Remove iMessages from local iPad storage ONLY

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DaveR2000 Author

Level 1

11 points

Remove iMessages from local iPad storage ONLY

I have limited storage on my iPad and I never use it for iMessage so I have disabled the feature. Unfortunately this does not delete any of the messages from the device. If iMessage is disabled then I see no reason for it to occupy several GB of space on the device.

I have read may posts on this forum and it appears that people have been asking this for about 7 years without any resolutions.

People have suggested to disconnect from wifi then manually delete every conversation before disabling iMessage and turning wifi back on. I can see how this could work but it would take a long time and if I changed my mind in the future and reconnected it, would the iPad then tell iCloud to delete everything from my iPhone?

iPad (5th gen) Wi-Fi, Cellular

Posted on Mar 14, 2021 11:44 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Sheree_P

Community Specialist

Mar 19, 2021 7:11 AM in response to DaveR2000

Hey DaveR2000,

Since Messages in iCloud is enabled on your iPhone, those messages are available on any other device that uses the same Apple ID and has Messages in iCloud enabled. If you have other devices enabled, the messages on those devices will be available on the iPhone, etc.

Once Messages in iCloud is disabled on the iPad, those messages are included in an iCloud backup: What does iCloud back up? instead of the Messages in iCloud: Use Messages in iCloud. When you enable Messages in iCloud on your iPad, the data from the iPhone that has been stored in Messages in iCloud will be available on the iPad, however the iPad messages will not be available to the iPhone because they weren't being stored to Messages in iCloud. That means the messages that are on your iPhone and stored in Messages in iCloud will not be removed.

If you have further questions or concerns, we suggest contacting Apple Support here: Get Support.

Regards.

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Answer 2

DaveR2000 Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 18, 2021 9:54 AM in response to barberlives123

Hi barberlives123,

Thank you for your response but I am not really sure what you mean by messages not being there.

My iPhone has iMessages in the cloud turned on so all of the messages will be backed up on that.

My only concern with the suggested answer is that if I ever turned iMessages in the cloud on my iPad back on, would it delete the messages from the cloud and from my iPhone?

Thanks

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Answer 3

i_rina

Community Specialist

Mar 16, 2021 9:32 AM in response to DaveR2000

Hi richardfromcastle rock,

We see that you're wanting to delete messages from phone storage. For information on deleting messages check out this link: Delete messages on iPhone. If you're also wanting to delete the messages that are in iCloud, review this article: How to delete messages in iCloud. If you delete the messages from iCloud, they will also delete from any devices you use.

Take care.

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Answer 4

DaveR2000 Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 17, 2021 5:23 AM in response to i_rina

Hi i_rina,

I am not sure if this message was put on the wrong conversation, who is richardfromcastle rock?

Can I check that I am understanding this correctly please?

I should:

Turn iMessage back on

Go to Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud

Make sure Messages is turned off

Delete each conversion 1 at a time

Turn iMessage back off

Is it safe to say that if I decided to turn on iMessage back on at a future date then this will not remove any existing messages from iCloud?

Thanks in advance

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Answer 5

Mar 18, 2021 7:19 AM in response to DaveR2000

Hi DaveR2000,

We apologize for entering the incorrect name. Once you turn off Messages in iCloud, the messages are now included in the iCloud backup. If you later turn Messages in iCloud back on, the messages will not be there.

Take care.

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Remove iMessages from local iPad storage ONLY

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