I need to free up 3.2GB of Messages due to my iCloud is full. Seems easy enough just to select Disable & Delete but I read folks have lost all of their Messages on their iPhone after doing so.
I so do not want to lose the messages on my phone, only from iCloud.
Why are some people saying it also deletes the messages on your phone as well?
Turn off messages in iCloud (settings > Apple ID > messages). You may then be prompted to disable and download messages not on your device.
You may then wish to backup your device (just in case)
After completed, you can navigate to the Disable & Delete screen to recover the iCloud space.
Thanks for your advice from one year ago. On iOS 17.5.1 now. My phone hadn't been backed up in a month & I had been wrestling with the 'Disable & Delete' decision. After reading your post, I deleted (or disabled?) Messages, rebooted, and backed up the iPhone: the Message app returned automatically, relevant messages still available, and 2.4G of phantom messages were gone. Thank you!
I assumed per the previous screenshot that the messages would be deleted from iCloud in 30 days, but they were gone the next day. Messages are still intact on my phone. How that one person lost all of their messages after deleting from iCloud, no one knows.
DonB_62 Said:
"iCloud Messages > Manage Storage > Disable & Delete: I need to free up 3.2GB of Messages due to my iCloud is full. Seems easy enough just to select Disable & Delete but I read folks have lost all of their Messages on their iPhone after doing so. I so do not want to lose the messages on my phone, only from iCloud. Why are some people saying it also deletes the messages on your phone as well?"
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Thank you for the screenshot.
Keep a Clean Record of your Messages:
Use my User Tip: How to Save or Print a Complete iPhone Messages Thread - User Tip
DonB_62 Said:
"iCloud Messages > Manage Storage > Disable & Delete: I need to free up 3.2GB of Messages due to my iCloud is full. Seems easy enough just to select Disable & Delete but I read folks have lost all of their Messages on their iPhone after doing so. I so do not want to lose the messages on my phone, only from iCloud. Why are some people saying it also deletes the messages on your phone as well?"
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Downloading All of iCloud:
Seems you know how to all of iCloud, yet are concerned for loss of Messages.
So, what to Perform:
Moving forward, download all of iCloud > Verify that you can access the data, and then trash what is in there. You’d search through the download using the Search Bar located on the top-right corner of the Finder window. In doing so, iCloud will be emptied, backed up, and set up anew. Use my User Tip: iCloud+ Plans and Pricing - Apple Support
Your messages are store in iCloud. If you everything set up properly you should be OK.
If everything is syncing the way it is supposed to be set up you will not lose your messages.
The messages on the computer should be the same as the ones on the iPhone. Think of when you have to get a new phone, once you sign in with your Apple ID, everything gets synced to what's stored on iCloud, or a iPhone backup, which is stored on iCloud. Hope you can understand what I just wrote.
Marvin
I was going to do exactly that, until I read where someone did that and ended up losing all of their messages.
I actually visited the Apple Store today to ask and they were not even sure if my messages on the phone would be deleted if I selected disable & delete from iCloud. Hasn't anyone ever used this feature before?
Your answer was of no help at all.
I selected Disable & Delete, and this is the resultant...
iCloud Messages > Manage Storage > Disable & Delete
