iOS 7 reveals iMessage's are hogging my storage.

[TigerA]

This. Apparently there was a bug between 6.0 an 6.1 that caused attachments to not get deleted when conversations were. It hit me too, I had 900MB left over down from 3GB after clearing all my convo history. If you want to clear all this out without losing any other data, back up your phone to iTunes and use something like iBackupBot or similar to delete everything in HomeDomain/Library/SMS and MediaDomain/Library/SMS in your backup and then erase and restore your phone with this edited backup (make sure you make a copy of the backup before you do this in case something fails with the backup editor).

You are absolutely genius - I followed your instruction and freed up 650MB of dead space on my iPad mini with iOS 7 !

Thank you so much for the info. Apple should pick up this issue and resolve it ASAP. I just can't see any excuse for not fixing this bug.

 

[BenTrovato]

Worked for me too! Although the restore did not go perfectly for me. iTunes restored my phone but I couldn't access the device. The only way in was for me to press set up as new device. When I selected that, I was allowed in and all my apps and most settings were the same. I lost all my sound and notification settings. I guess I'll have to deal with it in exchange for 2 extra gigs. Thanks!

 

[matttye]

Seems like a bug. Wouldn't be surprised if they release a quick 7.0.1 update to address this.

Either deleting messages doesn't actually delete them, or the OS still thinks your storage is in use.

 

[ryaniswhoiam]

Apple Support

I chatted with Apple Support and their response was to do a clean wipe of the phone and start over, not restore from backup because the file would still be carried from the backup. This is a issue when you can't just tell it to delete those messages, we should have the freedom to do that. I have 2.8gb being taken up and all my messages on my phone are already deleted.

 

[mantan]

I chatted with Apple Support and their response was to do a clean wipe of the phone and start over, not restore from backup because the file would still be carried from the backup. This is a issue when you can't just tell it to delete those messages, we should have the freedom to do that. I have 2.8gb being taken up and all my messages on my phone are already deleted.

A bug that eats up 10%-30% of your storage is pretty major issue. Disappointed to hear the fix is given to a few people that call wipe clean and restore...especially if it's a carry over from a previous version. (I always wondered what that huge 'other' file when it displayed my storage in iTunes.

How about fixing the *#()U@##@ bug??

Especially when Apple continues to continue to screw customers with storage costs. The way flash memory prices have dropped, 32 gig should be the minimum. But if you're going to charge insane rates for storage - at least don't exacerbate the problem with shoddy programming.

 

[BD801]

I had the same problem. From what I can figure out, when you simply swipe to delete the message, it only deletes it from the main page. As soon as you start another message with that contact, the whole message reappears. That is what was saved and is hogging space. You have to actually delete the message by swiping to the right and selecting all and then deleting.

I went from 1.0 GB to 300 MB by deleting one convo.

 

[C DM]

A bug that eats up 10%-30% of your storage is pretty major issue. Disappointed to hear the fix is given to a few people that call wipe clean and restore...especially if it's a carry over from a previous version. (I always wondered what that huge 'other' file when it displayed my storage in iTunes.

How about fixing the *#()U@##@ bug??

Especially when Apple continues to continue to screw customers with storage costs. The way flash memory prices have dropped, 32 gig should be the minimum. But if you're going to charge insane rates for storage - at least don't exacerbate the problem with shoddy programming.

The bug has been fixed some time ago. Those who were affected by it before still have those effects from before, just nothing new related to it. The way to "fix" those effects from before is to clear everything out.

 

[black743]

I chatted with Apple Support and their response was to do a clean wipe of the phone and start over, not restore from backup because the file would still be carried from the backup. This is a issue when you can't just tell it to delete those messages, we should have the freedom to do that. I have 2.8gb being taken up and all my messages on my phone are already deleted.

This isn't an acceptable method. It will just build back up again. The messages should delete when I deleted them. I have now deleted a message that I really wanted to keep. I ended up screenshotting the entire thing before I deleted. Guess what, my space still shows 1.6gb and no messages in imessage at all.

So what they're saying is I now have to do a complete restore and take loads of time reloading everything....all to have to do it again in a few months when it builds back up? How about they fix the problem???

 

[flashflooder]

Seems like a bug. Wouldn't be surprised if they release a quick 7.0.1 update to address this.

Either deleting messages doesn't actually delete them, or the OS still thinks your storage is in use.

The bug (if it is one) has obviously existed for a while, since my phone's been eating this memory since well before iOS7. iOS7 is simply revealing the messages are the culprit.

Therefore, I wouldn't expect anything quick about the fix. BUT I really do hope they fix it. It's completely absurd that messages is hogging 4GB of my data capacity. I don't need a 2nd copy of every picture and video I send/receive on my phone, thanks Apple.

 

[black743]

The bug has been fixed some time ago. Those who were affected by it before still have those effects from before, just nothing new related to it. The way to "fix" those effects from before is to clear everything out.

Mine never showed a large storage amount until I updated to ios7 yesterday.

 

[C DM]

I had the same problem. From what I can figure out, when you simply swipe to delete the message, it only deletes it from the main page. As soon as you start another message with that contact, the whole message reappears. That is what was saved and is hogging space. You have to actually delete the message by swiping to the right and selecting all and then deleting.

I went from 1.0 GB to 300 MB by deleting one convo.

Swiping a conversation from the main Messages screen and deleting it does in fact delete all of it.

----------

Mine never showed a large storage amount until I updated to ios7 yesterday.

Did the free space that you have significantly change suddenly, or was it only that the amount associated with Messages finally showed the correct number?

 

[ug.mac]

After you delete conversation from messages please reboot your phone then check the usage.

 

[C DM]

The bug (if it is one) has obviously existed for a while, since my phone's been eating this memory since well before iOS7. iOS7 is simply revealing the messages are the culprit.

Therefore, I wouldn't expect anything quick about the fix. BUT I really do hope they fix it. It's completely absurd that messages is hogging 4GB of my data capacity. I don't need a 2nd copy of every picture and video I send/receive on my phone, thanks Apple.

That's basically it. iOS 7 only shows all the right space associated with it. The bug itself that was eating up extra space was there before and has been addressed--so no new space associated with the bug would be getting used, but the already used space is still there from before when the bug was present.

 

[black743]

That's basically it. iOS 7 only shows all the right space associated with it. The bug itself that was eating up extra space was there before and has been addressed--so no new space associated with the bug would be getting used, but the already used space is still there from before when the bug was present.

I'm not willing to do a restore and lose some very important voicemails, etc...for 1.6gb of storage.

So what you're saying is those 1.6gb I'm showing is something old and has been fixed. In other words, when I delete a new message, it's no longer stored with that 1.6gb?

I have 19gb free, so 1.6 isn't a huge deal as long as it isn't going to keep getting bigger and bigger.

----------

Swiping a conversation from the main Messages screen and deleting it does in fact delete all of it.

----------

Did the free space that you have significantly change suddenly, or was it only that the amount associated with Messages finally showed the correct number?

Free space seems to have stayed the same...19gb. So it's not as if I'm pressed for space.

 

[fmalloy]

I chatted with Apple Support and their response was to do a clean wipe of the phone and start over, not restore from backup because the file would still be carried from the backup.

So. Ridiculously. Annoying.

Apple tells you a million times about how you're supposed to backup your data so you don't lose anything. Then, any tiny little problem whatsoever and they tell you "don't restore from backup, set up as a new phone".

All we hear about are problems when you update and restore data from a backup.

Stupid.

 

[C DM]

I'm not willing to do a restore and lose some very important voicemails, etc...for 1.6gb of storage.

So what you're saying is those 1.6gb I'm showing is something old and has been fixed. In other words, when I delete a new message, it's no longer stored with that 1.6gb?

I have 19gb free, so 1.6 isn't a huge deal as long as it isn't going to keep getting bigger and bigger.

Right, new messages shouldn't suffer from the issue of having some part of them still stored when they are deleted.

 

[black743]

Right, new messages shouldn't suffer from the issue of having some part of them still stored when they are deleted.

So I will just view my imessage as an app that requires 1.6gb...lol. I have a couple games that large anyway.

 

[BD801]

Swiping a conversation from the main Messages screen and deleting it does in fact delete all of it.

----------

Did the free space that you have significantly change suddenly, or was it only that the amount associated with Messages finally showed the correct number?

You are right however, on my 4s when I swiped to delete the messages, it showed that there were no messages. But when I received another message from a contact, the ENTIRE message reappeared (apparently from storage). Once i edited the message and selected all the individual messages, it was finally removed and then my storage amount dropped.

 

[flashflooder]

FWIW, I just deleted all the conversation threads from my iMessage app, left nothing but a blank page. Starting piont = 3.2GB usage.

I rebooted the phone, and found that I had regained 1.2GB. Not too bad, but why is my blank message app still taking up 1.9GB? I went into the iMessage app after the reboot and all the threads I had deleted are back.

I'm confused.

 

[eclipse01]

Wow, I just deleted a thread in my messages I know I have had for a long time, my size went from 1.8gb to 242mb.

 

[black743]

Wow, I just deleted a thread in my messages I know I have had for a long time, my size went from 1.8gb to 242mb.

Mine stays at 1.6gb no matter what I delete, and now I've deleted them all. I'm guessing the 1.6gb of messages were older ones that had already been deleted, so the current ones I wiped out had no effect.

 

[eclipse01]

Mine stays at 1.6gb no matter what I delete, and now I've deleted them all. I'm guessing the 1.6gb of messages were older ones that had already been deleted, so the current ones I wiped out had no effect.

It did take a good 5-10 min. to lower the size but it did eventually go down

 

[TigerA]

The issue is the dead folders / files left behind after deleting the iMessages. This bug has been fixed by Apple. However, the dead space created due to the previous bug can not be freed up since iOS does not have an option to clear all iMessage content, just like other apps.
I have successfully freed up a lot of dead space by
1. Following Stratus Fear's post (by using iBackupBot)
2. Backup-->Reset All Content --> Restore

This method clears all the content in Messages. But it is still far better than a total wipe and start as a new iphone/ipad

You can also merge step 1&2 by doing a reset all content before restore the edited backup files.

P.S. The "Other" space contains app data. Apart from deleting some data from apps, by doing step 2 it can also reduce some "Other" space.

Good luck

 

[skottichan]

Hm, had this issue around iOS7b3, Messages was chewing up about 3GB of space. I didn't really think much about it because I have 64GB. So, I went and double checked, now messages is using about 170MB, I'm not sure when it got fixed on my end. I have about 15 open message threads, many of them are image heavy, so something got fixed at some point.

 

[BenTrovato]

I had to follow the steps someone else posted and use iBackupBot to delete the old messages. It's incredible that since iOS6 I have had 5gb tied up in iMessage storage, never understanding how it could take up so much space.

Not too long ago I manually added up all the storage my apps took up and couldn't figure out the missing space.