People have been reporting disappearing messages on their iPhones for years. It’s a very annoying problem, that’s surprisingly common. So, if messages disappeared on your iPhone, too, keep reading this article to find out what’s going on.
Table of contents:
Why do messages disappear on iPhones?
Even though this problem’s been going on for years, it’s still unclear what causes the messages to disappear. There are numerous forum posts where people complain about the same problem, but nobody’s found a universal solution yet. That probably means a software bug on some people’s iPhones causes the issue.
Although I failed to find the real solution for the problem of the missing messages, I managed to find at least some workarounds that could be helpful in this case. Now, I can’t guarantee any of the following solutions will successfully tackle the issue, but it won’t hurt to try.
1. Turn iMessage Off/On
The first thing we’re going to try is turning iMessage off and then back on. This will re-establish the connection between iMessage servers and your iPhone, and help bring your messages back. Here’s how to do that:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Messages and toggle the iMessage option off.
- Restart your iPhone.
- Go back to settings, and enable iMessage.
2. Check iCloud Message sync
In case you can see your messages on one iOS device, but they’re missing from the other one you’re using, check if the iCloud sync for messages is enabled. This option will sync all messages, so you can access them from every device you’re using. Here’s how to enable iCloud sync for messages:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap [your name] > iCloud.
- Make sure the Messages option is enabled.
3. Sign out of iCloud
The next thing we’re going to try is signing out of iCloud and signing back in. Here’s how to do that:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap your name, and go to Sign out.
- Type your Apple ID password and tap Turn Off.
- A window asks you which data you want to copy from your iCloud account to your phone. keep in mind that this might delete some data from your phone, so you’ll want to carefully read the instructions on this page.
- Once you’ve decided what you want to keep, tap Sign Out.
- Now that you’re signed out, head back to Settings, and go Sign in to your iPhone.
- Enter your credentials, tap Next, enter your passcode, and you’re back in.
4. Check iCloud Storage
If you don’t have enough storage space in your iCloud account, it won’t be able to store new messages. So, make sure you clear some space for new content to be synced. You can check your iCloud storage by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
The base storage of 5GB that Apple offers for free is probably not enough for all your stuff. So, consider upgrading your Storage Plan to provide enough space for everything. Check iCloud Storage options.
5. Update iOS
As I already mentioned above, there’s a slim chance any of the previous solutions will address the problem of the messages disappearing on your iPhone. So, your best bet is to wait for Apple to potentially release a fixing update. Now, the history of this problem tells us that we shouldn’t be overly optimistic about the chances of Apple fixing the issue. But if there’s no other way, it’s always a good idea to keep your iPhone up to date.
That’s about it. If you have any comments or questions, or maybe know an actual solution to the problem of disappearing messages on iPhone, feel free to let us know in the comments below.
