Photos in iMessage disappeared after ios13 update

And it’s crazy you’re having that issue when you have way less GB than me. But the number shouldn’t matter. iCloud always worked for me before, settings accurately showed storage, things downloaded smoothly within a day. Now, no progress even after weeks. You can say what you want in favor of Apple but I am very disappointed and almost shocked by the lack of solution/discussion I got on my end. I will call back again in a week. But if another month goes by without any help, or promise of a solution, I am completely done with Apple. This is simply unacceptable.

I am sorry to hear of all of this. You’re definitely not alone (not like that makes it any better) but it is frustrating. I have 87GB of messages in iCloud but 36 GB on my phone’s iMessages. After 20+ hours of WiFi + charger connection it has not changed one bit. It won’t go past what it’s staying at. It’s also not completely storing photos and videos on my phone even though it shows the right amount. Not indexing either. I was given a pretty useless response but will call back again in a week. I really hope you can get something done about this along with others that call in. I am dealing with some health issues and have been upset enough about this. I am trying to stay calm but all of this is unacceptable really. Their products are NOT cheap and we pay for iCloud. For whatever reason it is not syncing correctly. Let us know what you find out next time they get to talk to you.

I can’t use computer backup because mine doesn’t have enough storage. That’s why I had the cloud for all of my GB. My computer doesn’t even hold half of it.

Glad your issue was resolved though.

Apple needs to fix this issue for the rest of us before I completely switch to other products. I am not happy with the lack of answers/solutions I’ve gotten from Support. This wasn’t an issue until the newer updates. I really wish I could go back to an older iOS. I do think though, something is going on with iCloud itself too, maybe not just the software.

Pictures have come back (I think all of them) however the storage is showing incorrect under: Settings - General - IPhone Storage

I have 13GB in iCloud. However The iPhone shows only 3GB of Messages data on the actual iPhone.

when I disable ICloud Messages, iPhone storage for Messages instantly jumps to 10GB.

its closer to 13GB but still not matching what ICloud is showing for Messages.

When I disable iCloud messages I’m informed “not all messages have been downloaded”.

at this point don’t know if it’s a GUI error just displaying wrong amount of data in use or if there is actual data still stuck in the cloud

anyone else experiencing the same?

I had over 22GB of Messages in iCloud. I do not know the exact count of photos that were included, but it has to be in the thousands based on how far back some of the history goes. I don't know the entire backup time, but it was left plugged in overnight.

I also had this problem! I have 100s of pictures just gone. I used the download link and when it was done even it disappeared. Now there’s nothing. I have really important photos that I left in messages because I could quickly get to them that way. I’m really hoping this is fixed and I get my pictures back

When you did the restore from your Mac did you have messages in iCloud turned on or off in the backup? Not sure if i feel like doing this and going through the stress or waiting and hoping that Apple will finally figure it out in the next update

thx

The thing that scares me is I got a new phone and did a fresh restore and still had no indexing. My photos are in the thread so I know they are there. My restore was from the cloud vs iTunes. Just waiting for the engineers to come up with a fix before I try my 10th restore but first from my Mac. This has been an unnecessary obsession for me to find a fix

thanks for your advice. May try with a spare phone tomorrow from my IT Dept

Has Apple Support given you anymore information? Have you sent in both iPhone and iCloud diagnostics?

I feel the same as you. I am scared about trying a restore - scared of things getting even worse. I got a new phone and updated (not hooked up to iTunes) and it was set up as new and everything, and didn’t work right. I haven’t done a restore from a computer but am a bit hesitant.

Wow. I am calling back in a week or so. I was just told to “wait” and that’s it. Very disappointing. Doesn’t look like they care or know how to fix the issue even though it’s someone’s fault. Never an issue before with iOS. I am afraid of making things worse. I don’t want to lose what I do have.

There’s no need for an attitude. I do have 13.2.2. However, it was an over the air update. My new phone was also an OTA update as well when the problem started. I never said I wouldn’t do a restore. However, I have the right to be concerned about losing further things that did actually download. I’ve read another thread where this issue happened in 2018 and a restore actually made someone’s problem worse.

As far as the inaccurate storage display goes, is Apple aware of this issue? I do have to wonder how much data is actually on the phone and how much isn’t, since there are inaccurate readings. Not only that, my phone does not show all photos/videos when hooked up to a computer, meaning, the photos app on the phone isn’t properly storing photos and videos on my phone either, even though I can see them all on my phone’s app. Indexing isn’t the only issue. Do I want it fixed? Of course, but these other things are concerning as well.

Thanks for all of the info though on the fix you provided. Hopefully it helps everyone on here reading about this.

Hello, I posted earlier about my situation on this. I do NOT use iCloud for anything, can I still maintain all my texts and images/videos if I restore with a backup? Will the restore fix the indexing issue? I just don't want to lose any data.

Brother I want to sincerely thank you for your insistence that the only way to solve this problem is to follow your steps. I have had no less than a months worth of obsessively searching the internet for a workaround, have had at least 15 hours of Sr Level Apple Techs, sent in diagnostics multiple times, videos, etc and not one of those experts had a clue. I had previously done 9 separate restore downloads OTA, and finally today bit the bullet and followed your directions and I am over half the way back to where it is supposed to be. I honestly won't know what to do with myself now that this nightmare has ended. I do have a question or two that maybe you can help me with: I did a hard reset during the restore as my email was loading slowly which caused the counter in my photo app to go from showing me exactly how many more photos needed to be downloaded from the cloud, (even though they already were downloaded full version from the backup from the mac) but now it says restoring from iCloud instead of the counter. I don't want to keep doing hard resets so maybe that is just synching everything. I will give it overnight but all of my photos all 54000 are on the phone in full originals so not understanding why it says restoring from iCloud. Lastly, I noticed this on a few threads in the photos back in messages some messages in the "I" info tab show photos with a timer on them like they are a video but they are a still photo. Aside from that, I just wanted to say thank you very much!

Any clue who it says restoring from iCloud in photos vs showing the counter of the photos being downloaded?

Also any idea why in messages some photos in "I" have a time stamp on them when they are not live or a video?

They did index, thank you again. Still waiting for photos to restore from iCloud. Been 30 hours so far. Also have weird time stamp on some index photos like they are videos or live photos but they are not