How to use iMessage on your Mac and send text messages from your computer

• You can use iMessage on your Mac by signing into your Apple ID account.
• Once you're signed in, you can send and receive iMessages from your Mac's Messages app.
• Any iMessage you send or receive on your Mac will appear on your iPhone or iPad too.

Apple has spent years making sure you can send and receive text messages no matter where you are. You can send them from your iPhone, your iPad, your Apple Watch — and even your Mac.

Every Mac comes with an app called Messages pre-installed. Log into this app with your Apple ID, and you can send iMessages as quickly as you can on any other device.

Here's how to set up iMessages on your MacBook, iMac, or Mac mini.

How to set up iMessage on a Mac

1. Open the Messages app by clicking its green-and-white icon in your Dock. If it isn't already there, you can find it in the Applications folder or by searching for it.

2. Sign in with the same Apple ID you use on your iPhone to send iMessages. Depending on your account's security settings, you might need to enter a two-factor authentication code too.

3. Once you're logged in, you can start sending text messages right away if you know the phone number or email of the person you want to text.

4. If you want to see your existing conversations and have all your text messages sync across devices, click Messages in the menu bar at the top of the screen, then select Preferences.

5. Click the iMessage tab, and then toggle on Enable Messages in iCloud. If this option doesn't show up, it means that you've already enabled it somewhere else, so you're all set.

6. Under the You can reached for messages at: heading, you'll see all the phone numbers and email addresses that people can text you at. Check off which ones you want to receive texts from on this Mac.

7. Finally, use the Start new conversations from: drop-down to choose which of those numbers/addresses you want your Mac's text messages to be sent from.

Restart the Messages app, and all your existing text conversations should sync with the Mac. If you want your contacts to sync too, you'll need to log into your Apple ID in the System Preferences app.

Once you've got this set up, make sure that message syncing is enabled on your iPhone or iPad too.

1. Grab your iPhone or iPad — whichever device you primarily use to send texts — and open the Settings app.

2. Tap your name at the top of the menu to open the Apple ID menu, then tap iCloud.

3. In the iCloud menu, make sure that Messages is enabled.