need to make an informed decision about which method is best for you.
If you are still unsure, here's what we recommend:
- Use TouchCopy to view SMS, MMS, iMessage and WhatsApp messages. You can also save and print your messages.
- Use iBackup Extractor to view your iPhone messages from an iPhone backup. This method is perfect if you don't have your iPhone, or if you are looking for messages which were deleted from your iPhone.
- Use Mac Messages app if you want to send and receive text messages on your Mac. Not suitable for viewing older messages, or for viewing WhatsApp conversations.
Thanks for reading!
