Why is iMessage taking up so much of my storage?

[RickyCMC]

My iMessage keeps increasing in size, it’s not up to 5 gigs if I look at my iPhone storage yet my top conversations and other files aren’t anywhere near that size. Also it shows as 5 gigs on iPhone storage but when I look at iMessage in iCloud storage it’s half that size. What’s going on here?

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

You might have messages set to never expire/delete. Also, you have deleted messages and current messages so if those are just there forever then there you go.

 

[splifingate]

I've chosen to keep everything, all the time.



To wit: if you are limited on storage (space), deletion is the only avenue to satisfaction.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Photo attachments. Don't forget your SENT messages.

 

[RickyCMC]

My top conversations are only 150 mb, photos videos gifs, etc. only total to around another 300 mb so how is it taking up 5 gb of storage?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

What's your TOTAL free storage? If your total free is low (under say, 3%) then Spotlight may have stopped indexing so the individual app sizes become unreliable.

If that's the case, delete some apps - any apps - until you have a minimum of 5% free space. Then let it index for a couple of hours, see what it says.

 

[dialogos]

I only use iMessage with a few people because other communication platforms are more popular where I live. Unfortunately, I've encountered several issues with iMessage, problems I never had with WhatsApp or Telegram. The most significant issue is related to space:

1. iMessage occupies a lot of space in iCloud. I don't know why. Look at the following screenshots: in iCloud, it occupies 46.61 GB, but in local storage, it only occupies 4.12 GB. I understand this might be because I store things in iCloud.
2. When I click on top conversations, it's empty. There is no way I have 46.61 GB of conversations in iMessage!!! The people I talk with have a history of three years, and we exchange family photos, but I always delete the videos. I do want to keep messages forever but it's impossible that text messages occupy GB of data. According to iCloud, there are 4.12 GB in documents and data. I have not shared nearly that much, maybe a few PDFs to my parents, and that's it.
3. I've tried downloading all messages locally and turning iMessage off and on. I have also tried everything on a brand new iPhone. When I bought it, this is what I downloaded. In contrast, WhatsApp only takes up 7 GB of conversations, and I use it daily with hundreds of people non-stop. I have full control of the space it uses.

Why do I never have space issues with WhatsApp and Telegram, despite a massive exchange of messages, videos, and photos that I never delete, but I do with iMessage? I understand iMessage sends full-resolution media, but I mostly delete everything and keep only a few important family memories. I once received a recommendation to delete all conversations, but I won't do that since some messages are from family members who are no longer with us.