Why does my pictures from my old backed up messages do this I pressed “tap to download “ and after I do it just turns into a question mark and I can’t see the picture
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 12, iOS 15
Two solutions that worked for me:
I was missing some photos too in message threads. They had turned in to question marks.
Whilst in the message thread of the person in question, I clicked on their name at the top of the screen. On the screen that appears, there was the option at the very bottom of the screen to download pictures from iCloud. I clicked it and after a small amount of time (cellular, not WiFi), the pictures downloaded. Question marks disappeared. Result.
I repeated the above procedure for another message thread, but the pictures didn’t download for some reason. In this case, I turned off ‘Sync this iPhone’ in the Messages section of Apps Using iCloud menu, then turned it back on again (Settings>’Your Name’ (top of screen)>iCloud>Show All (in apps using iCloud section)>Messages>toggle off ‘Sync this iPhone’. I turned it off, waited a while, then turned it back on again.
I went back to the message thread in question and clicked download photos again. This time, it worked for the photos that didn’t download first time around.
Can’t guarantee this will work for you, but worth a shot. Best of luck everyone getting your photos back.
@bryanr14 your suggestion doesn’t help at all. I’m sitting here in big 2023 with iOS 16.3.1 and yet I’m also having this issue
Since i changed my iphone media in my whats app shows question mark sign on it i cant see them
Had anyone figured this out? I’m having this problem even the day after I’ve sent pictures. They show up as question marks. So frustrating!! I have an up to date IPhone 14 pro
My past pictures sent on texts are now ? Marks and will not open. I tried your tips: I am on wifi and iPhone 12 is up to date. This just started over last couple weeks How can I fix this
Clearly, Apple Support has bungled resolution of this persistent issue — “substantial amount of time” generally is less than 12-24 hours! The other remedies are useless, as well!
Has anyone figured this out or knows how to fix this issue?
Same issue, question mark in place of pictures
I have the same problem on I mac.
Can’t open pictures on my iPhone that were sent from another iPhone. All I get is a framed Westin Mark.
It's 2024 and this is still happening. Please Apple, show us some love and help solve this!
Same here just called Tech Support today and apple still has absolutely no idea what the issue is. Or at least the support rep didn’t.
I’m having the same problem
Why do pictures in backed up Messages show question mark?
