Message app only shows phone number

[DThompson55]

Hi - I've lived with this for years and thought this is just how it works. The messages app on macOS pops up whenever I get an SMS on my iPhone, which is good. But it only shows the contact number of the person messaging me, whereas on the iPhone it shows the person's name. All of my contacts are in Google contacts, or actually I have a very small number of contacts in my macOS contacts app. Do I need to somehow migrate or copy my google contacts into the macOS contacts app for people's names to show up in messages app? I don't really want my contacts in two separate places if I don't need to.
[automerge]1583360503[/automerge]
I might have solved it. I exported my google contacts to a vcf file, then I had to edit out any leading 1's from phone numbers. Then I imported that into my contacts app.

 

[satcomer]

Depends because it will only show a number unless you have the number info in your Contacts! If Contacts can’t find the number that means you haven‘t put the number in any Contact!

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Rather than import your Google contacts, you could have added your Google account to System Preferences > Internet Accounts, and then selected the features you want to sync with Apple's apps (Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Notes).

All those apps are designed to sync with cloud-based/server-based "mail" accounts (nearly all mail accounts include contacts, and most also include notes and calendars). You can have multiple accounts configured - all contacts (mail, calendars, notes) from those services can be accessed. With some small differences, this works the same on Mac and iOS (In Mac you do it via System Preferences > Internet Accounts, on iOS you do it via Settings > Passwords & Accounts). Similarly, each app's Preferences pane (Mac) or Settings (iOS) give you the option to select which of those multiple accounts is the Default for when you create a new contact/mail message/note/calendar event).

While what you did does work, it does not update. If you add more contacts to your Google contacts (or edit them), nothing will update on the Mac. The method I outlined is nearly maintenance-free. Whether you add/edit a contact in your Gmail account via gmail.com/google.com, the Gmail or Contacts app on iOS, or the Contacts app on Mac, that update will automatically appear everywhere else.