Photos in iMessage disappeared after ios13 update

There is no fix - ive tried new hardware; install as new, etc. I was hoping iOS 14 and new phones would address, but it has not.

The fix has to come from Apple backend.

I’ve just installed the iOS 13 update and I was excited to see the new features, only to discover that all of my photos have disappeared. The strange thing about it

is that the names of all of my albums are still there, but none of my photos, which to me, means I should be able to get them back. My photos are very important to me... please help.

I just updated to iOS 13 today. This same issue happened to me. I went into iMessage, tapped the i to view shared photos, and in each conversation I have about 3-4 photos left. The rest have disappeared. Gone. Any solution yet?

I am experiencing the same: After the update to iOS 13.0, photos sent and received under iOS 12.x are not present under "info" in imessage (but they are if I scroll up through the message history). If I send or receive a photo after the update, they are present in the "info" section. Is this a known bug? Known fix?

I have the same problem. Recently updated to 13.1.2 and all photos in all Messages conversations are gone from the details screen, but still display in the conversation. When I tap, "Download" as you suggest above, it initially shows, "Downloading", but then disappears and not only do my photos NOT display, the option to download them disappears.

Apple - what the heck is going on? I thought this problem was supposed to be fixed with 13.1.1! I didn't have this problem until I updated to 13.1.2.

Has anyone tried resetting/erasing their phone and then restoring from backup? I have been reluctant to try this as a last resort. I thought each iOS 13 update might resolve this issue, but it hasn't. Wondering if possibly now that my phone is running 13.1.2 it might be worth a try. No other method has worked.

Same problem here. Touching "info" in a conversation takes me to details with PHOTOS at the bottom. But when I touch "See All Photos" it shows one or two and does not offer the ability to download more. Some conversations show no photos or even have the PHOTOS option at the bottom. If I go to the same conversation on my Mac - often the photos are there. But some conversations have no photos either. Some conversation don't even show the entire history. It is very inconsistent across my iPhone, Mac and MacBook Pro.

I feel your pain. If I scroll up a conversation on my phone it shows all the photo's, but like you stated they are not indexed in the view after hitting info.

wgile it was first restoring it showed how many items were in the cloud to download but when it was done with the restore the ability to download had disappeared Mine are however on my Mac and iPad the way they are supposed to be so I know they are there, but Apple needs a toggle at least to turn off and on messages so it repopulates. I have spent way to much time on with Apple Sr Techs etc and am sick of this but really wish someone had a fix for it.

I had it escalated two weeks ago and a Sr Advisor that touches base w/me 3 times a week. They know we are having problems but won't admit to it being widespread. They also offer not a single suggestion. Has anyone tried going to messages then send and receive and then tap on your apple id then says sign out of imassegas. I am to afraid to try

I’m pretty mad about this whole situation. I got a new iPhone 7 Plus and backed it up and I have no access to 10GB of photos and 5GB of videos because of this app issue. I know it’s still there based on the storage. However, I can’t access it due to “info” not showing any past attachments. I would have to manually scroll for hours upon hours just to get to some things. I really did not find out much or get any real solutions from Apple support. For the price of iCloud and the iPhone I am not sure it is worth keeping when such a vital feature of the app is not being fixed for those of us who need to access old attachments without too much hassle.

Hi. I understand why you’d be upset. Make sure you call Apple support and let them know about the trouble you’re having. I think if everyone reports this then possibly something can be done. I’m having similar issues as you.

I lost any data that was in apps not cover by iCloud, Dropbox, etc. Not gonna lie... mostly just lost apps I don't use and any of their associated data. I've been rolling my backup from iPhone to iPhone for a long time.

iPhone 4 > 4S > 5 > 5S > 6 > 6S > 6S Plus > 7 Plus > X > XS > 11 Pro. Likely time for a fresh start... and yes I am a sucker for upgrading.

I pay for extra iCloud storage (it's really not that costly in the grand scheme of things). I got everything I really care about back: photos, messages, emails, calendar items. The rest was stored on other cloud services. The pain was just setting up all my services from scratch, logging in, etc. I forgot to take a screenshot of how my screens were arranged. It's funny how much muscle memory you build based on where apps land on screens. Also had to reset up my Apple Watch and Heath, but not really a big deal.

I did submit a request to Apple about a larger scale export option for photos out of Messages app. I know you can do it one by one or multiple at a time, but it would sure be nice to back it all up in one big export to a file or something.

I’m furious. Not only did I have thousands of photos deleted from my iMessage chats, but also years worth of text messages. Yes, I’ve had “keep messages forever” selected since the beginning. I have several devices that use the same Apple account, and after a recent update, all of these messages & more have disappeared completely. If I scroll through the message chain, messages before random dates are gone. I would like to know what the **** happened to iMessages with my family that have been on my devices dating back to 2011 & now they won’t even go back past 2018. Some stop in 2019. I can’t even begin to explain how incredibly amazed I am that Apple put out a software update that erased my messages, photos, & more. If I don’t get them back, they may have just permanently lost an Apple user forever. I didn’t stick with Apple all of these years to have my data be lost. Better yet, one of my other devices has messages from earlier in the message chain, but has significant gaps or “time jumps” to later in the message chain. Infuriated doesn’t come close to describing the level of anger in feeling.

Also, this does not appear to be affecting data in the cloud. I can see the attachments, conversations on my Mac. Meaning the data is in the cloud. I don’t see any loss of actual chat messages and the attachments are available in the conversation threads on the iPhone. This specifically seems to affect the “info pane” only. If you are missing iCloud data. Then maybe you did something to cause that?

Also keep in mind, the cloud is not a reliable “backup”. It’s great should your phone explode and to get back up and running in no time but if you have messages in the cloud enabled. They are not backed up. If you accidentally delete a message it’s gone and that’s that. You need to have an actual iTunes backup just in case and even in that case who knows what will happen.

Needless to say I have suggested it many times to Apple but it goes unnoticed. Conversations in the Messages app need to have a “lock” feature that prevents accidental deletion or at least a way to recover a thread that has been deleted much like when deleting a photo in the photos app. These should be key features. No idea why they can’t implement them they are very basic features to implement.

Once again, IF YOU HAVE A ISSUE, REPORT IT. They won’t know otherwise.

I understand the anger and frustration. I also upgraded to 2TB to be sure. I literally didn’t have this problem with my other iPhone 7 Plus. I sent the iPhone 7 Plus in for insurance purposes (wiped it and everything) and received the new iPhone 7 Plus only for this to happen when I backed it up. I honestly cried out of frustration over this. I have important messages and photos (sentimental) I now have no access to. I NEVER had an issue with iPhones until this new software update. I will be switching to something else as well and won’t recommend Apple products anymore the way I have. I have always talked them up but I am likely done now. I was on support chat for two hours last night (with a senior advisor, who was very nice) but they could not help so they are having an advisor call me today. They said something about an engineering ticket. I sent screenshots to show that my phone storage is not aligning with iCloud and iCloud is not syncing messages properly/indexing. I will see what they have to say and if there is any solution in sight or they plan on fixing this. This is simply unacceptable considering the prices of their products and additional monthly pay for iCloud. Make sure you call and make your issue/concerns known.