iOS 7 Messages (Saved) Can't Delete

I was having the same problem and consulting the boards was not helpful as everyone else seemed to be having the same problem with wipe and reinstall being the only solution.

After trying deleting all of the messages on the phone and restarting or rebooting, they always came back. I also use Messages on my Macs, and of course the messages are there as well. So I deleted them from my iMac as well as my iPhone, and still the same problem. But then I decided to be patient, tried it one more time and waited. Hours. But after about 4 hours, the memory freed on the phone, from 3.6 GB to 123 MB. Voila! No reboot or restart (in fact, I think that action actually stops the cleanup process).

I guess it just takes a while for whatever background process on the iPhone deletes messages to finish its job.

Hope this helps someone.

The solution has been given numerous times throughout this thread but not any more recently than 2013 as far as I can see. Figured I'd update since I'm always one to go to the most recent replies for a solution.

iBackupBot is the only way to get rid of your iMessage attachments, that I have discovered. And believe me, I initially spent hours researching.

Download for free: http://www.icopybot.com/itunes-backup-manager.htm

(don't pay the $35, the trial allows you to do everything you need in order to removed SMS attachments)

I've written two versions- one for those that require extensive explanation & one for the more savvy. See below.

TECH SAVVY:

1. Download iBackupBot
2. Back up iPhone in iTunes
3. Close iTunes
4. Make a copy of iTunes backup in a different location (Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup)
5. Open iBackupBot
6. Most recent backup > Multimedia File Manager > Other Multimedia Files
7. Delete files with extension "MediaDomain/Library/SMS"
8. Go to System Files > MediaDomain > Library > SMS > Attachments
9. Delete all folders that are not "0" in size.

   IMPORTANT: DO NOT delete the folders that are sized at "0". These folders must remain in "attachments" for the restore to work properly.
   

OPTIONAL CLEANING (no reason not to)

Go to Most recent backup > Right Click > Clean

http://www.icopybot.com/blog/clean-up-iphone-junk-files-sms-message-attachments- camera-roll-photos-and-caches.htm

14. Close iBackupBot

15. Restore from Backup in iTunes

EXTENSIVE EXPLANATION:

1. Download iBackupBot
2. Back up iPhone in iTunes (to your computer)

   Note: To be safe, back up your applications as well

3. Upon completion, leaving phone plugged in, Close iTunes
4. Locate iTunes backup folder in Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup

   Note: If there are multiple folders within your "backup" folder and you're not sure which is the most recent, either "sort by date created" or Right Click Folder > Get Info

5. Copy & Paste the folder of your most recent back up into another location on your hard drive (example: Desktop or Documents)

   Note: Precautionary measure in case something goes wrong during your restore

6. Open iBackupBot

   Your most recent back up should auto populate in the "Backups" section.

7. In "Backups", click the arrow to drop down your most recent backup folder
8. Go to "Multimedia File Manager "
9. Go to "Other Multimedia Files" tab within the "Multimedia File Manager "
10. Select & Delete all files with extension "MediaDomain/Library/SMS"

    Note: You may want to export these images before deleting if you care to have them in the future

11. Once deleted, Navigate to the "System Files" folder (first folder below parent backup folder)
12. Go to "MediaDomain > Library > SMS > Attachments"
13. Sort the folders by "size" > select & delete all folders that are not "0" in size.

    IMPORTANT: DO NOT delete the folders that are sized at "0". These folders must remain in "attachments" for the restore to work properly.

OPTIONAL STEP (suggested)- Otherwise, move onto STEP 14

• Go to parent backup folder > Right Click > "Clean"

  This will clean junk files etc from your phone. When results are populated, reference the below explanations. Screenshot from iBackupBot's website:

• http://www.icopybot.com/blog/clean-up-iphone-junk-files-sms-message-attachments- camera-roll-photos-and-caches.htm

14. Close iBackupBot (it will automatically save all revisions to the backup, you were essentially editing the files as if you were in a "Finder")

15. Open iTunes & "Restore from Backup" (goes without saying, you should restore from the same backup in which you were just working with in iBackupBot)

Hope this helps a few of you out there! Sorry about the length. I know some require more explanation than others so I didn't want to disregard that 🙂 Good luck with it!

Thanks Morris Zwick!

I am not sure about the complete list of steps that I tried, but I did try the waiting game as a last resort, and it worked really well.

I tried many other things, including the smorgasbord of third-party programs that are out there sucking up everyone's free time and, in some cases, their money. The one thing I had not tried was waiting! After noticing that there was some fluctuation in the numbers on how much space my saved messages were taking up, I thought that it just might work. Admittedly, it is difficult to accept the challenge of waiting for your solution to materialize. 🙂

One thing I will add is that I had only 2.1-2.2GB of saved messages on there, and Morris had 3.6GB. His timeframe was 4 hours, but mine was much longer than that. After about an hour, my phone claimed that 0.1GB had been freed up. After another hour, another 0.3GB or so. Another hour, another 0.1GB. I left it overnight and checked it in the morning: 0.8GB in total over that span. I was initially disappointed, but then I found that about 30 minutes later that it had almost completely finished! My success story: from 2GB+ to 55MB using the patient approach.

It cannot hurt to try this if you're frustrated with other options.

worked like a charm! It still shows i have 1.7 gigs of messages in usage. but in the iTunes it freed up the entire space. Thanks! Glad I didn't use anything else other than that! 🙂

This sorta worked for me. After one iteration (de-select "messages" in spotlight search, then restart phone) I went from 1.3gb to 550mb, which is a big step in the right direction. However, after three more iterations I'm still stuck at 550mb of messages. Any suggestions on how to get the next chunk off would be appreciated.

What did not work was doing a "Restore iPhone" on iTunes sync. I had 1.3gb of saved messages both before and after I restored my device.

I am stunningly pleased to say that a day after using the method suggested by Kurty999 my saved messages usage has gone down even further. It is now down to 15.0mb.

To recap, it was at 1.3gb yesterday when I tried the Kurty999 method. It immediately went down to 550mb, but would go no lower. This morning, after leaving spotlight search for messages "off" overnight and then re-deleting the one remaining conversation in messages (I had deleted it yesterday, but it reappeared this morning for some reason) it was down to 15.0mb.

Fingers are crossed, but it appears that the problem has been solved.