Deleting Messages on Phone Permanently?

[Watrat]

Good morning,
I have been reading other posts and forums about deleted messages that keep coming back but have never really found a straight forward answer. I am having issues with messages on phone and icloud. Before I do a total restore as new I would like to eliminate other options first. I want to permanently delete certain conversations from phone and when I do they eventually come back after a restart. Running ios 8.3 on iphone 6+. I am thinking perhaps I have too many messages and attachments and its gumming up the works. What is easiest/best way to permanently get them deleted and not stored back in icloud to push back down?

 

[Just_Me_D]

You could have used your previous thread for this matter since it's basically the same conversation. Having said that, syncing iMessages between multiple devices suck. For example, if you delete part of an iMessage on your iPhone, the deletion will not sync over to your iPad. Restoring as new will not do anything to solve that problem. It is an iCloud sync issue that Apple should be working on. Having said that, if you wipe your device and set it up as new, once you've signed in to iMessage and FaceTime, iMessages should not sync to the device. At least it doesn't for me.

 

[Watrat]

I am not trying to delete them across devices I am just focusing on my iPhone. When I delete a message it invariably always comes back. I understand the hassle with syncing across devices but I think I have narrowed down my issue to a particular conversation. I am just trying to delete the bigger threads with attachments but they keep coming back

 

[Ledsteplin]

I am not trying to delete them across devices I am just focusing on my iPhone. When I delete a message it invariably always comes back. I understand the hassle with syncing across devices but I think I have narrowed down my issue to a particular conversation. I am just trying to delete the bigger threads with attachments but they keep coming back

Settings >Messages>Keep Messages> set to 30 days. See if they delete on their own after 30 days.

 

[Claudette McCutchan]

How do I permanently delete all text messages from iphone 6 and if I do does it free up space on the phone?

 

[kataran]

How do I permanently delete all text messages from iphone 6 and if I do does it free up space on the phone?

Welcome to iMore Claudette

You can easily delete an entire message field by swiping left in the message list page and then tap delete

Depending on how many messages and photos in the message thread will tell how much space you will free up

 

[LimonJoe]

A spotlight search will show that messages are hardly permanently deleted. I find it annoying.

 

[Ledsteplin]

A spotlight search will show that messages are hardly permanently deleted. I find it annoying.

You see 6 words of a text message. And messages have to be checked in Spotlight Search. If the message has been deleted, there's no way to see it, other than those 6 words. And that upsets you?

 

[LimonJoe]

You see 6 words of a text message. And messages have to be checked in Spotlight Search. If the message has been deleted, there's no way to see it, other than those 6 words. And that upsets you?

So, not deleted.

Yes. Myself and many other users, according to Google search results, find this bothersome. So please don't try to make it seem that I'm a super rare case. We want the messages/info deleted permanently, not hidden, and not by having to use some sort of computer program.

 

[Ledsteplin]

So, not deleted.

Yes. Myself and many other users, according to Google search results, find this bothersome. So please don't try to make it seem that I'm a super rare case. We want the messages/info deleted permanently, not hidden, and not by having to use some sort of computer program.

Sorry, it was late last night. Thing is, most don't realize it doesn't really show much. Even so, all one needs do is keep their phone locked and not allow others to snoop. When I'm using someone's phone, going to Spotlight Search would be farthest from my mind. Here's a suggestion. Until Apple fixes this, if you have a sensitive message for someone and don't want anyone else to see it, be sure the first 6 words are meaningless.

 

[LimonJoe]

Sorry, it was late last night. Thing is, most don't realize it doesn't really show much. Even so, all one needs do is keep their phone locked and not allow others to snoop. When I'm using someone's phone, going to Spotlight Search would be farthest from my mind. Here's a suggestion. Until Apple fixes this, if you have a sensitive message for someone and don't want anyone else to see it, be sure the first 6 words are meaningless.

Yeah, nobody but myself touches my phone and I never touch anyone else's. I'm not worried about privacy, it's more about just deleting them, and the system not doing what I instruct it to.
There seems to be countless computer programs out there that can delete certain data from the iPhone. Have you or anyone you know or anyone else here ever used these? Are they safe to use and effective at deleting "hidden" messages and cached data?

 

[Ledsteplin]

A restore as new gets rid of them. When you delete your Messages, they are deleted. What you see in Spotlight Search are short copies. Not the actual text. If that text is still in the thread, then tapping it will take you there. If it's been deleted, then you just go to the thread.

 

[dayou]

If you want to permanently delete certain conversations from your iPhone 6+, you can use iPhone Message Eraser tool. It can help you do that easily without recovery.