iOS 26 - iMessages no longer sync to iCloud

IOS26 - iMessages will no longer sync to iCloud (iPhone and IPad)

Since upgrading my iPhone Pro Max 16 and iPad Pro 11 (M4) to IOS26, iMessage Sync to iCloud no longer works. This includes being plugged in all night and connected to WiFi (automatic) or trying to force sync. When forcing sync, it says it is syncing. It stops with no message and lists the date and time I last forced it, which was just before I started the upgrade on sept 15. Backups and photos are syncing fine.

In addition, my husband (his own iCloud account), is doing the exact same thing on his iPhone Pro Max 15 and iPad Pro Max (M4). Same exact issues as above.

The only commonality is that I have Apple One Premiere shared as the storage.

iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 19, 2025 6:52 PM

Top-ranking reply

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

Posted on Nov 18, 2025 10:09 AM

FIXED!!!! Problem with iMessages not syncing from iCloud after iOS 26 update RESOLVED!

Had the same problem as everyone else here. Significant number of messages were not syncing back from iCloud to my devices after iOS 26 update. Attempted every fix, multiple restarts, forced sync, full uninterrupted syncs overnight (similar to what ‘seanfromreston’ had suggested), and everything failed. Called Apple multiple times. Apparently they are aware of the issue for many people. Waited until the 26.1 update. That didn’t fix it either. Finally, called Apple again to escalate to engineers and Kathy (senior advisor) stumbled on the FIX!

Go to SETTINGS > APPS > MESSAGES > SCREEN UNKNOWN SENDERS. Toggle this to ON. Allow Notifications should read ‘Time Sensitive’. Text Message Filter should read ‘None’.

Give it 2 minutes and all iMessages will appear (at least for me they did). Incredible! Not sure why this setting changed everything, but may have something to do with how contacts are saved (if using different emails from main Apple email to save contacts). Either way, it worked. Thankful to have all my messages back. Hope this helps you guys!

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23 replies

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

Dec 5, 2025 10:15 AM in response to wingfoot484

Hey, glad it helped! To check for Android messages, go to Messages app > menu icon at the top right (appears like 3 lines) > UNKNOWN SENDERS. Check if they are in there somewhere. If so and you want to keep them, click on the message, scroll to bottom and click MARK AS KNOWN. They should populate back to your main messages. Hope this helps!

LD150

Level 10

99,499 points

Sep 20, 2025 10:32 AM in response to seanfromreston

Ah ok, a sync request, forcing it was probably an overstatement. And it was sync’d earlier. So why do you say it has not sync’d?

CM011

Level 1

8 points

Sep 23, 2025 2:58 PM in response to dhruvb14

I am also having this exact issue and my screen looks exactly the same with the "sync now" greyed out.

Nov 18, 2025 12:36 PM in response to JKdoc

Dude…. Thank you so much! It worked!!!!

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

Nov 18, 2025 12:58 PM in response to brianfromoviedo

Excellent!! Happy to hear it worked!

JKdoc

Level 1

26 points

Nov 18, 2025 1:04 PM in response to dhruvb14

Hi, not sure if you’re still having this issue but you should try the fix I just posted on the forum to see if that works.

Dec 5, 2025 2:15 AM in response to LD150

180000

MLefers

Level 1

26 points

Nov 19, 2025 10:27 PM in response to JKdoc

JKdoc, thank you so very much!!!! It actually worked for me! I noticed the setting was not toggled on the exact same way you described on my iPhone but it was on my iPad, so I suspect that could have been my issue... however the iPad doesn't have the Text Message Filter setting like the iPhone, and it was kinda weird that the only device that wouldn't sync was my iPad. However, when I updated those settings on my iPhone & iPad the same way, it FINALLY synced across all 3 devices without issue and all 3 devices have the same count of messages as well... no hesitation at all, rather quick when I force synced thru iCloud>Messages on all 3 devices to double check... I have a 14" MacBook Pro M1, iPad Pro 4th Gen, and iPhone 14 Pro.

You're a lifesaver, my sincere thanks for giving some of us an answer that works! Apple Support has been unable to figure it out and I gave up for awhile because I don't use my iPad that much and it was the only device affected for me. Ironically I was planning on jumping back into troubleshooting it this weekend by reaching out to the advisor I started working on it with, but now I don't have to! You saved me a ton of time dealing with this all over again! What a quirky fix! So glad your advisor stumbled onto that!

iOS 26 - iMessages no longer sync to iCloud