Sometimes you may find yourself deleting all your iMessages. It may be by mistake, or you only wanted to change devices. All in all, if you have backed up your messages, you can retrieve them whether on the same Apple device or another.

There are instances where you delete messages on your iPhone because you thought it wasn’t relevant anymore. Then weeks, months, or even years after, you realize that you need them for some matters. On the other hand, there are also instances where you accidentally deleted or lost an important message and didn’t realize it. Forthwith, you can download messages from iCloud and save them back to your iPhone or retrieve their contents.

When your iPhone says that it’s “downloading messages from iCloud,” it means that your messages are being backed up to iCloud. This can be helpful in case your phone is damaged or might have gotten lost or stolen, since you’ll be able to access your messages from another device.

Using iCloud to download messages entails restoring messages from your iCloud backups. This method is typically done when you need to recover important messages that you deleted a long time ago, were lost or deleted by accident, or were erased without realizing you will need them at some point in the future.

Furthermore, iCloud is an Apple-provided cloud storage service that serves primarily as cloud storage for Apple device users. From the official website, you can view some of your iCloud backup data.

How to Download Message from iCloud Through Settings App

Through iCloud, you can back up and restore all data on your iPhone data, which can be restored when you need it. By restoring iPhone data from iCloud, you can download messages from iCloud back to your device.

Before you proceed, keep the following considerations in mind before resetting your iPhone:

1. Firstly, ensure that your device is running the most recent or updated version of iOS or iPadOS. Go to the General section of your iPhone’s Settings app and look under Software Update to see what iOS version of your device is running.
2. Secondly, make sure you recently backed up your device, so you have a copy of everything, including any texts you want to retrieve or download. Navigate to Backups in the iCloud Settings app’s Manage Storage option to see if your backups have been updated.

Steps on How to Recover Deleted Backup From iCloud Through Settings App:

1. On your iPhone, open the Settings app and go to General.
2. Tap Reset, which can be found at the bottom of your screen if you scroll down. Then, on the next screen, hit Erase All Content and Settings.
   
3. Your iOS device will automatically restart after you have reset it. Continue until you reach the App & Data screen by following the on-screen instructions. From there, select Restore from iCloud Backup from the drop-down menu and sign in with your Apple ID and password.

However, if you prefer resetting and managing your phone through a computer, you can do so through iTunes or Finder. These are commonly available on Mac if you are using macOS Catalina or a later version. And use iTunes if your computer uses macOS Mojave or an earlier version.

How to Download iCloud Messages After Resetting iPhone Through iTunes or Finder

Using iTunes or Finder, you can sync or download texts from iCloud to your iPhone. Furthermore, iTunes and Finder are the default data managers for iOS devices at the moment. As a result, you can download messages from iCloud using iTunes or Finder, as illustrated below.

Steps on How to Recover Deleted Backup From iCloud Through iTunes/Finder:

Firstly, if you are using macOS Catalina or a later version, open Finder. On the other hand, if you are using a macOS Mojave or an earlier version, open iTunes, same goes for a Windows PC. Along with that, connect your device to your PC using a USB cord. Tap Trust on your phone if a notification appears.

• Next, when the iPad or iPhone icon shows in iTunes or Finder, click it.
• Finally, from the menu, choose Restore iPhone and then click Restore. You’ll also need to authenticate your password if you want to restore encrypted backup data. After that, sit back and wait for the restoration process to finish. Make sure to connect your device to the computer until the synchronization procedure is complete.
• Set up your iPhone and choose to restore data from iCloud Backup.

How Do I Stop My iPhone From Downloading Messages From iCloud?

To stop your iPhone from downloading messages from iCloud, you need to:

Go to Settings > Tap on [your name] at the top of the screen > Tap iCloud > Scroll down to locate messages, toggle off the switch beside it to turn it off. This will disable iCloud messages for your device, and all your message history will not be synced anymore.

How Long Does It Take For iPhone To Download Messages From iCloud?

It can take anywhere from a few minutes to 2 hours for an iPhone to download messages from iCloud, depending on the size of your messages and other data. Definitely, putting network speed into consideration, if you have a lot of messages, it will take longer for the iPhone to download them than if you have a smaller amount of messages.

What Happens If I Turn Off iCloud For Messages?

If you turn off Messages in iCloud on an iPhone or iPad, your message history is included in a separate iCloud backup.

What Does It Mean When It Says Messages Have Not Been Fully Downloaded to This iPhone?

When you disable iCloud for Messages, it means that your messages will not be backed up to iCloud and will not be synced between devices. This process is usually used when someone is having problems with Messages and needs to troubleshoot the issue.

How Do I Download Old iMessages from iCloud?

To download old iMessages from iCloud, you will need to have an iCloud account and access to a web browser. Once you have logged into your iCloud account, click on the “Messages” app. In the messages list, locate the messages you want to download and then click on the “Download” button. The messages will be downloaded to your computer as a .zip file.

How Do I Download My Messages From iCloud To My New iPhone?

On your current iPhone, open the Settings app and tap your name. Scroll down and tap iCloud, then iCloud Backup. Toggle the iCloud Backup slider to on/green. Tap Back Up Now to start backing up right away.

When the backup is complete, start setting up your new iPhone. After you’ve entered your Apple ID and password, choose Restore from iCloud Backup. Select the backup of your old iPhone and wait for the restore process to finish. Once it’s done, all of your messages will be on your new iPhone.

How Do I Download Text Messages from My iPhone?

There are a few ways to download text messages from your iPhone. One way is to use a program like Decipher TextMessage, iMazing, or Hive, all of which can be downloaded from the App Store. Once you have installed the program, open it and select an iPhone. Next, choose a contact whose text messages you want to save. Finally, select Export as PDF and pick a folder on your computer where you want the text messages saved. Double-click to open the PDF of your saved text messages on your PC or Mac computer.

Conclusion

Messages in iCloud upload Messages from all of your devices to the iCloud, then sync them back to all your devices, enabling you to check your messages on any of your Apple devices.

Enabling Messages in iCloud will also significantly save on storage space used by Messages on your iPhone or iPad, by a big margin.

Messages also can still be automatically downloaded back to your device, even after you disable Messages in iCloud on your iPhone or iPad.