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

15 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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26 replies

DSR22

Level 1

48 points

Dec 18, 2025 5:27 PM in response to seanfromreston

Is IOS 26 the end of Apple? It looks like iOS 26 is showing cracks is their systems beyond capacity, WhatsApp issues, passkey failures, auto-fill glitches, Messages not syncing, text being interrupted by auto fill!

Basically a perfect storm of chaos.

Impossible to work with this chaos everywhere! Any ideas?

JHOhio24

Level 1

12 points

Jan 30, 2026 12:00 PM in response to DSR22

CONTACTS and MESSAGES are both a mess.

I notice that my iMessages and Contacts are all OK and up-to-date in my iPhone...but NOT on my iMac. Weirdly, all the messages still show up, but some of my most frequent and longstanding contacts--who all have iPhones, I believe, including my husband--DO NOT SHOW UP IN CONTACTS.

In addition, in iMessage, the messages are there but without identification of the name of the person associated with that phone number. See attached screenshot as example from iMessage. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple Support. No improvement. Followed all the steps suggested in this thread. No improvement. HELP!

Mar 15, 2026 10:11 AM in response to seanfromreston

This syncing problem has been going on for years now. I have fixed it many times, only to find it not working again weeks or months later, usually after an upgrade. I have given up. It’s a waste of time.

LD150

Level 10

106,076 points

Sep 20, 2025 10:32 AM in response to seanfromreston

Ah ok, a sync request, forcing it was probably an overstatement. And it was sync’d earlier. So why do you say it has not sync’d?

CM011

Level 1

8 points

Sep 23, 2025 2:58 PM in response to dhruvb14

I am also having this exact issue and my screen looks exactly the same with the "sync now" greyed out.

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

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

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

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

Excellent!! Happy to hear it worked!

JKdoc

Level 1

26 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.

Dec 5, 2025 2:15 AM in response to LD150

180000

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

Nov 18, 2025 8:06 AM in response to seanfromreston

FIXED!!!! READ THIS!! > iMessages not syncing after iOS26 update!

I had the same problem with iMessages not syncing from iCloud to my devices since the iOS26 update. I tried the same fix as ‘seanfromreston’, but this did not work either. Thankfully, Kathy (service advisor at Apple) stumbled on the ACTUAL fix.

Go to SETTINGS > APPS > MESSAGES > SCREEN UNKNOWN SENDERS. Toggle this to ON. Allow Notifications should read ‘Time Sensitive’. Text Message Filter should read ‘None’.

All of my iMessages prior to the update populated within 2 minutes. Unsure why this fixed it, but may have something to do with how contacts are saved. Hope this helps you guys!

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

Nov 18, 2025 10:09 AM in response to seanfromreston

FIXED!!!! Problem with iMessages not syncing from iCloud after iOS 26 update RESOLVED!

Had the same problem as everyone else here. Significant number of messages were not syncing back from iCloud to my devices after iOS 26 update. Attempted every fix, multiple restarts, forced sync, full uninterrupted syncs overnight (similar to what ‘seanfromreston’ had suggested), and everything failed. Called Apple multiple times. Apparently they are aware of the issue for many people. Waited until the 26.1 update. That didn’t fix it either. Finally, called Apple again to escalate to engineers and Kathy (senior advisor) stumbled on the FIX!

Go to SETTINGS > APPS > MESSAGES > SCREEN UNKNOWN SENDERS. Toggle this to ON. Allow Notifications should read ‘Time Sensitive’. Text Message Filter should read ‘None’.

Give it 2 minutes and all iMessages will appear (at least for me they did). Incredible! Not sure why this setting changed everything, but may have something to do with how contacts are saved (if using different emails from main Apple email to save contacts). Either way, it worked. Thankful to have all my messages back. Hope this helps you guys!

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iOS 26 - iMessages no longer sync to iCloud