How to recover missing photos and attachments
You will get the photos, videos, and files that were missing after a Messages import.
What you need
- ✓TextPort on your iPhone
- ✓A chat imported with the TextPort Shortcut
- ✓Apple's Messages app on the same iPhone
Messages keeps old photos in iCloud. The TextPort Shortcut can only read what is on your phone. So some photos show as missing at first. This guide fills them in.
Steps
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1
Find a missing photo
Open the chat. A missing photo shows as a gray box with a cloud icon that says Attachment unavailable.
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2
Open the missing files sheet
Tap Attachment unavailable. The Missing photos and files sheet opens.
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3
Open the chat in Messages
Tap the blue Messages link in step 1 of the sheet. Apple's Messages app opens. Find the same chat and open it.
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4
Download the photos
Tap the name at the top. Tap Photos. Tap a missing photo to download it. If you see Download All, tap that.
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5
Go back to TextPort
Open TextPort again. The sheet is still there.
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6
Tap Try Again
Tap Try Again (1) for this one day. Or tap Try All Missing Attachments (2) to check every day in the chat.
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7
Wait
TextPort runs the Shortcut again for those days. The gray boxes fill in with the real photos.
Done
The photos and files TextPort could find are in your chat. They show in the PDF too. Any that are still missing keep the gray box.
Tips
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Videos and other files work the same. Open them in Messages first so they download.
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Still missing after two tries? Not every file can be recovered. Add it by hand instead. Long press the gray box and tap Manually add attachment. Pick it from Photos or Files.
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Old chats keep photos in iCloud, not on the phone. That is why they are missing at first.
Questions
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Your iPhone saves space by keeping old photos in iCloud. The Shortcut can only read files that are on the phone. Downloading them in Messages puts them back on the phone.
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No. Only the days with missing files are checked again. Your edits stay.
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The file is not on this iPhone, so the Shortcut can not read it. It may still be in Messages on another device, or in iCloud. If you can save a copy to Photos, add it by hand with Manually add attachment.
Start exporting your messages
Available for iPhone, Mac, and Windows. No computer required.
