Option to text forward would then appear under iPhone 5 and u should be able to enable it from there for the 4S. 4S will NOT show this option. Click to expand. The two phone are NOT sharing the same phone number, nor are they signed into iCloud with the same email address.
The text message forwarding function takes the messages previously sent to your iPhone and mirrors them in the Messages application on your Mac and iPad. If you don’t want to miss out the convenience of viewing text messages across devices, follow the steps below to activate text messages forwarding in iOS 11 on iPhone iPad.
Also Read: How to Print Text Messages from iPhone iPad >
How to Enable Text Message Forwarding in iOS 11 on iPhone iPad
Step 1Go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive.
Step 2Click on “Use your Apple ID for iMessage”, input your Apple ID and password.
Step 3Choose an e-mail address to associate with your Apple ID. Click Next.
Step 4Go to Settings > Messages again, tap Message Forwarding.
Step 5Your iPad or Mac will receive a verification code in Messages. Enter the code into your iPhone to verify.
What to Do When You Can’t Successfully Activate Text Message Forwarding in iOS 11 on iPhone iPad
If you have tried to activate text message forwarding in iOS 11 with the above steps but there is still no text message forwarding option, try the troubleshooting methods below.
1. Check the time and data on your iPhone.
2. Turn off and restart iMessage.
3. Sign out of iMessage and sign back in.
4. Toggle Airplane mode on and off.
5. Remove any restrictions for iMessage in your Settings.
6. Make sure you are under good Internet connection.
7. Update to the latest iOS.
Bonus Tip: How to Transfer Messages from Old iPhone to New iPhone
According to many users feedback, even iOS 11 is excellent, it just doesn’t really work well on older iPhone models, like iPhone 5, SE, 6. To keep up with the time and make most of the newly launched iOS 11, upgrading to new iPhone 8 or iPhone X is necessary. iPhone 7 is also a nice choice. However, many users are still hesitating. If you are one of them, maybe it is the difficulty of transferring important data like messages from old iPhone to new iPhone that stops you getting a new iPhone.
The good news is that revolutionary process has been made to make the process of transferring data like messages from iPhone to iPhone easier. Normally, we rely on iTunes or iCloud to transfer data from iPhone to iPhone, however, the process is tedious. Besides, they can’t help you selectively transfer data from iPhone to iPhone. Moreover, you can’t really back up all data with iTunes or iCloud. Those all shortcomings can be overcome by AnyTrans for iOS.
Developed by iMobie team, AnyTrans for iOS is the most advanced iOS data transfer tool now. To begin with, it can help you transfer data from iPhone to iPhone directly, you don’t have to create a backup first. Moreover, AnyTrans for iOS allows to selectively transfer data from iPhone to iPhone. Besides, AnyTrans for iOS is developed by an Apple certificated developer and it is now also Norton and McAfee secured, we can assure you that no data loss and information leakage would occur.
Since messages are what cared by most users, here in this bonus tip, we will show you how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone with AnyTrans for iOS.
Step 1. Download AnyTrans for iOS on your computer (PC and Mac will all do) and then launch it. As mentioned above, AnyTrans for iOS is developed by an Apple certificated developer, please be free to use it.
Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe
Step 2. Plug in both of your old iPhone and new iPhone. Click the Device button at the top. Go to 1-Click file management page by scrolling down or clicking the button to your right, then click Merge Device button.
How to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone – Step 2
Step 3. Check the box of Messages and uncheck other boxes, click the “>” button.
How to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone – Step 3
Step 4. Confirm the transferring process and then click the “>” button again, AnyTrans for iOS would soon start to transfer the messages from old iPhone to iPhone.
How to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone – Step 4
The Bottom Line
Following above steps, you can easily activate text message forwarding in iOS 11 on iPhone iPad. If you have further questions about enabling text message forwarding in iOS 11 on iPhone iPad, please don’t hesitate to leave comments below. Besides, as you can see, AnyTrans for iOS is indeed an efficient and convenient tool to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone. Moreover, it offers 7-day free trial. Why not download it now and start the free trial now?
Product-related questions? Contact Our Support Team to Get Quick Solution >
By Conner Careyupdated on 02/19/2018
You can send and receive text messages on your Mac if you own an iPhone. As long as you have OS X Yosemite or later, you can get text messages on your Mac. iMessages are sent over an internet connection, so it makes sense that Mac would be able to receive them. But thanks to Apple’s operating system on Mac, you can receive SMS text messages on your computer too. First, we’ll connect iPhone messages to Mac, then we’ll go over how to send and receive text messages (SMS) and iMessages on your Mac. Here’s how to get text messages and iMessages on your Mac computer.
Related: How to Stop & Turn Off Messages on Mac in 4 Easy Steps
Master your iPhone in one minute a day:
Sign up to iPhone Life's Tip of the Day Newsletter and we'll send you a tip each day to save time and get the most out of your iPhone or iPad.
Master your iPhone in one minute a day:
Sign up to iPhone Life's Tip of the Day Newsletter and we'll send you a tip each day to save time and get the most out of your iPhone or iPad.
It’s pretty much always been possible to receive iMessages on your Mac from other Apple device owners. But in 2014, when Apple released OS X Yosemite, the company made it possible to link your iPhone with your Mac. Now, as long as you have that macOS or later, you’re able to get text messages (SMS) on your Mac. Once you’ve set up iMessage on Mac, you should seamlessly receive both iMessages and text messages. Connecting iPhone message to Mac is really just a process of syncing the two up via your iCloud account, which you log into using your Apple ID. Because of this, it is important you use the same Apple ID on your iPhone and Mac, that way the devices know they are on the same continuity network.
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By default, Messages on Mac will attempt to send an iMessage. But if it can’t, it will then send a text message. Well, actually it will send the message to your iPhone and your iPhone will send it from there. But for you, it appears as a seamless continuation. This is what allows you to send SMS text messages and iMessage from your Mac to anyone, whether they are using an iPhone or not.
How to Get Text Messages & iMessages on Mac
Operating System Requirements:
The first thing you need to do is make sure your Mac is running at least OS X 10.1 Yosemite. If your Mac is running El Capitan or the latest MacOS Sierra, then you’re good to go as well. You also need to make sure your iPhone is running iOS 8.2.1 or later, although we reccomend running at least iOS 9.3.2 and using the latest version of iOS possible for your iPhone. I’ve broken up the process of getting text message on your Mac into two parts below. Follow it in order and you should have no problems receiving text messages on Mac.
Sign into iCloud on iPhone & Mac:
To receive text messages on a Mac from your iPhone, you’ve got to log into iCloud using the same Apple ID on both devices. You may very well already be logged into iCloud on both devices, but let’s make sure real quick.
- On your iPhone, open the Settings app. You should see your Apple ID at the top. Tap that and then tap iCloud. (If you are using an older version of iOS, you will need to go to Settings > iCloud and then log in to your Apple ID.)
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- On your Mac, open System Preferences. Tap iCloud. Your email address will be under your user icon on the left. Make sure it’s the same as the Apple ID on your iPhone. If you’re not logged in on your Mac, log in.
- Now you need to make sure you’re logged in to Messages on Mac. To do this, open the Messages app, tap Messages at the very top of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Choose Accounts. Tap the one that says iMessage. Log in using the same Apple ID as you did on your iPhone. If you're already logged in, great!
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- Under You can be reached for messages at, make sure you check both your Apple ID email and phone number.
- Close Preferences but leave the Messages app open.
Connect iPhone Message to Mac: Text Message Forwarding
Now we need to get your iPhone ready to send and receive text messages on Mac. To do this, we must set up text message forwarding on your iPhone. To do this:
- On your iPhone, open the Settings app.
- Tap Messages.
- Select Send & Receive.
- Under You Can Be Reached By iMessage at, make sure both your phone number and Apple ID email address are checked. If not, tap to check them.
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- Go back to Messages. Tap Text Message Forwarding.
- Toggle on your Mac.
- A box will pop up asking for a code.
- On your Mac in the Messages app, a verification code will appear.
- Enter the verification code in the box that appeared on your iPhone.
*Troubleshooting Tip:When I started writing this part, I didn’t see Text Message Forwarding under Messages in Settings on my iPhone. I searched everywhere for an answer as to why. It was Sarah, our senior web editor, who thought of the simple solution. Turns out, if you’re not logged into Messages on Mac, you won’t even see the option. So if you run into the same issue, don’t panic. Follow the instructions from part one carefully and it should work smoothly.
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Now you’re set up to send and receive text messages and iMessages on your Mac! If you decide you don’t want to receive them anymore, we’ve got an article on that too.
Can I Get iMessage on PC?
Apple is famous for its closed systems, and it’s not much different here. If you have a Mac and a PC, there are some very do-able workarounds. But most people don’t have both, so it’s not practical. The alternative is to jailbreak your iPhone, something we don’t recommend here at iPhoneLife. But if you’re determined, I’d like to point you to our friends at AppleToolBox.
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