Message attachments on iPhone

I just cleared up 30GB (!) of my son's iCloud storage that was being used by photos in Messages attachments that were already in Photos - on his Mac, we just dragged the folders into Photos, told it not to import duplicates and disregarded all the misc files it told me it couldn't import.

My question is this: my wife also seems to have a large number of photos duplicated in this way, but she doesn't really use a Mac, only her iPhone, and is averse to logging into her iCloud on my Mac. So is there a way to perform the same operation I did on my Mac but on her iPhone?

A second question is whether there is some way to avoid this duplication of images, a setting that would delete Messages attachments that are already stored elsewhere?

Thanks

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 8, 2023 10:48 AM

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1 reply

ryane77

Community Specialist

Jan 10, 2023 1:57 PM in response to Peter Roussak

Hey there Peter Roussak,

There are a few options that might help her to free up storage used by Messages attachments. She could tap Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages, and then look for the Review Large Attachments option. She could also check out the storage breakdown under the Photos or Videos sections and delete by date.

Depending on how many threads she's trying to remove content from, she could also open a thread, tap the name at the top, then tap See All next to Photos and tap Select to choose multiple specific photos.

Before deleting content, it's always wise to make sure you have a current backup: Backup methods for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Regarding using iCloud Messages, just like you, we enjoy the benefits of having everything in sync across all of our devices. While we're unsure of the reason behind why she doesn't want to use iCloud Messages, it's end-to-end encrypted, and secure. If she'd like to read more about what iCloud Messages can do for her, we recommend providing her this link: Set up iCloud for Messages on all your devices

Cheers!

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Message attachments on iPhone