Deleted messages, iCloud messages on.

It won’t. As soon as you delete it it is gone for good. iCloud messages simply keeps messages in sync across devices. When you delete a message, you delete it in iCloud and it is gone. Furthermore, when you use iCloud with messages, they are not included in your backup.

allthatglittersisgold wrote:

So there is no way to view messages "stored" in iCloud?!

No. iCloud is simply a syncing service. Apple’s terminology is confusing and a little bit misleading in my opinion. The messages are stored there insofar was they are accessible on all other devices as long as you enable messages with iCloud in Settings>Your Name>iCloud>Apps Using iCloud>Messages>On. If you delete a message on your phone it is deleted in iCloud. That is not what I would consider being stored somewhere.

I want to set up my new iPhone without bringing my messages over, but I still need to be able to access those "stored" messages that I PAY for storage for....what will happen if I set up my iPhone as new without transferring messages? Will the "stored" messages or backups in general from my previous iPhone be replaced by backups from my new iPhone and erase everything?!

if you use Messages with iCloud like I described above, they are not stored in the backup. Any service or app that you use with iCloud, meaning any of the items that you enable in Settings>Your Name>iCloud>Apps Using iCloud, are not stored into he backup. Those items are “stored” in iCloud. So if you restore a backup, the messages will not reappear in that backup.

You can restore the backup with out flipping the switch to sync message with iCloud again, but you will not have access to those messages anymore unless you flip the switch to sync Messages with iCloud.

I do not sync messages with iCloud. I have a Mac and all apple devices so I can enable text message forwarding which keeps all of my text messages in sync across my devices without having to enable messages with iCloud. In addition to that, I include my texts messages in my backups.

So there is no way to view messages "stored" in iCloud?! I want to set up my new iPhone without bringing my messages over, but I still need to be able to access those "stored" messages that I PAY for storage for....what will happen if I set up my iPhone as new without transferring messages? Will the "stored" messages or backups in general from my previous iPhone be replaced by backups from my new iPhone and erase everything?!

Thank you so much for your detailed, informative response! I completely agree that the terminology used regarding iCloud is misleading in my opinion as well...unfortunate as many people lose important data.

I will definitely be changing a lot of settings and backup methods once I get everything figured out before finally switching to my new phone (struggling to do this transfer without losing data lol).

As for messages, I am hoping to find a reliable third party application or something to actually back up messages and access at any time, but skeptical of most applications I have researched. I don't understand why messages are encrypted in iCloud, but Files are not...that truly blows my mind as one would think Files would contain much more sensitive data for many people than messages...

Anyways, sorry for the rant. Once again, thanks for the helpful information!! Have a great day.

It would be very helpful if this could be more detailed so that way we all know exactly what it is that we are paying, i too thought that is basically a storage locker not a place holder between multiple apple devices.