iCloud Turning Off iCloud Messages Backup without Deleting Messages?

[jkent]

Hey, I've done a few searches and posted on reddit to no avail. I'm hoping you guys can help.

Recently, I upgraded my iCloud storage to a paid 50gb plan. I started backing up my messages along with other things this way. I ran into issues when my messages started taking up all of that space. So now I want to disable message syncing, but I don't want to lose those messages entirely from my phone.

I saw that on iOS I can manage iCloud storage and delete messages there, but deleting them there also deletes them from my phone. Basically, I want to keep my messages, but move them back to my phones internal storage instead of iCloud. How do I do that without deleting them all?

Should I backup my phone to my macbook, delete them all off icloud, then restore from that backup? Will that put them back on my phones storage? I'm nervous to try anything because if I delete them from the cloud I don't want to lose them.

 

[0128672]

Before you go further with that, it is likely Messages attachments that are eating up your space. Have you reviewed Large Attachments by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Recommendations? If Large Attachments is not displayed as a recommendation, click the Show All button to see if that displays it. From there review the attachments to determine if you want to delete some or all.

Or go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages and take a look at Photos, Videos, GIFs and Stickers and Other. You can tap on each category to see the attachments and delete by swiping left.

Here's a Macrumors guide about another method to manage individual Messages attachments:

How to Delete Messages Attachments on iPhone and iPad

Apple's Messages app offers one of the most convenient ways of having a text-based conversation with your contacts on iPhone and iPad, but...

www.macrumors.com

 

[jkent]

Before you go further with that, it is likely Messages attachments that are eating up your space. Have you reviewed Large Attachments by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Recommendations? If Large Attachments is not displayed as a recommendation, click the Show All button to see if that displays it. From there review the attachments to determine if you want to delete some or all.

Or go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages and take a look at Photos, Videos, GIFs and Stickers and Other. You can tap on each category to see the attachments and delete by swiping left.

Here's a Macrumors guide about another method to manage individual Messages attachments:

How to Delete Messages Attachments on iPhone and iPad

Apple's Messages app offers one of the most convenient ways of having a text-based conversation with your contacts on iPhone and iPad, but...

www.macrumors.com

Oh I'm well aware it's mostly attachments from texts that are taking up all that space, but I'd like to keep them. I'd just rather have all of that store on my phone where I have a ton of space instead of in the cloud where it's limited. I just don't know how to move them back to my phone now.

My phones storage still says it has 47gb of space being used by messages, but when I go on icloud storage and try and delete that same 47gb it deletes it off my phone as well? I tested this with individual threads deleted off icloud and those threads seem to now be entirely gone from my phone.

 

[0128672]

Oh I'm well aware it's mostly attachments from texts that are taking up all that space, but I'd like to keep them. I'd just rather have all of that store on my phone where I have a ton of space instead of in the cloud where it's limited. I just don't know how to move them back to my phone now.

My phones storage still says it has 47gb of space being used by messages, but when I go on icloud storage and try and delete that same 47gb it deletes it off my phone as well? I tested this with individual threads deleted off icloud and those threads seem to now be entirely gone from my phone.

I'd say you have your answer, but if you haven't already checked, see if you've got Messages in iCloud enabled, and read all of the related support articles. Messages getting deleted is tricky business and I don't want to be responsible for you losing threads you want to keep

Set up iCloud for Messages on all your devices

Learn how to set up iCloud and access your messages on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

support.apple.com

 

[jkent]

I'd say you have your answer, but if you haven't already checked, see if you've got Messages in iCloud enabled, and read all of the related support articles. Messages getting deleted is tricky business and I don't want to be responsible for you losing threads you want to keep

Set up iCloud for Messages on all your devices

Learn how to set up iCloud and access your messages on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

support.apple.com

Message syncing in iCloud is disabled on all my devices and I've read all the articles, but none seem to mention anything about moving them to phone storage. Just how to delete messages. Which is why I came here to find a solution, haven't been able to find one anywhere, but it has to be possible.

 

[MrCheeto]

Still waiting on this solution. Out of nowhere iCloud toggled itself to store all of my messages and attachments and immediately complained I had to pay for more storage. Uh...I never asked for this. GTFO.

I'm getting pretty sick of Apple taking control of people's devices and settings as if they know better than you.

I have to back up and store EVERY MESSAGE AND ATTACHMENT because the majority of my 30GB+ of texts are from friends that have died and we shared messages for nearly a decade. I don't want to lose this information and never thought I'd have to deal with a situation where these memories would be at peril.

Has anybody successfully:

Backed a complete conversation up to a single enclosed folder on their Mac
Found a method to guarantee that all attachments are downloaded and saved and linked in said backup
Then, after all is done, deleted the conversation from their device with no further ill effect?

Again some of these conversations are about 5GB or more, littered with pictures and videos, and go back as far as 2009.

Thanks to anybody that happens to find this.