How to Fix iPhone Messages Keep Indexing and Attachments not Showing up

I was wondering if anyone else had this issue: I updated my iPhone XS to iOS 13 yesterday at 3 PM EST and tried to use the new iMessage search features at 11 AM EST today (so 18 hours later), and the messages app still says “More results will be shown once Messages finishes indexing”.

— An iPhone user from reddit.com

After the iOS 13 updating was released, some users found that they can’t access their older messages or iPhone messages not showing up. Some can only browse attachments scrolling through the message thread, while pressing “i” to view what they’ve sent is unavailable. Others tap the Search feature, getting a message that says “More results will be shown once Messages finishes indexing”, then the Messages app keeps always waiting to finish indexing.

Here in this post, we are trying to fix iPhone messages to keep indexing, and introduce some methods to view attachments.

Also Read: How to Fix iMessage Disappearing Messages or Photos >

Part 1. How to Fix iPhone Messages Always Waiting to Index

After you update your iPhone to iOS 13, the Messages app will index all your messages. But how long it takes depends on how many messages it needs to be indexed. Some users have lots of messages for many years, so it takes a long time, even 24 hours. However, if your Messages seems can’t finish indexing forever, you may take some other methods to fix it.

Method 1. Restart Your iPhone

Try restarting your iPhone, waiting for several minutes and connecting your device to the Wifi network. Then check whether your device finishes indexing.

Method 2. Toggle on and off Messages button in iCloud

Open Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Toggle Messages on and off, and then on. After the steps, wait for some time to check.

Method 3. Toggle on and off Siri & Search in Settings

Step 1. Go to Settings, and tap Siri & Search.

Step 2. Scroll to the Messages app, and toggle off all Siri & Search options if they are already on.

Step 3. Power off your iPhone, wait for a few minutes, and power it on.

Step 4. Go back to Settings, tap Siri & Search > Messages, then toggle green all options.

Step 5. Finally go to the Messages app and check if the indexing is finished.

Method 4. Update Your iPhone to the Latest Version

If the indexing problem remains after you tried the above methods, considering update your device to the newest iOS version. But first, you need to back up your text messages on your iPhone to avoid data loss. Here are what bugs or issues fixed about Messages in the latest iOS versions.

iOS 13.1

• It fixes an issue where photos might not display in the Messages details view.
• It addresses an issue that could prevent Memoji from correctly tracking facial expressions in Messages.
• Fixes an issue where Siri may not read Messages in CarPlay.

iOS 13.2

• It fixes an issue where Messages would only send a single notification when the option to repeat alerts was enabled.
• Addresses an issue where Messages may display a phone number instead of a contact name.
• Announce Messages with Siri to read your incoming messages aloud to your AirPods.
• Some users reported that their Messages indexing problem fixed by the newest iOS version. Maybe you should try it.

Method 5. Downgrade to iOS 12

Simply, you can downgrade your iPhone to the older iOS version that you think works well. Here is a complete guide to downgrade iOS 13 to iOS 12 without losing any data.

Part 2. How to View Attachments in Messages app

In this feature-packed release, iOS 13 enriches our Messages/iMessages life. We can not only send iMessages with bubble or screen effects but also new Memoji stickers and Animoji can be customized in iOS 13. In addition, the improved search function makes it easier to find attachments. Then how do use it in Messages app, the following methods may give you an answer.

Method 1. View Attachments From “i”

Step 1. Open the message box that you want to view.

Step 2. Click the name of the contact at the top, then tap “i”. In info details, you will see photos, videos, links or other attachments you’ve sent with the contact.

Step 3. Choose and hold the photo to show options: Save, Copy, Share and Delete.

Method 2. Touch One of Photos to View All Photo Attachments

Step 1. Open the message.

Step 2. Touch any photo.

Step 3. Then tab three-horizontal-line (Menu button) on the top-right corner (if you touch video, three-horizontal-line is on the bottom-right corner), and all photos and videos will be listed here.

Method 3. Use Search Box to View

Step 1. Open Messages app.

Step 2. Swipe down and tap Search bar, frequently contacted and attachments are listed here.

Step 3. Click See All to view all Photos and Screenshots.

Besides, you can use Search box to search iPhone text messages/iMessages or a specific text.

Further Reading: Fix iPhone not Receiving Texts/Group Texts >

The Bottom Line

In this post, we simply introduced new functions of Messages app in iOS 13, the ways to view attachments, and trying to fix the problem – iPhone Messages keeps indexing. We hope that those methods can work. If you got any updating information about the solutions, please leave your comments below.