Get your iPhone's green-bubble texts on your Mac

Why it happens

Your Mac has no phone number of its own, so it can't receive ordinary texts by itself. Green-bubble texts from people without an iPhone go to your iPhone, and the iPhone passes them on only to the devices you've switched on under Text Message Forwarding. If your Mac isn't on that list, you only get blue iMessages there.

How to fix it

1. On your Mac, open Messages, choose Messages > Settings from the menu bar and click iMessage. Check you're signed in, and that it's the same Apple Account your iPhone uses for iMessage.

   Messages›Settings›iMessage

2. In the same iMessage settings, look at the list of addresses you can be reached at. Tick your phone number as well as your email address, so texts to your number show up on the Mac.

   Messages›Settings…›iMessage

3. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap Apps, then Messages. Make sure iMessage is on. On older iOS versions, Messages sits directly in Settings.

4. Still on the iPhone, tap Text Message Forwarding and turn on the switch next to your Mac's name.

5. Ask someone without an iPhone to send you a text, or send one to them from your iPhone. It should now appear in Messages on your Mac as a green bubble, and you can reply from there.

Still not fixed?

1. If Text Message Forwarding is missing or your Mac isn't listed, open Send & Receive in the iPhone's Messages settings and check it shows the same Apple Account as the Mac. Then sign out of iMessage on the Mac and sign back in.

   Messages›Settings…›iMessage

2. Keep your iPhone switched on, with signal and an internet connection. Your Mac needs to be online too. The texts travel through the iPhone, so if it's off or flat, nothing arrives on the Mac.

3. Turn the Mac's switch under Text Message Forwarding off, wait a few seconds and turn it on again. Then restart both your iPhone and your Mac.

4. If texts still don't arrive after all of this, contact Apple Support. They can check the iMessage and forwarding setup on your account. It isn't a hardware problem, so a repair shop won't be needed.