Why can't I delete text messages on iPhone

That is not the same thing. What we want back is deleting all the comments in the thread, but retaining the thread. This was done by pressing a bubble > More > Delete All in the top left. But Delete All is gone in iOS 15. Very frustrating. If I delete the whole group chat thread in the list, then I can not get back in the chat. Someone has to add me back in.

Ok put me down as another annoyed user who is missing this iOS feature. I was on iOS 14.8.x last night, got the iOS 15.1 update as a stealth update during the night (I'm pretty close to turning these sneaky automatic updates off) and in the morning I can no longer clear out a text group. Apple wake up and stop removing useful features. This stinks of an omission during an iMessage refactor. Bring this feature back please.

Ok, thanks, I realized that after posting.

I did post it in feedback after chatting with Apple Support (who pointed me at feedback). The Delete All -> Delete Conversation option is still described in support.apple.com....Item 3.

This has been driving me crazy since the update! I have group texts for my kids and husband for certain things and like to clear the chat every once in a while. It was so easy before, I don’t understand why apple would change that. Don’t fix what isn’t broken 😡

Your method simply deletes the entire message altogether. if the message is not pen, you can still swipe left to delete the entire message. This is not helpful in the question of how do you delete the entire conversation without deleting the actual message.

YES this is driving me f$&king NUTS! Why does apple constantly mess with our storage and abilities to delete stuff!?Y’all Remember a few updates ago when they had that “storage full” glitch?

🙄 anyway ty to the ppl who take the time to post helpful answers:-)

The 4 people in my family all like to clear the messages from a conversation but not delete the conversation.

Apple thinks they're being "efficient" by streamlining some functions, but the should listen to what people actually want before killing off functions that are popular.

I'm sure it wouldn't have been that hard to just leave the "Delete All" function in the menu of tasks that can be done when you press "more".

Apple needs to restore the "delete all" function to messages.

That is not the same thing. What we want back is deleting all the comments inside thread, but retaining the thread in the contact list. This was done by pressing a bubble > More > Delete All in the top left. But Delete All is gone in iOS 15. Very frustrating. If I delete the whole group chat thread in the list, then I can not get back in the chat. Someone has to add me back in.

Yes, but opening a new thread doesn't work as well. Especially with iMessage chat groups. I then can not add myself back to the group. Someone else has to add me back. It all worked much better with the "delete all" option within the thread.

You're welcome. Glad I was able to help you.

I honestly don't tap edit within a message, unless I want to delete only parts of the conversation and I don't do that often, if at all.

You said it better than I did! Thanks.

Does anyone know whether such a "delete all" function in Messages has recovered in the latest iOS15.2 yet?