Why aren't the names coming up when I get texts in Big Sur?

November 24, 2020 11:24 AM

Ever since Big Sur, when I get texts on my apple watch - as well as on my mac - instead of it saying who it's from (the actual contact) it just says the number. Why is the identity linked to the number no longer coming up on my phone, my watch or my computer?
posted by rileyray3000 to Technology (5 answers total)

If you go into the contact card for that person, is the number still listed?
posted by mekily at 11:26 AM on November 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

Make sure you have all your contacts accounts setup.

I see this behavior when I setup a new device but forget to login/setup my gmail contacts account. On my phone, gmail is the default contacts provider, so all added contacts go there, not iCloud. I haven't figured out an easy way to move contacts between accounts yet.
posted by stobor at 11:45 AM on November 24, 2020

I don't have an Apple Watch, but this sounds a lot like a persistent bug I've had with macOS for years now. For no clear reason, texts in the Messages app will start displaying the phone number of some persons rather than their names.

The solution seems to be to open the Contacts app and make a change to any contact—it doesn't even have to be the person whose name isn't displaying properly. Suddenly, things will "revert" to normal: all the phone numbers in Messages will go back to showing the names associated with the numbers like it did before.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 1:20 PM on November 24, 2020

Response by poster: If you go into the contact card, yes the number is still listed. It happens on multiple contacts. And on the computer and on the phone. And watch.
posted by rileyray3000 at 2:03 PM on November 24, 2020

Sometimes this happens to me when I’m signed out of iCloud.
posted by Doc_Sock at 9:09 AM on November 25, 2020