iOS 26 - iMessages no longer sync to iCloud

IOS26 - iMessages will no longer sync to iCloud (iPhone and IPad)

Since upgrading my iPhone Pro Max 16 and iPad Pro 11 (M4) to IOS26, iMessage Sync to iCloud no longer works. This includes being plugged in all night and connected to WiFi (automatic) or trying to force sync. When forcing sync, it says it is syncing. It stops with no message and lists the date and time I last forced it, which was just before I started the upgrade on sept 15. Backups and photos are syncing fine.

In addition, my husband (his own iCloud account), is doing the exact same thing on his iPhone Pro Max 15 and iPad Pro Max (M4). Same exact issues as above.

The only commonality is that I have Apple One Premiere shared as the storage.

iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 19, 2025 6:52 PM

Top-ranking reply

seanfromreston Author

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Sep 23, 2025 11:35 AM

I think I have solved my own problem. The fix was consistent on all four devices.

The sync date is the date is the IOS 26 upgrade and restore start time as far as I can tell. I sync’d all my devices just prior to the upgrades, but honestly can’t remember which.

After IOS 26, no further sync appeared to occur, regardless of plugged in and on WiFi.

But, I discovered it needs to do a full uninterrupted Sync Now for IOS 26. I have 1.1M messages (no judgement).

What I did was at night, turn on sleep or do not disturb so there are no notifications or things that will pop up, change turn off display to never, plug in power, go to screen shown above and do sync now. Make sure the screen above is what is showing so it does not become a background task. Let it run all night long. It may or may not work the first time. Just keep doing it. Eventually, the sync will fill finish, update the number of messages, and list the current date/time. Any further sync (forced or automatic) only take a few messages.

the one thing i don’t know is without going thru the above, did any messages sync to cloud. Based on the information apple listed, the answer seemed to be no as the message count never changes over the course of the week.

Hope this helped.

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19 replies

Nov 18, 2025 12:36 PM in response to JKdoc

Dude…. Thank you so much! It worked!!!!

JKdoc

Level 1

14 points

Nov 18, 2025 12:58 PM in response to brianfromoviedo

Excellent!! Happy to hear it worked!

JKdoc

Level 1

14 points

Nov 18, 2025 1:04 PM in response to dhruvb14

Hi, not sure if you’re still having this issue but you should try the fix I just posted on the forum to see if that works.

MLefers

Level 1

26 points

Nov 19, 2025 10:27 PM in response to JKdoc

JKdoc, thank you so very much!!!! It actually worked for me! I noticed the setting was not toggled on the exact same way you described on my iPhone but it was on my iPad, so I suspect that could have been my issue... however the iPad doesn't have the Text Message Filter setting like the iPhone, and it was kinda weird that the only device that wouldn't sync was my iPad. However, when I updated those settings on my iPhone & iPad the same way, it FINALLY synced across all 3 devices without issue and all 3 devices have the same count of messages as well... no hesitation at all, rather quick when I force synced thru iCloud>Messages on all 3 devices to double check... I have a 14" MacBook Pro M1, iPad Pro 4th Gen, and iPhone 14 Pro.

You're a lifesaver, my sincere thanks for giving some of us an answer that works! Apple Support has been unable to figure it out and I gave up for awhile because I don't use my iPad that much and it was the only device affected for me. Ironically I was planning on jumping back into troubleshooting it this weekend by reaching out to the advisor I started working on it with, but now I don't have to! You saved me a ton of time dealing with this all over again! What a quirky fix! So glad your advisor stumbled onto that!

iOS 26 - iMessages no longer sync to iCloud