How to disconnect iPhone Messages from Mac

Table of Contents Show

1. How to Disconnect an iPhone From Finder on a Mac
2. How to Disconnect a Mac From an iPhone Personal Hotspot
3. How to Disconnect Bluetooth Pairing Between iPhone and Mac
4. How to Disconnect AirDrop Between an iPhone and Mac
5. How to Stop iCloud Syncing Between an iPhone and Mac
6. How to Disconnect Handoff Between an iPhone and Mac
7. How to Stop Getting iPhone Text Messages on a Mac
8. How to Disconnect Incoming iPhone Calls on a Mac
9. How to Remove an iPhone From the Apple ID on a Mac
You’ve Disconnected From Just About Everything
How do I Unsync my iPhone Messages from my Mac?

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All of the newest versions of macOS allow you to send and receive iMessages, or messages, from your computer, rather than your phone. While this is certainly a novel feature, it can be quite distracting and, unfortunately, the feature is enabled by default. After days of lost productivity as a result of receiving inane messages while programming, I decided to disable it. It's best to disable it from your computer so that you can still utilize iMessage's functionality within your iOS device.

tl;dr; Disable iMessage on your Mac without disabling it on your phone. This works for both messages in macOS and iMessage on your Mac.

Other annoyances to disable

Looking to disable other annoyances on your Mac? Check out our guide on disabling the Mac touchbar, disabling the volume control sound, and disabling the Mac empty trash warning.

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On your Mac computer:

Open a Finder window.
Go to Applications.
Find your Messages app.

Conversely, you can use Spotlight search. Just search for "Messages."

From the Messages app on your Mac, you can make adjustments to how your iMessages and messages function and interact between your iPhone and Mac.

In the "Messages" screen, select iMessage from the menu bar.

Other things you can do in the iMessage screen is sign in and out of your Apple ID, change the phone number for your iMessages, choose to send read receipts for iMessages, and of course, disable iMessages completely.

Under your Apple ID, uncheck "Enable Messages in iCloud".

Finally, open the Notifications & Focus pane in System Preferences. Select Messages from the sidebar and toggle "Allow Notifications" to the off position.

That's it!

Now, you'll no longer receive message and iMessage pop-ups on your computer. All your messages, however, will still show up on your iPhone or Apple watch.

Hide Alerts in iMessage for a certain contact or number

If instead you just need to stop alerts for a certain number (maybe a particularly annoying one), then you can simply:

Right-click the person's number in your Messages app.
Select Get Info.
Check Hide Alerts.

Your Mac has a "feature" that will put time machine backups on your local disk if your primary Time Machine drive isn't available.

If you use an iPhone alongside your Mac, both devices almost always communicate with each other in one way or another. That’s what makes the Apple ecosystem so seamless and unique.

But if you want to disconnect your iPhone from a Mac, there are lots of different ways to do it. We’ll get into all of them below.

1. How to Disconnect an iPhone From Finder on a Mac

If you want to stop your iPhone from showing up in Finder on a Mac, simply disconnecting it from the USB cable should suffice. But if that doesn’t help, you’ve probably configured Finder to detect the iOS device over Wi-Fi.

To fully eject your iPhone from Mac, start by selecting your iPhone in Finder’s sidebar. Then, scroll down to the Options section and uncheck the box next to Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi.

Finder app showing iPhone-related options.

If you don’t own the Mac, you can choose to revoke the permissions you initially gave when connecting your iPhone to it. To do that, open the iPhone’s Settings app and go to General > Reset. Follow that by tapping Reset Location and Privacy.

2. How to Disconnect a Mac From an iPhone Personal Hotspot

The iPhone’s Personal Hotspot functionality allows your Mac quick access to the internet without another Wi-Fi network. But if you want to disconnect from it, clicking your iPhone on the Mac’s Wi-Fi menu or picking a different hotspot altogether should do the trick.

Additionally, you may want to stop the Mac from asking you to connect to your iPhone all the time. To do that, open the Apple menu and go to System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi. Then, uncheck the box next to Ask to join Personal Hotspots. You can still join it via the Wi-Fi menu.

The Mac's Wi-Fi menu.

You can also forbid devices (such as a Mac you don’t own) from joining your iPhone’s Personal Hotspot. On your iPhone, head over to Settings > Personal Hotspot and turn off the switch next to Allow Others to Join.

3. How to Disconnect Bluetooth Pairing Between iPhone and Mac

If you’ve paired your iPhone to a Mac over Bluetooth (which is another way to get a Mac online), you can disconnect the two devices by opening the Mac’s Control Center, expanding the Bluetooth control, and clicking on your iPhone.

If you want to permanently disconnect the Bluetooth pairing between these devices, open the Mac’s Apple menu, select System Preferences, and select Bluetooth. Follow that by clicking the X-shaped icon next to your iPhone. Then, select Remove.

Mac's Bluetooth devices screen showing iPhone.

Alternatively, you can remove the Mac from your iPhone’s list of paired Bluetooth devices. To do that, go to Settings > Bluetooth, and tap the Info icon next to the Mac. Next, tap Forget This Device.

4. How to Disconnect AirDrop Between an iPhone and Mac

If you want to stop your iPhone from showing up as an AirDrop location on your Mac, you must disable AirDrop on your iOS device. To do that, open the iPhone’s Settings app, go to General > AirDrop, and select Receiving Off. However, that’ll also stop the iPhone from receiving files via AirDrop from other devices.

Conversely, you can stop your Mac from appearing in AirDrop on the iPhone. Simply open the Finder app, select AirDrop on the sidebar, and set Allow me to be discovered by: to No One.

Finder app on Mac showing AirDrop screen.

If one of the devices doesn’t belong to you, setting AirDrop to Contacts Only on your iPhone or Mac and removing any contact info related to the other device from the Contacts app should stop it from appearing in AirDrop.

5. How to Stop iCloud Syncing Between an iPhone and Mac

If you want to stop your Mac from syncing features and data such as photos, contacts, and calendar events with your iPhone and other Apple devices, open the Apple menu and go to System Preferences > Apple ID. Follow that by unchecking the boxes next to the services you don’t want—Photos, Contacts, Calendar, and so on.

The Mac's Apple ID screen showing iCloud services.

Or, you can stop your iPhone from syncing data to your Mac (and other devices linked to your Apple ID). To do that, open the Settings app, go to Apple ID > iCloud, and turn off the switches next to the services you want to disable.

6. How to Disconnect Handoff Between an iPhone and Mac

Handoff can be incredibly useful when you want to continue your activity from iPhone to Mac and vice versa. But those constant visual cues on the Dock can be a distraction.

If you want to disable Handoff on your Mac, go to System Preferences > General and uncheck the box next to Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices. However, keep in mind that turning off Handoff also disables Universal Clipboard between the iPhone and Mac.

General settings screen on a Mac.

If you still want to use Handoff on the Mac, but just want to stop prompts from your iPhone, open the iOS device’s Settings app and go to General > AirPlay & Handoff. Follow that by disabling the switch next to Handoff.

7. How to Stop Getting iPhone Text Messages on a Mac

By default, your Mac receives both text and iMessage replies intended for your connected iPhone. If you want to stop that, bring up the Messages app on the Mac, open Preferences, switch to the iMessage tab, and uncheck the boxes next to any phone numbers.

You can also disable any email addresses (such as the one related to your Apple ID).

The Preferences screen on the Mac's Messages app.

Alternatively, you can prevent your Mac from sending and receiving text messages via your iPhone. Go to Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding and turn off the switch next to the Mac.

8. How to Disconnect Incoming iPhone Calls on a Mac

Does your Mac keep bugging you about incoming phone and FaceTime calls from your iPhone? To prevent that, open the FaceTime app and bring up its Preferences pane. Then, switch to the Settings tab and uncheck Calls From iPhone.

FaceTime Preferences screen on Mac.

Or, you can configure your iPhone to stop it from transmitting incoming calls to your Mac. Open the Settings app and tap Phone > Calls on Other Devices. Follow by disabling the switch next to the Mac.

9. How to Remove an iPhone From the Apple ID on a Mac

Your iPhone and Mac will remain always linked as long as they use the same Apple ID. If you want to unlink iPhone from Mac completely, you must sign out of the Apple ID on at least one device.

You can find the option to do that under System Preferences > Apple ID on a Mac or under Settings > Apple ID on the iPhone.

If you don’t have your iPhone with you at the moment, you can disconnect it from your Apple ID using your Mac. Under System Preferences > Apple ID, pick your iOS device on the sidebar and select Remove from account.

Linked Apple ID devices on the Mac.

Similarly, you can remove a Mac using your iPhone by heading over to Settings > [Your Name]. Then, select the macOS device and tap Remove from account.

You’ve Disconnected From Just About Everything

The pointers above should have helped you disconnect your iPhone from a Mac. If you ended up going all the way by removing either device from your Apple ID, you might want to follow by setting it up with a completely new iCloud account.