Missing photos in iMessage after iOS 26 update

I’m dealing with this currently- not photos tab in messages or no option to download photos in the info tab. I’ve had my iPhone 17 pro max for about a month now. Starting to get worried and have tried all of the options on here so far.

It began for me when I updated my 14 Pro Max from iOS 17.7 to iOS 18.7.1. I thought it was stable so I finally bit the bullet. I've got a brand new 17 Pro but I'm afraid to transfer to it because I'm afraid the problem will be replicated or even made worse with iOS 26.1. I'm at a loss.

Sorry this thread is specific to iOS 26, and since iOS 26 this issue began for a lot.

not negating the fact that you may have seen it previously, but than that should be in the appropriate separate thread. Even tho the issue behavior is the same, the underlying root cause could be different. Again considering this thread by op is specific to iOS 26 the topic should remain on that. That is just common practice in the software bug/issue reporting world.

I don’t have that option at the bottom of my info for my contacts. I don’t have my old phone anymore either. I’ve toggled on and off those options many times now.

the photos are clearly in the message thread when I scroll up, I can see them there on my computer too … but neither location will show them in them past the date of my new phone in the infor section of my messages. I’m so sad.

Same issue here on an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

I’ve dealt with this on and off for years, and it’s frustrating that accessing photos and videos in iMessage is still so unreliable.

I lost all my messages in 2020, so I’m cautious about trying half the fixes suggested. It’s annoying when you just want to revisit a memory in a chat and can’t because of this problem.

Honestly, I wish  focused more on core functionality instead of things like yearly Memoji updates. I’ve even had to reinstall WhatsApp — and as much as I don’t love it, it just works better for power-users.

Anyway, just adding my experience!

Literally can't believe it's still not fixed. I have been told over and over again that the next release will solve our issue. I wish there was something we could do to get Apple to finally take this bug seriously and fix it once and for all. I'm beyond frustrated!!

So I temporarily fixed this after I bought iCloud+. But now all my new photos I send don’t populate on the photo tab at all. Anyone have any idea on what to do? I’ve tried everything!!!! And my phone storage is 265 gb and I’ve only used 96gb.

This is so irritating and the pat answers of resetting my network (again), etc are getting really old. I got a new 16pro because my iPhone 12 was suffering - but after iOS 26 came out, it feels like I wasted my money on a new phone.

This is the first update where 80% of my photos are back in the grid. I still am missing that last 20% but it’s literally the first time since September 2025 that ther me has been an improvement. This has gone on way to long and 80% is still unacceptable!

Scrolling back through the chat, my photos are still there. However, I found that the ability to go into ‘info’ and see all of the historical photos within that thread is no longer available.

Same here..no photos. Another friend has the photos showing in info. It’s random at this point I guess.

Did you figure this out? I'm having the same problem and can't fix it.

I’m also having the same issue the entire photo section is gone underneath the info inside of each message