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g35

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 13, 2007
665
151
Is it possible to delete images from Messages in iCloud? I have a lot of images there I don’t need to see ever again (screenshots, memes, etc).

I can delete images from my Messages app on iPhone, so that they take up no space on my phone, but my Messages in iCloud storage doesn’t change when I do this.

Anyone know how I can delete the pictures in Messages in iCloud?
Thanks
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
842
Virginia
Have you tried logging into iCloud via web browser and deleting them there? Don’t know if it will help but it’s the first thing I would try.
 

g35

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 13, 2007
665
151
Have you tried logging into iCloud via web browser and deleting them there? Don’t know if it will help but it’s the first thing I would try.
Thanks for that suggestion. I had tried it but couldn’t specifically delete the photos from messages. I could only seem to delete all the messages in iCloud storage altogether
 

inkahauts

macrumors 6502
Sep 7, 2014
445
207
How long ago did you delete them. I’m wondering if they aren’t kept in a deleted database and leave after 30 days.
 

ApfelKuchen

macrumors 601
Aug 28, 2012
4,334
3,011
Between the coasts
First off, you can't access iCloud Messages from a web browser, so that suggestion won't work.

iCloud Messages does not have a "recently deleted." That unforgiving nature (gone is gone) is one of its major weaknesses, imo, so I strongly doubt Apple is maintaining a "deleted database."

When you delete images, do you delete them from the Messages app, or via Settings > General > iPhone Storage? I'd expect anything deleted from the Messages app will sync with iCloud. On the other hand, if you delete from iPhone Storage the deletion probably does not sync with iCloud, since that feature is intended for managing on-device storage.
 

g35

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 13, 2007
665
151
First off, you can't access iCloud Messages from a web browser, so that suggestion won't work.



iCloud Messages does not have a "recently deleted." That unforgiving nature (gone is gone) is one of its major weaknesses, imo, so I strongly doubt Apple is maintaining a "deleted database."



When you delete images, do you delete them from the Messages app, or via Settings > General > iPhone Storage? I'd expect anything deleted from the Messages app will sync with iCloud. On the other hand, if you delete from iPhone Storage the deletion probably does not sync with iCloud, since that feature is intended for managing on-device storage.

I deleted from both:



  • Settings > General > iPhone Storage
  • iOS Messages app > click conversation > click contact > info > see all photos


But this hasn’t made my messages in iCloud storage smaller.



Last way I can think of to do this is scroll up through my conversation, manually download the images, delete each one individually, and hope iCloud syncs those deletions. This would be extremely tedious and time consuming though



Do you have any other ideas?
 
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