photos tab missing in imessages

please help me. i’ve been breaking my head out of frustration on this. when i click on a contact in my messages, usually it shows several tabs such as links, documents, info, etc. but the most significant tab that is missing is “photos”

i have turned on/off the “show app in search, show content in search”, i have my phone updated, and i alr turned on/off my phone. but none of that as worked. i also have icloud+, i still have storage, and i can’t seem to find a solution.

is anyone else experiencing this issue ? and know how to fix it ?

iPhone 16, iOS 26

Posted on Oct 24, 2025 11:37 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 25, 2025 8:50 AM

catlady721 wrote:

please help me. i’ve been breaking my head out of frustration on this. when i click on a contact in my messages, usually it shows several tabs such as links, documents, info, etc. but the most significant tab that is missing is “photos”. i have turned on/off the “show app in search, show content in search”, i have my phone updated, and i alr turned on/off my phone. but none of that as worked. i also have icloud+, i still have storage, and i can’t seem to find a solution. is anyone else experiencing this issue ? and know how to fix it ?

How long has it been since updating? My experience was that it took 48-72 hours to index fully, might be longer if you have a lot of photos in messages.


Also:

i have turned on/off the “show app in search, show content in search” (bold mine)

You'll want to make sure the toggles are on, so toggle them off, then on (not the other way around).

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 25, 2025 8:50 AM in response to catlady721

catlady721 wrote:

please help me. i’ve been breaking my head out of frustration on this. when i click on a contact in my messages, usually it shows several tabs such as links, documents, info, etc. but the most significant tab that is missing is “photos”. i have turned on/off the “show app in search, show content in search”, i have my phone updated, and i alr turned on/off my phone. but none of that as worked. i also have icloud+, i still have storage, and i can’t seem to find a solution. is anyone else experiencing this issue ? and know how to fix it ?

How long has it been since updating? My experience was that it took 48-72 hours to index fully, might be longer if you have a lot of photos in messages.


Also:

i have turned on/off the “show app in search, show content in search” (bold mine)

You'll want to make sure the toggles are on, so toggle them off, then on (not the other way around).

photos tab missing in imessages

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