You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

How do I know that my text messages have been saved on my iCloud?

How do I know that my Text messages have been saved on my iCloud after I have backed up my iPhone?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]


iPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 15

Posted on Jul 17, 2022 9:45 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 17, 2022 10:38 AM

go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.. is the switch turned on for Messages? If it is ON, then your messages are not included in your iPhone backup, they are stored in iCloud. If the switch is turned OFF, then your messages are included as part of your iPhone backup.

Backup methods for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

If not using message in iCloud, to know that they are included?

Well I suppose you'd have to erase and restore your iPhone from that backup just to see.. which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately you can't really sift thru the data contained in an iPhone backup.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 17, 2022 10:38 AM in response to Teresa_Plummer

go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.. is the switch turned on for Messages? If it is ON, then your messages are not included in your iPhone backup, they are stored in iCloud. If the switch is turned OFF, then your messages are included as part of your iPhone backup.

Backup methods for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

If not using message in iCloud, to know that they are included?

Well I suppose you'd have to erase and restore your iPhone from that backup just to see.. which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately you can't really sift thru the data contained in an iPhone backup.

Jul 17, 2022 9:18 PM in response to Teresa_Plummer

Did you check the position of the switch I inquired about? (Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Messages) Is it ON or OFF?

I'm assuming ON if you expected to see messages when logging into iCloud?

The lack of messages icon when logging into iCloud should not be of concern. You can't use iCloud.com to view your messages, regardless of the position of that switch.. regardless of the type of computer you have.


If the switch is ON, then your messages will not be included in an iPhone backup as they are synced in iCloud instead. If you had another Apple device using the same Apple ID (such as an iPad or a Mac), you could turn on messages in iCloud and start seeing your synced messages populate on that device. Without another device, you'll more or less just have to trust that they are there.

If you go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud, you can see the breakdown of your iCloud storage. If you have enough messages, it'll start to represent a chunk of space in the bar graph.


You don't need to do an iPhone backup to sync your messages, they sync as you get the messages.

If your phone ever takes a dump, you'd restore your iPhone from your latest backup, this should include positioning the messages switch correctly, and your messages would start loading from the cloud, just like all your apps etc.


I use messages in iCloud. I upgrade my phone every year. I still have messages from 5+ years ago.

How do I know that my text messages have been saved on my iCloud?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.