You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Deleted messages still showing up with timestamp, when will another update fix this or how do I fix it

Deleted text messages still showing up with timestamp in order of receipt instead of being deleted and going back down the list of messages. How do I fix this or is it going to take another update to fix that bug?

Posted on Dec 22, 2022 4:48 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 10, 2023 2:20 PM

this happens on my phone. I delete a message the message itself is deleted; however, the time stamp is still there showing I had a message there. Why is this so hard for Apple to fix? It’s been ongoing

23 replies

Feb 13, 2023 11:50 PM in response to Matty6277

I have some friends that are running the newest iOS that aren’t having this issue. I am and it’s a huge problem because the ordering of my text messages is deliberate for my work. For instance, if I’m on a group thread on Saturday where important messages to me are sent, then on Sunday a bunch of stuff that’s not important to me is sent, I will delete that stuff bringing my thread back to Saturday and the last message that I need. Now, if I delete those messages it doesn’t reorder it just keeps a time stamp of the last message sent that had been deleted. Happening to me but not others.

Jan 19, 2023 1:28 PM in response to Matty6277

I have spoken with Apple and they’re support team, this is completely an engineering thing and they’re saying it is behaving correctly. They did the same thing with iOS 8, why fix what isn’t broken? This is the last response that I received today, 1/19/23


“As of yesterday, the engineering group says that the issue is actually expected behavior.   I have not seen any other information to say that they plan to try and change the way the messages currently display when deleting messages. 


If you would like to see the feature changed or switched back to how you had it before, you can let the engineering group know of that request at apple.com/feedback.”


The lady that helped me was super nice and agreed with me that it shouldn’t be like this. I see that there’s other numerous people on here with the same feeling. It’s irritating. Anyway hope you all can send feedback to Apple at the link above in my message body and let them know it isn’t going to work.

Dec 23, 2022 2:18 PM in response to Matty6277

Hey Matty6277,


If we understand correctly, when you delete a text message it appears in your thread list again. If that's right, see if these steps help to resolve this:


  1. Quit the Messages app: Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support
  2. Restart your iPhone for fresh connections: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support
  3. Ensure you're fully updated. If an update is needed, back up first: Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


Let us know how it goes.


Take care!

Dec 24, 2022 8:58 AM in response to KMB_12

KMB_12,

when you say reach out to apple support, do you mean go into an Apple Store, hit the get support button or? With that said, the instructions given by you and TammyW_03 didn’t change a thing. When I delete a message in a thread, it will delete that message the h thread remains in the same place in the list and the time stamp from the last message (the one deleted) remains as well…

Feb 22, 2023 8:28 AM in response to Matty6277

I just called Apple Support about this issue. The guy I spoke to was very condescending and rude and kept telling me "this is expected behavior". While I understand that this is the intended behavior because that is how this version of iOS has been programmed, it's clear this behavior is not what Apple customers are expecting. We couldn't even get past the troubleshooting stage because he was set on the solution that this is expected behavior and suggesting that it's something that only my phone is experiencing. Hoping they fix this soon!

Dec 25, 2022 12:24 AM in response to KMB_12

Went into the apple atore, was told to back up my phone and delete everything on it and then reload it. Still has the same issue and now I’m messages it say uploading to iCloud too… so needless to say it is still doing the same thing as far as deleting the messages and what not… kind of frustrating, to say the least…

Dec 26, 2022 10:44 AM in response to Matty6277

This is the same thing that happened awhile ago, perhaps iOS 8. No one here or at an Apple Store can fix this. This is an issue with iOS 16 that was probably introduced with the recently deleted items feature. I just noticed myself and it’s really annoying. It’s going to have to be fixed with a software update. Definitely file a bug report.

Dec 26, 2022 7:29 AM in response to Matty6277

Hi Matty6277,


What you'll want to do is contact Apple directly, as this is a community forum, not the same as Apple Support. Also, since this is a software issue, there is no need to visit an Apple Store.


When you click on the link which was provided in our last message, you'll receive the page to enter your issue and current communication options will be present. Here is the link for you again:

Get Support


Or, you can call the number for your location from this page:

Contact Apple for support and service


Take care!


Feb 10, 2023 3:02 PM in response to Tblack37

They did this iOS 8 too, think that’s mentioned above in the thread of this conversation. Only thing you can do it wrote complaints to Apple.com/feedback.

Until enough people complain nothing will be done about it. My product support lady had told me the engineering team got back to her and said this is normal behavior, which a lie cause we all know it’s not… Wasn’t doing it before and now it does it after iOS 16 is installed hmmm…


Deleted messages still showing up with timestamp, when will another update fix this or how do I fix it

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.