How to get your messages on a new Mac: iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram and more

To get your messages on a new Mac, open Messages, sign in with the same Apple Account as your iPhone, then choose Messages > Settings > iMessage and select Enable Messages in iCloud: your history downloads from iCloud, which can take a while. Then turn on Text Message Forwarding for the Mac on your iPhone so green-bubble texts arrive too, install WhatsApp and link it with a QR code, and sign in to Telegram, which syncs your chats from its cloud. Instagram has no Mac app, so your DMs live at instagram.com.

This guide walks through the first hour on a new Mac one app at a time, in the order that saves the most waiting, with what each step brings across and what it leaves behind. The steps follow Apple’s, WhatsApp’s and Telegram’s own help pages, checked on 20 October 2026; menu names match macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27.

What moves to a new Mac, and how (October 2026)

App	What you do on the new Mac	What arrives	What doesn’t
iMessage	Sign in to Messages, turn on Messages in iCloud	Everything stored in Messages in iCloud, plus new messages	Conversations deleted earlier, or removed by a Keep messages limit
SMS, MMS, RCS (green bubbles)	Turn on Text Message Forwarding on your iPhone	New texts, relayed by your iPhone	Anything when the iPhone is off; depends on carrier and region
WhatsApp	Install the app, link it with a QR code	Your recent message history	The full history (it stays on your phone), live location, broadcast lists
Telegram	Install one of the two Mac apps, sign in with your phone number	All cloud chats	Secret chats, which stay on the device where they began
Instagram	Log in at instagram.com	Your inbox, as on your phone	There’s no Mac app to install

Before you start: Migration Assistant or a fresh start?

Both work, and messages end up in the same place. Apple’s Migration Assistant “transfers documents, apps, user accounts, and settings” from your old Mac or a Time Machine backup, either during setup or later from Applications > Utilities (Apple).

If you use Messages in iCloud, you don’t need to migrate anything for iMessage: your conversations come down from iCloud. And whichever way you go, open WhatsApp and Telegram once on the new Mac to check they’re connected, because they may ask you to link or sign in again.

Have these ready: your iPhone (updated and within reach), your Apple Account password, and your phone for WhatsApp’s QR code and Telegram’s login code.

On a MacBook Neo? The steps are identical. Apple’s MacBook Neo specs list Messages, FaceTime and Phone among its built-in apps (it runs on an A18 Pro chip rather than an M-series one); WhatsApp and Telegram aren’t preinstalled on any Mac, so you download them as below.

Step 1: Sign in to iMessage with the same Apple Account

Apple says every device must use the same Apple Account for Messages to stay in step (Apple).

1. Open Messages on the Mac.
2. Enter your Apple Account email or phone number, click Sign In, then enter your password.
3. Choose Messages > Settings and click iMessage.
4. Under You can be reached for messages at, tick your phone number and the email addresses you use.
5. If you ticked more than one, use Start new conversations from to pick the same number or address your iPhone uses.

Step 2: Turn on Messages in iCloud (your history)

This is the step that brings your old conversations across, and keeps deletions and read status the same everywhere. Apple’s requirements: the same Apple Account on each device, with two-factor authentication and iCloud Keychain turned on (Apple).

On the Mac:

1. In Messages, choose Messages > Settings.
2. Click iMessage, then select Enable Messages in iCloud.

On your iPhone (if it isn’t on already):

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
2. Tap See All (or Show All), tap Messages in iCloud, and turn on Use on this iPhone.

Then wait. Apple says that when you first turn it on, “it may take some time for all your messages to appear”, and that you can send and receive messages in the meantime. With years of photos and videos, give it hours. Keep the Mac awake, plugged in and on a good Wi-Fi network.

Two settings to check while you’re there:

• Keep messages. In Messages > Settings > General, set Keep messages to Forever if you want everything. Apple says any other choice removes conversations, attachments included, once the time is up.
• Deleting now deletes everywhere. With Messages in iCloud on, “deleting a message or conversation on your Mac deletes it from all your devices where Messages in iCloud is on” (Apple). Don’t tidy up the new Mac by deleting old threads unless you mean it.

What does “syncing with iCloud paused” mean?

It means your device has temporarily stopped uploading to iCloud and downloading changes from it. The Apple guides we checked don’t explain the message; Mac security company Intego describes it that way and lists the usual causes: a weak connection, full iCloud storage, different Apple Accounts, outdated software or an account that needs verifying (Intego, 10 September 2026).

What to try, in order:

1. Plug the Mac in and connect to reliable Wi-Fi.
2. In Messages > Settings > iMessage, click Sync Now if you see it.
3. Check your iCloud storage in System Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
4. Check both devices use the same Apple Account, and update both.

Intego advises against signing out of your Apple Account or switching iCloud features off and on as an early fix. If history still doesn’t appear, our fix list for Messages on Mac not syncing goes through every step in order.

Step 3: Turn on Text Message Forwarding for green bubbles

SMS, MMS and RCS messages only ever arrive on your iPhone, which can pass them to your Mac. Apple’s steps (Apple):

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Apps > Messages and make sure iMessage is on.
2. Tap Send & Receive and check that the Apple Account shown there is the same one your Mac uses.
3. Go back, tap Text Message Forwarding, and turn on your new Mac.

If you don’t see Text Message Forwarding, Apple says to check that the iPhone and the Mac are signed in to the same Apple Account. Apple notes that availability depends on your carrier, country or region. And because the iPhone does the relaying, forwarded texts only arrive while it’s on and connected.

Step 4: Install WhatsApp and link it to your phone

WhatsApp never moves with your Mac on its own: the Mac is a “linked device” of the WhatsApp account on your phone.

1. Download WhatsApp from the Mac App Store or whatsapp.com/download and open it. A QR code appears.
2. On your phone, open WhatsApp and go to the linked devices screen: on iPhone, Settings > Linked devices > Link device; on Android, the three-dot menu > Linked devices > Link a device.
3. Scan the QR code on the Mac.

How much history arrives: right after you link, your phone sends “an end-to-end encrypted copy of your most recent message history” to the Mac. WhatsApp adds that not all messages are synced, that the desktop app syncs more than WhatsApp Web, and that you should check your phone to see or search your full history (WhatsApp Help Center). So a new Mac is never a full copy of WhatsApp.

Three rules worth knowing (WhatsApp Help Center):

• You can link up to four devices to your phone at once.
• The Mac keeps working when your phone is off, but linked devices log out if you don’t use your phone for over 14 days.
• WhatsApp disconnects a linked device after 30 days of inactivity, so an old Mac in a drawer drops off by itself. To remove it sooner, tap it in Linked devices on your phone, then Log out.

Our guide to WhatsApp on Mac compares the app with WhatsApp Web and covers calls.

Step 5: Sign in to Telegram

Telegram is the easy one: it’s a cloud messenger, so your chats sync to any device you sign in on.

1. Pick a Mac app. Telegram makes two official ones: Telegram for macOS, a native Mac app, and Telegram Desktop, the cross-platform app (sold in the Mac App Store as Telegram Lite). Telegram’s FAQ says “Both apps are official” (Telegram FAQ). Our guide to Telegram on Mac explains which suits you.
2. Sign in with your phone number and the login code. Telegram may send the code inside Telegram on your phone rather than by SMS.
3. Your cloud chats appear.

What doesn’t come across: secret chats. Telegram says they’re “device-specific and are not part of the Telegram cloud”, so you can only read them on the device where they began.

Step 6: Instagram DMs in the browser

Instagram doesn’t make a Mac app, so there’s nothing to install or transfer: log in at instagram.com and click Messages. For an app-like window with its own Dock icon, open instagram.com in Safari and choose File > Add to Dock, which needs macOS Sonoma 14 or later (Apple). Every new Mac qualifies.

Our guide to Instagram DMs on a Mac covers voice messages, calls and other options.

Step 7: Set up notifications and Focus

Apps ask for permission to send notifications when you first open them, and it’s easy to click through. Check them once everything is set up:

1. Open System Settings > Notifications.
2. Under Application Notifications, click Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram in turn.
3. Pick an alert style and whether alerts show on the desktop, in Notification Center or on the Lock Screen (Apple).

If you use Focus, Apple says you can keep it up to date across your Apple devices, so a Focus you set on one device can silence messages on another. Check it if the Mac stays quiet when you expect an alert.

Optional: all your chats in one window

Once each app works on its own, you may find yourself switching between four of them all day. A unified inbox puts them in one list. Tera Chat for Mac (our app) is free and brings iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Tinder into one inbox, with AI that can draft replies in your own texting style if you set it up.

How it connects, so you know what you’re agreeing to:

• iMessage: Tera Chat reads the Messages history on your Mac, which needs Full Disk Access, and sends through the Messages app. That means it shows what Messages on your Mac has, so finish Step 2 first. Our explainer on Full Disk Access says what the permission means and how to revoke it.
• WhatsApp: you pair it like WhatsApp Web, by scanning a QR code. It’s not an official WhatsApp app, and WhatsApp’s Help Center warns that linking your account to unofficial apps could get it temporarily or permanently banned, so weigh that before you connect.
• Telegram: you sign in to Telegram’s web app in a private browser window, which needs Google Chrome, Brave or Microsoft Edge installed.
• Instagram: you sign in on Instagram’s own login page inside Tera Chat.

Each app starts syncing as soon as you connect it, and nothing is sent unless you send it. Tera Chat needs a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or newer) running macOS 15 or later, and has no iPhone, Windows or web version. Its requirements don’t cover the MacBook Neo’s A18 Pro chip, so don’t count on it there.

Don’t forget the old Mac

If you’re selling or giving away the old Mac, remove it from your accounts first:

• iMessage: on the old Mac, choose Messages > Settings > iMessage > Sign Out.
• WhatsApp: on your phone, open Linked devices, tap the old Mac and choose Log out.
• Telegram: end the old Mac’s session from the list of active sessions in Telegram on your phone.

Your first-hour checklist

1. Sign in to Messages with the same Apple Account as your iPhone.
2. Turn on Messages in iCloud on the Mac (and the iPhone), set Keep messages to Forever, and leave it to sync on power and Wi-Fi.
3. Turn on Text Message Forwarding for the Mac on your iPhone.
4. Install WhatsApp and scan the QR code from your phone.
5. Install Telegram for macOS or Telegram Desktop and sign in.
6. Add instagram.com to the Dock from Safari.
7. Check notifications in System Settings.

For an overview of which apps run natively on a Mac and which are web-only, see the best messaging apps for Mac.