Voicemails got deleted after updating to iOS 17.4 on iPhone

I suspect that those messages are long gone if your carrier does not have them (voicemail is a carrier feature). As someone with AT&T and the latest iOS, I can verify that my voicemails are still on my device. I also export special ones to keep safely, just in case.

Just got off the phone with an Apple tech and he explained everything to me. Your carrier only keeps the vm’s on their servers for a specific length of time. After that even if they are showing on your phone, they aren’t on the carriers server anymore but on your phone. He stated that if your vm’s were restored it was because they were still on your carriers server and that’s why only 6 of mine were there. He also said it was a glitch on Apples side and the 17.4 iOS update wiped them off your phone and they cannot be retrieved. He said if you have any older vm’s on your phone saved them to your files or a backup device so you don’t lose them. I am in the same boat as all of you that lost your precious vm’s and I am as heartbroken as you are.

To back up a voicemail:

• Tap on the voicemail
• Tap on the Share icon
• Tap Save to Files

I just lost the last voicemail my dad left me. The only recording I have of his voice. Some young idiot didn't program life lessons into his brain when he helped make the new update!

The same thing happened to me and all of the deceased Mothers voicemails are gone. I’m absolutely sick about it right now

I, too, lost all my voicemails in one fell swoop after upgrading to iOS 17.4 — I had over 30 voicemails going back to 2017. Sentimental voicemails.

This is a huge Apple fail. This is not the fault of the carrier. I am seeing this happening to iPhone users all over the internet and reddit and with different carriers.

😡

Justwright11 wrote:

I lost my husband and my best friends voicemail due to this up. I do have a 11 iPhone which is bend on updates so I have them .how do I transfer these to something to save. Grief is very difficult some days to cope this disaster

What you should do, and should have been doing all along for important voicemails, is to save them to more permanent storage. Tap on an email, tap the Share icon (the square with an arrow) and save it to Files, Email, or almost anywhere else.

I never do updates immediately, nor do I use "auto-update"! Yesterday I couldn't get my hot-spot to work so I updated the software on both Apple products. All my precious memories are gone too!! I need new phone anyway, F/O APPLE, THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!!

LatteChic wrote:

I never do updates immediately, nor do I use "auto-update"! Yesterday I couldn't get my hot-spot to work so I updated the software on both Apple products. All my precious memories are gone too!! I need new phone anyway, F/O APPLE, THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!!

As always, you and only you are responsible for backing up anything you consider precious.

AllysaRae wrote:

There are multiple people saying they backed up their phones and the voicemails are still gone. Shes correct this is so unforgivable and soo unfortunate. If you have nothing helpful to contribute to the thread then don’t comment at all. People are literally hurting because of this it’s like grieving their loss fresh as it was when it happened so kindly kick rocks

The fact that people are upset is unfortunate but not something anyone here in this user-to-user forum can do anything about. They are upset because they lost something that they didn't take sufficient care to preserve. It's a hard lesson but an important one.

Voicemails that are important should be saved outside of the Phone app and archived appropriately.

LatteChic wrote:

I did have everything backed up in the iCloud, I pay monthly for it! Again, another useless Apple feature

I'm not talking about automated back ups. I'm talking about archiving important files in ways that they can be accessed without the particular device. You can save voicemail messages to Files as simple sound files that can stored and accessed from pretty much any kind of computer. They become independent of my carrier and Apple. I also store important text conversations as pdfs.

SteveLilley wrote:

Now that I know how important those VMs are from my wife's deceased mother, I'll be sure to back them up from now on. You never know how important something is to people until you think you've lost it. :-)

Don't just include them in a backup. Save them to files that can be transferred to an external drive or burned to a disc, that are independent of your iPhone. Lawrence Finch explained how early in this thread.

Hi everyone! This happened to me as well with the 17.4 update. I did she there was a 17.4.1 but have been scared to do it and make things worse or ruin my chances of ever getting my voicemails back. The 17.4.1 is the one that fixed it for everyone?? This thread has been very informative thanks to everyone for you tips and tricks