Set Up ICloud For Messages On All Your Devices - Apple Support

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iCloud User Guide

• Welcome
• iCloud basics
  • Introduction to iCloud
  • Overview of apps and features that use iCloud
  • Overview of iCloud.com for web-only accounts
  • About iCloud storage
  • How iCloud keeps information up to date
  • Share and collaborate with iCloud
• What’s included in iCloud+
  • iCloud+ overview
  • iCloud Private Relay
    • What you can do with iCloud+ and iCloud Private Relay
    • Set up iCloud Private Relay
  • Hide My Email
    • What you can do with iCloud+ and Hide My Email
    • Set up Hide My Email
  • HomeKit Secure Video
    • What you can do with iCloud+ and HomeKit Secure Video
    • Set up HomeKit Secure Video
  • Custom Email Domain
    • What you can do with iCloud+ and Custom Email Domain
    • Set up a custom email domain
• Manage your account and settings
  • Apple Account and iCloud
  • Set up iCloud on your devices
  • Buy more iCloud storage with iCloud+
  • Check your iCloud storage on any device
  • Use iCloud+ with your family
• Learn about iCloud features
  • Books
    • What you can do with iCloud and Books
    • Set up Books
  • Calendar
    • What you can do with iCloud and Calendar
    • Set up Calendar
    • Send and receive invitations for iCloud Calendar
  • Contacts
    • What you can do with iCloud and Contacts
    • Set up Contacts
  • Find My
    • Intro to Find My
    • Set up Find My
    • Remove devices and items from Find My
    • Use Find My on each device
  • Freeform
    • What you can do with iCloud and Freeform
    • Set up Freeform
  • Home
    • What you can do with iCloud and Home
    • Set up Home
  • iCloud Backup
    • What is iCloud Backup?
    • Back up your iPhone or iPad
    • View and manage backups
  • iCloud Drive
    • What you can do with iCloud Drive
    • Set up iCloud Drive
  • iCloud Mail
    • What you can do with iCloud Mail
    • Create a primary @icloud.com email address
    • Set up iCloud Mail
  • Keynote
    • What you can do with iCloud and Keynote
    • Set up Keynote
  • Messages
    • What you can do with iCloud and Messages
    • Set up Messages
  • Notes
    • What you can do with iCloud and Notes
    • Set up Notes
  • Numbers
    • What you can do with iCloud and Numbers
    • Set up Numbers
  • Pages
    • What you can do with iCloud and Pages
    • Set up Pages
  • Passwords and Keychain
    • What you can do with iCloud Keychain and iCloud Passwords
    • Set up iCloud Keychain and iCloud Passwords
  • Phone & FaceTime
    • What you can do with iCloud for Phone & FaceTime
    • Set up Phone & FaceTime
  • Photos
    • What you can do with iCloud and Photos
    • Set up iCloud Photos
    • Set up iCloud Shared Photo Library
    • Set up Shared Albums
  • Reminders
    • What you can do with iCloud and Reminders
    • Set up Reminders
  • Safari
    • What you can do with iCloud and Safari
    • Set up Safari
  • Third-party apps
    • What you can do with iCloud and third-party apps
    • Set up third-party apps
• Use iCloud on the web
  • Sign in and use iCloud.com
  • Customize and use the homepage tiles
  • iCloud settings
    • iCloud Settings on iCloud.com overview
    • Customize the appearance
    • Change your photo
    • Receive notifications for iCloud apps
    • Prevent apps from showing your name
    • Check your iCloud plan
    • Check your iCloud storage online
    • Manage iCloud+ features
  • Apple Invites
  • Calendar
    • Use Calendar on iCloud.com
    • Create and edit calendars
      • Create and edit a calendar
      • Choose a default calendar
      • Customize the calendar view
      • Change the time zone
      • Delete a calendar
    • Create and edit events
      • Create and edit an event
      • Invite people to an event
      • Receive and reply to invitations
      • Delete or hide an event
      • Set an alert
    • Restore your calendars and events
    • Share calendars
      • Share a calendar
      • Stop sharing a calendar
      • Accept a shared calendar invitation
      • Receive emails for updates to shared calendars
  • Contacts
    • Contacts on iCloud.com overview
    • View contacts
    • Create or edit contacts
    • Create and manage lists
    • Search contacts
    • Delete contacts
    • Restore contacts
    • Import, export, and print contacts
    • If you can’t create, import, edit, or delete contacts
  • Custom Email Domain
    • Add a domain you own
    • Purchase a domain
    • Add or remove people
    • Transfer custom email domain addresses
    • Allow all incoming emails
    • Import existing emails
    • Create and delete email addresses
    • Stop using a domain
  • Find Devices
    • Find Devices on iCloud.com overview
    • Sign in
    • Locate a device
    • Play a sound on a device
    • Use Lost Mode
    • Erase a device
    • Remove a device
  • Hide My Email
    • Create and edit addresses
    • Stop using or reactivate addresses
  • iCloud Drive
    • iCloud Drive on iCloud.com overview
    • Upload and download files
    • View files and folders
    • Organize files and folders
    • Work with shared files and folders
      • Share files and folders
      • Manage sharing for files and folders
      • Add or remove shared files and folders
      • Delete shared files or folders
    • Email files
    • Delete and recover files
      • Delete files
      • Recover deleted files
      • Permanently remove deleted files
  • Keynote
  • Mail
    • Mail on iCloud.com overview
    • Manage email addresses and aliases
      • Add and manage email aliases
      • Use a custom email domain with Mail
      • Choose a default email address
      • Use Hide My Email in Mail
    • Send email
      • Write and send email
      • Save and view email drafts
      • Reply to or forward an email
      • Receive a reminder to reply
      • Add an attachment
      • Create an email signature
      • Save and find email addresses
      • Set up an automatic reply
    • Receive email
      • Read email
      • View all email headers
      • Download attachments
      • Automatically forward email
      • Manage junk mail
      • Delete email
    • Organize and find email
      • Use categories
      • Automatically clean up iCloud Mail
      • Organize email with folders
      • Search, filter, and flag email
      • Set up filtering rules
      • Archive email
      • Make a sender a VIP
    • Use Mail Privacy Protection
    • Print an email
    • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Notes
    • Notes on iCloud.com overview
    • Create notes
      • Create notes
      • Add links to notes
      • Add or edit lists
      • Add or edit tables
    • Organize notes
      • Organize notes in folders
      • Organize notes with tags
    • View notes
      • View notes and locked notes
      • View or download attachments
    • Delete and recover notes
    • Search notes
    • Work with shared notes and folders
      • Share notes
      • Edit shared notes
      • Delete shared notes
      • Share folders
      • Make updates to shared folders
      • Delete shared folders
  • Numbers
  • Pages
  • Photos
    • Photos on iCloud.com overview
    • View your photos and videos
    • Browse photos or videos by date
    • Hide your photos and videos
    • Share photos
      • Use iCloud Shared Photo Library
      • Create and manage shared albums
      • Like or comment on photos in a shared album
      • Share photos and videos with an iCloud Link
    • Upload and download photos
    • Add or edit a title, caption, or other metadata
    • Organize photos and videos
    • Add photos and videos to Favorites
    • Play a slideshow of photos
    • Delete and recover photos and videos
  • Reminders
    • Reminders on iCloud.com overview
    • Create and delete reminders
    • Add and delete reminder lists
    • Move a reminder to another list
    • Mark a reminder as completed or not completed
    • Search for reminders
    • Restore your reminders
    • Work with shared reminder lists
      • Share a reminder list
      • Reply to a shared reminder list invitation
      • Leave a shared reminder list
  • Recover files and information
• Use iCloud on your Windows device
• Get more help with iCloud
• Legal notices and acknowledgements
• Copyright and trademarks

You can use iCloud for Messages on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac with two-factor authentication and iCloud Keychain turned on. For an overview of what you can do with iCloud, see Keep your messages up to date with iCloud.

Note: Make sure you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on each device. If you’re not signed in to your Apple Account on a device, or the device has Messages for iCloud turned off, your messages won’t be kept up to date on the device.

Set up iCloud for Messages on your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.

2. Do one of the following:

   • iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, or later: Tap See All (or Show All), tap Messages in iCloud, then turn on “Use on this iPhone.”

     

   • iOS 16 to 17.1 or iPadOS 16 to 17.1: Tap Show All, tap Messages, then turn on Sync this [device].

   Any messages currently stored in iCloud are now accessible on your device, and any new messages you receive on your device will be stored in iCloud.

3. To make sure you can see your messages on all your devices, also check the following:

   • iMessage account: On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive. Make sure that you’re signed in to the same Apple Account. You can choose which email addresses and phone numbers you want to send and receive messages from on each device.

   • Text message forwarding: If you want to receive SMS and MMS messages on all your devices, go to Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding on your iPhone. Turn on text message forwarding for each device. For more information, see the Apple Support article Forward text messages from your iPhone to other devices.

4. To see messages stored in iCloud, open the Messages app.

For more information on how to use Messages on your iPhone or iPad, see any of the following:

• iPhone User Guide: Send and reply to messages on iPhone and Collaborate on projects with Messages on iPhone

• iPad User Guide: Send and reply to messages on iPad and Collaborate on projects with Messages on iPad

Set up iCloud for Messages on your Mac

1. In the Messages app on your Mac, choose Messages > Settings.

2. Click iMessage, then select Enable Messages in iCloud.

3. Select which email addresses and phone numbers you want to send and receive messages from on your Mac.

   Any messages currently stored in iCloud are now accessible on your Mac, and any new messages you receive on your Mac will be stored in iCloud.

   Note: If you want to see SMS and MMS messages on your Mac, see the Apple Support article Forward text messages from your iPhone to other devices.

4. To see Messages stored in iCloud, open the Messages app.

Note: If you want to turn off Messages in iCloud on your Mac, deselect Enable Messages in iCloud. You can choose to disable Messages in iCloud for all your devices, or just your Mac.

For more information on how to use Messages on your Mac, see the Send a message on Mac.

When you first turn on Messages in iCloud, it may take some time for all your messages to appear on each device. You can send and receive messages during this time.

If your messages aren’t syncing, check the requirements for Messages in iCloud and make sure your devices are up to date. See the Apple Support articles System requirements for iCloud, Update your iPhone or iPad, or Update macOS on Mac.

See alsoSet up iCloud for third-party apps on all your devices Previous What you can do with iCloud and Messages Next What you can do with iCloud and Notes Helpful? Yes No Character limit: 250 Please don’t include any personal information in your comment. Maximum character limit is 250. Submit Thanks for your feedback.