The Disappearing History
The Messages app on macOS is seamlessly synced with your iPhone via iCloud, providing a fantastic way to continue conversations from your desktop. However, to conserve precious iCloud storage space, Apple includes a setting that automatically deletes old messages. By default, on some setups, macOS might be configured to permanently erase any iMessage or SMS text older than 30 days or one year. If you use Messages for business communication and need to refer back to a client’s specific instruction from a year ago, this automatic deletion will have silently destroyed critical records without your explicit consent.
Preserving Your Conversation Archive
To secure your chat history and stop macOS from automatically deleting your messages after a set period, you must change the data retention policy within the Messages app preferences.
Open the Messages application on your Mac. In the menu bar at the very top of the screen, click on Messages and select Settings (or Preferences on older macOS versions). A new window will pop up. Click on the General tab at the top of this window. Look for the dropdown menu labelled Keep messages. If it is currently set to “30 Days” or “One Year,” click the dropdown menu and change the selection to Forever. From now on, macOS will never delete a message automatically. Keep in mind that setting this to “Forever” means your message database will slowly grow over time, consuming more local hard drive space and iCloud storage, particularly if you frequently send or receive large photos and video attachments.