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I wish to enable Text Message Forwarding to send and receive SMS from my MacBook Pro (running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4). I remember having used this feature for a while with both iOS 10 and iOS 11 on my iPhone. However, when I try to enable it now, I can no longer see the option available under Settings app → Messages (I'm running iOS 11.3). It used to be available previously. I have only one Apple ID which I use for everything. I am logged in with it on both my MacBook Pro and my iPhone.

Is this feature removed in iOS 11.3? I remember using it after upgrading to iOS 11. I don't recall this option requiring some other setting to be enabled in iPhone. Here's the screenshot from the Messages setting. The Text Message Forwarding option is clearly missing:

How do I resolve this issue? As I compare the screenshot from my iPhone with the one provided in the Apple knowledge base article, it appears that Show Contact Photos toggle is missing too. Are these official/documented changes in the Messages app?

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    It's not removed for sure. I would suggest turning off and on the iMessage on your mac (Messages -> Preferences -> Accounts -> Enable this account).
    – mspasov
    Commented Apr 15, 2018 at 19:34
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    @mspasov Tried doing it on both iPhone and Mac. No change.
    – Nimesh Neema ♦
    Commented Apr 15, 2018 at 19:36
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    @mspasov Apparently, the option is available now. It appears that it takes some time between toggling iMessage on Mac and having the Text Message Forwarding option show up in iPhone.
    – Nimesh Neema ♦
    Commented Apr 15, 2018 at 19:47

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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Turn off iMessage on your Mac by going to Messages → Preferences → Accounts → Enable this account and turn it on again.

Now restart your iPhone and the option will show up.

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To add to the other answers… Another reason Text Message Forwarding may not show up, is that you simply need to activate your Apple ID email address for use with iMessage. Even if it was enabled previously, it's worth checking this again, because it's a very simple fix if this is all it is.

  1. Open Settings > Messages > Send & Receive.
  2. If your Apple ID email address is not listed, look for a button that says 'Use your Apple ID for iMessage' and tap it.
  3. When your email address appears, confirm that it is checked.
  4. Confirm that the 'Text Message Forwarding' option is now visible. If not, refresh the screen by going back to the main Settings screen, and then back into Settings > Messages.
  5. At this stage, your other devices may ask you if you want to use your phone number in Messages. If not, activate them under Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding.
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  • This was the only answer that worked for me. Thanks! FYI, I got an error message that said "Messages in iCloud not available as iCloud and iMessage accounts do not match" but it worked anyway.
    – michaelsnowden
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 21:58
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For iPad users, I was able to make text forwarding re-appear by checking off my phone number in iMessage.

  1. On your iPad, open Settings -> Messages -> Send & Recieve.
  2. Make sure your phone number is checked.
  3. Reboot your iPhone

The message forwarding option should now be available

Credit to HankAZ and lv1 on iMore’s forums for this method.

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I finally found the reason MY new iPhone Xr did not show Call Forwarding after I had to do a reset all settings for a different issue:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209456

Each device is signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID. Each device is signed in to FaceTime with the same Apple ID. Each device has Wi-Fi turned on. Each device is connected to the same network using Wi-Fi or Ethernet. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices, then turn on Allow Calls on Other Devices. On your iPad or iPod touch, go to Settings > FaceTime, then turn on Calls from iPhone. On your Mac, open the FaceTime app, then choose FaceTime > Preferences. Click Settings, then select Calls From iPhone.

Ugh - spent so much time searching for this answer! Hope this helps someone else!

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