If I backup a picture I received in a text in iMessage on my iPhone13 Max to iCloud will it always stay in iCloud even if I delete the photo from my text? ...and if not, how can I get the photo to save into my photo library permanently?
If you click this button:
in Messages, then the picture is saved to Photos.
As razmee209 says, this is independent of the Messages, and it will stay in Photos as long as you don't delete it from there.
Of course, the best practice is to keep backups to an external drive. To back up your pictures you can just plug in an external drive, select the pictures, and use Share>Save to Files. Alternatively, you can backup to a computer:
Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC
If you haven't done one of those backups, then your remaining pictures continue to be in peril.
iCloud backups are very limited. The only safeguard iCloud offers is that you can replace your information if your phone gets run over by a truck, or something. But if you accidentally delete stuff, iCloud backs that up, too, and so your stuff is gone. iCloud is not a backup service-- iCloud is a synchronization service.
HorseLes wrote:
If I backup a picture I received in a text in iMessage on my iPhone13 Max to iCloud will it always stay in iCloud even if I delete the photo from my text? ...and if not, how can I get the photo to save into my photo library permanently?
If you save the picture to your photos and do a backup of it then it will be included in your backup even if you delete it from your text.
Saving Text Photos to iCloud
