Deleting all messages (from iPhone and iCloud)

[macstatic]

So with my free 5 GB iCloud storage almost full I decided to delete all my text messages and start over.
I've deleted all messages from both iCloud and locally on the phone, and I assumed it was just a matter of turning iCloud storage for Messages back on (Settings app - iCloud - Saved to iCloud - Messages - Use on this iPhone) but all that does is resync iCloud and put all the messages back on to the phone.
Next I try to delete the iCloud messages once again (same place as above, only just below where it says "Administrate storage". Yes, it allows me to delete the iCloud messages, but won't permanently delete them until 30 days have passed.

So to me it seems I have to let more than 30 days pass with iCloud for Messages turned off!?! I can't find any way to forcefully permanently delete those old messages right now, so is there another solution to this?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I’m confused as to why Messages in iCloud was ever turned OFF? Deleting synced messages deletes them everywhere, but sound like you turned a simple process into a complicated one.

* Start with messages sync turned ON
* Delete your messages
* Go into “Recently Deleted” and delete from there, to skip the 30 day wait
* Done

 

[Mrbobb]

I know with pictures, I use icloud.com to delete then once done that, there is like a trashcan icon which I use to delete one more time for "do it now!" There maybe something similar on the Message App. Seems more efficient to do this with the desktop apps.

 

[macstatic]

I’m confused as to why Messages in iCloud was ever turned OFF? Deleting synced messages deletes them everywhere, but sound like you turned a simple process into a complicated one.

I think you're right about overcomplicating it.
After spending several hours yesterday on all this I concluded that turning off iCloud for Messages, then on again (after manually deleting all my messages on the phone) will just re-sync everything so I get all my messages back again on the phone!
So I took a different approach by leaving iCloud for messages on, then manually deleting all messages on the phone. So far all's been well: I've both sent and received new messages without any issues 👍

* Start with messages sync turned ON
* Delete your messages
* Go into “Recently Deleted” and delete from there, to skip the 30 day wait
* Done

I'm going to redo the whole process on another iPhone which is also getting pretty full, but the process is pretty much a blur at the moment among all the things I've tried. I want to get it right from the start this time.

So I've concluded that I NOT touch the "Use on this iPhone" switch for iCloud Messages (in the iCloud settings -I'm guessing it's probably the same thing as the "iMessage" switch within the Messages settings). Basically, don't turn off iCloud for Messages!
..... but I'm a little confused about there being two locations to delete messages (in iCloud and locally, on the iPhone itself), or if it is as you say:

Deleting synced messages deletes them everywhere

So, in the iCloud settings (Settings app -iCloud -Saved to iCloud - Messages) there's a "manage storage" section, which leads you to a new page.

Here there's an option (in red) which says "Turn off and delete from iCloud".

I believe I did this too with the other phone, but should I actually just leave it alone and instead just manually delete each and every thread in the Messages app?
(as far as I can tell there's no "delete all messages" option available in the Messages app, so as time consuming and frustrating as this is, it seems the only way to do it).

Oh, there's also another place where you can delete messages:
Open the Settings app, then go to General -iPhone storage -Messages

Is this basically the same thing as going to the Messages app, then (while in the main page, showing all threads) dragging a message thread to the left which effectively shows a "delete thread" (or rather a trash can icon)?

When you said the following:

* Start with messages sync turned ON
* Delete your messages
* Go into “Recently Deleted” and delete from there, to skip the 30 day wait
* Done

... where is this?
Never mind, I found it in the Messages app, but there appears to be differences between iOS versions.
On the first iPhone (the one I worked on yesterday) which has iOS 18.7.8, there doesn't appear to be any "Recently deleted" option. Or is it hidden somewhere?

On the other iPhone (26.5.2) it's completely different and appears to have the options you mention.
First, here's deleting a message thread:

Next, the "Recently deleted" section:

I know with pictures, I use icloud.com to delete then once done that, there is like a trashcan icon which I use to delete one more time for "do it now!" There maybe something similar on the Message App. Seems more efficient to do this with the desktop apps.

Yes, I logged into iCloud.com on my Mac but didn't find any options for Messages at all. Having read numerous posts on the subject it appears Apple hasn't made an option available for permanently deleting messages before the 30 day limit.
However, it's interesting what @FreakinEurekan pointed out about the "Recently deleted" option (which unfortunately can't be found (at least not by me) on the iOS 18 phone. But there might be better hopes for the iOS 26 phone.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There’s no need to open Settings, at all. Just Messages.

Just follow the steps in my original reply, that’ll sort it.

 

[macstatic]

There’s no need to open Settings, at all. Just Messages.

Just follow the steps in my original reply, that’ll sort it.

That makes sense after reading your explanation and looking through it myself, but what does "Turn off and delete from iCloud" (iCloud settings) actually do?

Is this used only if I don't want to continue using iMessage at all and simultaneously want to delete my old messages from Apple's iCloud server?
But if I do want to continue using iMessage (i.e. iCloud) for my messages, and want to delete old messages (to clean up my storage space both on the phone and in iCloud) I should leave the above alone and ONLY delete messages within the Messages app as you've already explained?

One final question: is it possible to keep some messages on the phone, but delete them from iCloud, or is it both or nothing when you delete something?
Also, if there are other iOS devices (i.e an iPad) using the same Apple ID, will they automatically have the old messages purged from there when going online?

 

[macstatic]

I just discovered something about the iOS 18 phone in regards to the Message app's missing "Recently deleted" option. Apparently it was turned off!

So first I opened the Settings app and went to Messages -Message filtering where I turned "Filter unknown senders" to ON (it was previously off), like this:

So back into the Messages app I now suddenly have a "Filters" option which gives me "Recently deleted":

 

[FreakinEurekan]

That makes sense after reading your explanation and looking through it myself, but what does "Turn off and delete from iCloud" (iCloud settings) actually do?

It turns off Messages in iCloud and removes those messages from iCloud after 30 days.

The reason you'd want to do that, is if you wish to stop using Messages in iCloud and keep your local messages on the device.

It only makes sense to do if you LEAVE Messages in iCloud turned off (i.e. just keep your messages on device - which means, if you have multiple devices, they'll each have their own Messages database that will not remain in sync with one another).

One final question: is it possible to keep some messages on the phone, but delete them from iCloud, or is it both or nothing when you delete something?

Messages in iCloud is all or none.

Also, if there are other iOS devices (i.e an iPad) using the same Apple ID, will they automatically have the old messages purged from there when going online?

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

But the point of Messages in iCloud, is that all devices are "in sync" with the same messages. So if you delete from one, the message deletes from all. If you just keep that in mind, I think that will answer how other devices will behave.

 

[macstatic]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

But the point of Messages in iCloud, is that all devices are "in sync" with the same messages. So if you delete from one, the message deletes from all. If you just keep that in mind, I think that will answer how other devices will behave.

Thanks for explaining about iCloud.

What I meant to ask about other iOS devices was because I did delete all the old messages from my phone, then going to "Recently deleted" to finally delete them for good I noticed that some of the message threads simultaneously disappeared on my iPad. I expected the rest of them to disappear, but it stopped. I suppose had everything worked flawlessly all the deletions I had done on the iPhone should be automatically done on the iPad as well.
I'm on a good Wifi network so that shouldn't be the problem. I don't know what else could be the cause.

I concluded that I had either misunderstood something, or something had gone wrong, so (on the iPad) I manually deleted all the remaining message threads (as I had done on the iPhone) and trashed them from "Recently deleted".
Now all I have to do I guess is wait 30 days (it actually said "Up to 40 days" somewhere in Messages when deleting) in order for Apple to permanently delete my old messages from their iCloud server. I assume this means until then I won't be able to reclaim the iCloud storage space from what I've just deleted (although I did notice that I did get some more free space).


By the way... finding it rather frustrating and irritating that there's no "delete everything" option in Messages meaning an awful lot of "drag message to the left, tap on the trash icon, tap on "OK" to delete it" procedures to go through I found a quicker way to do it:

1) tap on "Edit"

2) Choose "Select messages"

3) you can now tap on each message to select it.
You can actually tap anywhere on each message line (not just the blue "tick box" area, which makes it even quicker and easier to do!)

4) finally, tap on the trashcan (bottom right hand side of the screen) to delete all selected messages in one go!


NOTE: When you've done this you can also use the same method for permanently deleting messages when you use the filter to select "Recently deleted".