How do I fix 'You left the conversation' issue in mixed group chats after upgrading to iPhone 17 Pro?

I upgraded to an iPhone 17 Pro recently and I have been running into a strange issue with iMessage in mixed group chats that include both iPhone and Android users.

Several times a day, these group threads suddenly display a system message that says “You left the conversation,” even though I never leave the group. I still receive all messages in the thread on my iPhone, and I can continue replying as normal. However, the message keeps repeating itself as if I am leaving over and over.

Here is an example screenshot of what I’m seeing.

The second part of the issue is on my Mac. In the Messages app on macOS, I can still see all the mixed-group messages, but I am not able to reply to them at all. The text field is present, but sending a message does nothing. It is like macOS believes I’ve actually left the group while the iPhone does not.

Troubleshooting I have tried so far:

• Turned iMessage off and back on

• Restarted the iPhone several times

• Confirmed I’m signed into the same Apple ID

• Verified phone number and email addresses for iMessage are active

• Deleted the message threads and started completely new ones

• Updated to the latest version of iOS 26

• Checked for carrier settings updates (none available)

None of these steps have fixed the problem. The “You left the conversation” message continues to appear repeatedly in any mixed SMS/MMS group, and macOS Messages remains unable to send replies even though the iPhone still works.

Device details:

• iPhone 17 Pro, iOS 26 (latest version 26.2)

• Mac running latest macOS Tahoe 26.1 (Messages syncs, but cannot send to mixed groups)

• Carrier: Verizon

• Issue only affects mixed iPhone/Android groups, not iMessage-only groups

Before the upgrade to the iPhone 17 Pro, I never experienced this behavior.

Has anyone else seen this after upgrading, and is there a known fix or setting I may be missing? Any guidance would be appreciated because it is becoming pretty disruptive and very annoying.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Messages keeps saying I left mixed group chats I am still in and don’t intend to leave, after upgrading to iPhone 17 Pro.

iPhone 17 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Nov 17, 2025 9:29 AM

Top-ranking reply

aliibabbba

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Feb 9, 2026 7:54 PM

Update. Shortly after I posted, I tried another recommended fix and it seems to have worked.

I reset the phone back to factory settings but when I was setting it back up, I did not sign in to my Apple ID or do any back up. Skipped every set up prompt that wasn’t absolutely necessary to get the basic phone functions running and just set up a completely blank brand new phone. Once it was operational, I text a couple different group messages with android/iPhone mixed users and they went through just fine with RCS. Once I felt confident about that, I eventually signed in to my Apple ID and started backing up my photos, messages, notes, etc, but not my apps. I’ve just been slowly adding apps over time as needed. It’s been a couple months and I haven’t had issues with group messages since, so that must have fixed something. A little inconvenient but better than never being about to group chat with an android. Hopefully this works for you all too.

View in context

How do I fix 'You left the conversation' issue in mixed group chats after upgrading to iPhone 17 Pro?

Similar questions