How to Sign Out of iMessages on Mac

Are you considering signing out of iMessage on Mac? If you frequently lend your Mac to your family and friends, signing out of iMessage would be a better idea for your privacy. Also, you may be looking for options to sign out of your iMessage to log in with a different Apple ID.

Regardless of the reason, if you’re trying to figure out how to log out of iMessage on a Mac, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we have given a detailed guide that will walk you through logging out of iMessage on your Mac.

How to Sign Out of iMessage on Mac?

You can temporarily sign out of Mac iMessage by either disabling the iMessage account or the iCloud iMessage Sync. If you want to sign out for good, you can also permanently sign out from the iMessage. This article references macOS Monterey, so the steps may differ slightly in other macOS systems.

Temporarily Sign Out from iMessage

If you are lending your Mac to someone for some hours, you may want to disable the iMessage app temporarily. When you temporarily sign out of iMessage, you can quickly sign in later and save the message history on your Mac. 

Follow the steps below to temporarily sign out of the iMessage by disabling your iMessage Account or iCloud iMessage Sync.

Disable iMessage Account

The iMessage account must have an Apple ID or phone number in order to work. So you can temporarily sign out from iMessage by disabling the iMessage account.

Follow the below steps to disable the iMessage Account on Mac.

1. Open iMessage.
2. Tap on the Messages.
3. Press Preferences.
   
4. Go to the iMessage section.
5. Uncheck the iMessage account.
   

Disable iCloud iMessage Sync

If you share an Apple ID with your other device, iCloud will automatically sync your texts from iMessage. You can disable the iCloud iMessage sync to separate it from your Mac iMessages to your iPhone iMessage. You can disable the iCloud iMessage Sync on either your Mac or iPhone.

Refer to the steps below to disable iCloud iMessage sync on Mac and iPhone.

On Mac

1. Open the iMessage app.
2. Click on the Messages menu.
3. Go to Preferences.
   
4. Select the iMessage section.
5. Untick the Enable messages in iCloud option.
   
6. Click on the Disable This Device option.
   

On iPhone

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Messages.
   
3. Tap on the Send & Receive.
   
4. Under YOU CAN RECEIVE IMESSAGES TO AND REPLY FROM section, tap and untick the Apple ID account.
5. Under START NEW CONVERSATIONS FROM section, only tick your iPhone number. Tap and untick other Apple ID.
   

Permanently Sign Out from iMessage

If you constantly share your Mac with someone or are looking to sell your Mac, you may want to sign out of Message to maintain privacy permanently. You can sign out of iMessage by logging out of your Apple ID from iMessage. Refer to the steps below to permanently Sign Out from iMessage:

1. Launch the iMessage app.
2. Tap on the Message in the menu bar.
3. Click on Preferences.
   
4. Go to the iMessage section.
5. Click on the Sign Out option.
   
6. Press on the Sign Out option in the confirmation box.
   

How to Sign Out from the Greyed Out Account?

Sometimes, when you try to sign out of Mac, you may see the whole iMessage section greyed out. This can happen due to an outdated macOS. However, other in-app issues may cause trigger this. In such a scenario, you can try some of the workarounds mentioned to sign out of the iMessages.

Update your macOS

New software updates on macOS come up with newer features and push fixes for bugs from the previous installation. If you have not updated your Mac, this can cause the iMessage section to be greyed out. 

To fix this, you can try updating your Mac. Then you can follow the above steps to either permanently or temporarily sign out from iMessage on Mac.

To update your Mac, follow the steps below.

1. Click on the Apple icon on the menu bar.
2. Go to System Preferences.
   
3. Click on Software Update.
   
4. Press on the Update Now or Upgrade Now option.
   
5. Type in your Mac password and press Enter key,

Use Safe Mode

You can also use Safe Mode on Mac to sign out from iMessage. When you boot your Mac into safe mode, only the essential system software and data are enabled. Other login add-ins, extensions, and programs that could be interfering with iMessage on preference will be deactivated. 

Safe mode allows you to access the iMessage section easily by blocking the cause of the greyed-out issue. To use safe mode, follow the steps below.

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Turn On the Mac while pressing the Shift key on the keyboard. 
3. Once your Mac is in safe mode, go to the iMessage settings and try signing out of the iMessage by following either the Temporary or Permanent method mentioned above.