Photos in iMessage disappeared after ios13 update

I have everything in iCloud (supposedly), as it shows 168 GB (I pay for extra) so I am hoping that would work but I am scared. I know how to back up pictures and videos to a flash drive although it will take a very long time (128 GB flash drive) and I think I can sync safari info and notes to my Mac at least. I just hope the cloud would work...

I initially tried an iOS restore from my Mac and then a backup restore from iCloud. This did not fix the indexing issue for me....but it was prior to 13.2.3 which includes the indexing bug fix. I feel like the main issue was the OTA iOS updates/restore not fixing the underlying issue....where as the local download of iOS on my Mac might have been the trick. Wish I had better answers for you but whatever is in the cloud should not be lost.

Hello,

I have said this too many times.

YOU MUST RESTORE TO THE LATEST IOS 13.2.3, IF YOU DO A OVER THE AIR UPDATE YOUR INDEXING PROBLEM WILL NOT BE FIXED.

YOU MUST RESTORE AND REINSTALL THE WHOLE 13.2.3 OS.

If you are a noob like the other guy who has been complaining for the past 14 pages about his lack of photos on the info tab but to afraid to restore in fear he is going to "lose" data and he cannot do a offline backup. Forget about it and write in your diary, I'm sick of hearing about crying and whining with no actions to actually try and remedy the issue. If you have your data in the cloud, RESTORE your device or do a offline backup.

That's it that's all.

Solution: RESTORE your ios, that's it. Wait 24 hours for data to download and indexing will start after all data is re-downloaded. This will take 2 days.

It’s great that you’ve provided a solution but don’t think it’s necessary to be rude. Personally, I’m frustrated because Apple created this issue and they should be able to fix it without anyone having to take these steps.

Yes, that is correct.

at this point I’m not even sure if it’s an indexing issue anymore?

it seems like the phone isn’t downloading all data from iCloud hence ALL your data being indexed.

seems like indexing is working for what is downloaded but the phone isn’t downloading all data. I was reading Catalina for Mac has iCloud issues as well.

anyone having these issues can you confirm if your iCloud storage (settings - iCloud - iCloud storage) matches your phone storage (settings - general- phone storage) under the messages section?

when ever I disable “messages” in the iCloud settings I see a message saying “all messages have not downloaded”.

If you are having this issue I suggest we all open a ticket. Also, I know it may be a long shot but email Tim. Someone needs to be reading his email somewhere. We need to bring this to someones attention. Clearly this is affecting many people 300+ and that’s only the ones that come to this forum. If you don’t know his email google it. It’s not that hard to find. Apple publicizes it in their Apple watch promos.

we are all paying top dollar for iCloud service and the amount of developers Apple has bugs like this are unacceptable and when they affect our data and pay services they need to be rectified fast.

My iCloud does not match storage in settings. It also says “messages have not finished downloading to this phone.” Another way to check if your photos and videos have actually downloaded to your phone is to plug it in and see what it says on the photo app on your Mac. The photo app on the computer shows I have way less than what my phone shows me. My flash drive also tells me photos and videos are “in the cloud” rather than on my phone. This is a giant shitstorm.

My photos in my messages has disappeared and when i try to download them back from iCloud it just says downloading but it doesn’t. So i updated to ios13.2.3 and now its not even giving me the option to download from iCloud anymore. Whats is going on? Is my photos gone because I didn’t delete and i need them back

If you didn’t explicitly delete anything, they are still in the cloud.

you may need to restore to 13.2.3 then wait. It did take 2 days and a reboot for mine to come back.

do you see any messages about indexing?

Who ever is the bozo that selected “click the download button” at the bottom of the info window and made this a “Apple Recommended” solution needs to be fired.

It’s like a kindergarten answer that solves nothing. Anyone who didn’t see their photos populate and saw a “DOWNLOAD” button where they should be obviously clicked the download button first before scouring the internet for reasons why their photos didn’t show up which led them here.

My proper answer should be made as the resolution to this whole entire thread of headache:

RESTORE 12.2.3

WAIT 24 HOURS.

STILL NOTHING? REBOOT.

IF STILL NOTHING? WAIT ANOTHER 24 HOURS

STILL NOTHING? FACTORY RESET TO DEFAULTS AND START OVER.

i've been told by an apply person this morning, as i was having this issue. apparently in iOS13 hitting the 'i' button then scrolling through photos isnt a feature anymore. it will only show the recent. not sure if you fixed the issue or not by now. but if you have fixed it how ?

This is false.

to fix this issue, back up your phone and use a computer to restore the operating system to13.2.3 then out your backup back on.

it will take 24 hours to fully index all your photos.

I believe this was the resolution as this thread has become pretty quiet.

Haven’t several people stated that this did not resolve the issue? Personally, I just gave up and am considering going back to Android. Apple Support via chat was useless. I’m tired of having so many problems with an $800 phone.

Were you able to download the images from iCloud? When I try downloading them, nothing appears. Where do the images go? Doesn’t seem to return to my iMessages nor the photos app...Then the option/link to “Download images” disappears...

Just spoke with a senior rep at apple. He stated it’s a known issue and they are working on a new update to resort photos that are lost in the “see all” as well as the links. He stated there is no short fix or work around for this. He said restoring it will not work. We have to wait until the new update is out and hopefully that fully restores everything. I know this isn’t good new but at least there is an answer right?

It’s a start...Hopefully, the next update addresses this issue and is able to restore all photos. Keeping my fingers crossed that they do find a solution because I lost some important things with that previous iOS flaw...