iMessage stored in iCloud

mcd072000 wrote:

Almost half of my iPhone storage was messages that are important to me of which I want to keep. I had been struggling with storage on my phone for a few years and in an effort to free up some space, I learned of "Messages in iCloud" in a way to offload messages.

It is NOT a way to offload messages. It's a way of syncing messages across multiple devices.

I read the description of this feature and understood it as photos where my messages are in the cloud but if I ever want them I can go re-download them.

No, that is not how it works. It's also not how it works with photos.

When you're using iCloud for Messages, when you delete a message from one device, it's deleted from all of them. If the messages were deleted less than 30 days ago, you may be able to get them back.

Recovering deleted texts and iMessages - Apple Community

Recover deleted messages in Messages on iPhone - Apple Support

Right now I'm worried that all these messages that I wanted to keep are now gone and there's no way to access them.

Unfortunately, that's probably the case.

Going forward, if you want to archive messages, you can use an application on your computer such as TouchCopy or iMazing to save them to pdf or text files.

Response to mcd072000

Hello there ,

First , I'm going to tell you something so that you'll be a little less worried … many years ago I lost my entire iTunes library . I finally stopped crying enough to speak to the Apple folks on the phone . The next day , there was an email message from Apple , containing a special code for me to use to re-download my music !

So , iMessage is turned on and the messages are not in the deleted messages and they're not in the General settings > iMessage . One more place to look … icloud.com but if something isn't right about the settings , they may not be there .

In the settings > the first one = Apple ID (your picture) > sign in & security > email & phone numbers > is your email address & phone number there ?

In General > messages > send & receive > both sections should have your phone number & email address with ✔️before it for the first three .

You know what you've already tried , so I thought it would be best for provide a link for the iPhone User Guide . Tap the table of contents & find Messages , look over the topics & choose those you feel are relevant such as set up , activation , cellular settings ,

iCloud , deleted messages etc . .

Apple Support is available in an app at the App Store , it's quite convenient & easy to use right on your phone like your other apps .

If you get confused , don't fully understand something , come back here & ask about it and we'll do our best to get you rolling . Sounds like a plan ?

🗺️

iPhone 13 - Apple Support

📖

SteelCityAnne wrote:

Response to mcd072000

Hello there ,

First , I'm going to tell you something so that you'll be a little less worried … many years ago I lost my entire iTunes library . I finally stopped crying enough to speak to the Apple folks on the phone . The next day , there was an email message from Apple , containing a special code for me to use to re-download my music !

Unfortunately for the OP, that's a very different situation. Apple was able to do that because you purchased the music from them and they keep copies. If some of the tracks were no longer available in the iTunes Store, you wouldn't have been able to download it. Being able to re-download music is a feature of iTunes.

In the case of messages or photos, Apple doesn't keep copies of your data (beyond a limited time) if you choose to delete it. If they did, that would be a potentially huge privacy issue.