Deleting text messages

[xRYD3Rx]

I've been trying to figure out since the release of the first release of Apple Watch.
How can we delete text messages on the Apple watch instantly?
I delete it from the iPhone however it does not delete from the watch.
I just picked up a series 4 SS loving it so far huge improvement coming from the first release.

 

[charlyham]

I've been trying to figure out since the release of the first release of Apple Watch.
How can we delete text messages on the Apple watch instantly?
I delete it from the iPhone however it does not delete from the watch.
I just picked up a series 4 SS loving it so far huge improvement coming from the first release.

Swipe left on the message and select the trash can

 

[coldwaves]

I've been trying to figure out since the release of the first release of Apple Watch.
How can we delete text messages on the Apple watch instantly?
I delete it from the iPhone however it does not delete from the watch.
I just picked up a series 4 SS loving it so far huge improvement coming from the first release.

1. If you have message on iCloud enabled (I'm not completely sure this is required), deleting iMessage on the iPhone will delete it from the Apple Watch. However, deleting SMS on the iPhone does not delete it from the watch.

2. Deleting either iMessage or SMS on the watch does not delete them on the iPhone.

3. To delete either iMessage or SMS directly on the watch, swipe left on the message and select the trash can icon.

 

[bbednarz]

Messages in iCloud does not include the watch. There is not a good way to delete text messages from the watch unfortunately. The only way to do it is to do it one by one. I was on a plane a few months ago and decided to go through and delete most of the ones I had on the watch. It is a real pain.

 

[xRYD3Rx]

Swipe left on the message and select the trash can

This deletes it one by one.
[doublepost=1554495951][/doublepost]

1. If you have message on iCloud enabled (I'm not completely sure this is required), deleting iMessage on the iPhone will delete it from the Apple Watch. However, deleting SMS on the iPhone does not delete it from the watch.

2. Deleting either iMessage or SMS on the watch does not delete them on the iPhone.

3. To delete either iMessage or SMS directly on the watch, swipe left on the message and select the trash can icon.

Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for

 

[cynics]

This deletes it one by one.
[doublepost=1554495951][/doublepost]

Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for

Unfortunately its not accurate. Messages are deleted off the Apple Watch 15-30 days automatically due to the AWs limited storage space (at least with the AW3 and older). If they were sync'd to the cloud that means you would lose your messages from iPhone, iPad, iMac due to the limitation of the Watch.

I never delete mine however the oldest messages I have is from the 14th. So 23 days ago is the oldest message I have.

So you can just ignore them if you don't have a privacy concern. If you do then you can delete the messages that you don't want by swiping them. Personally I would get into the habit of letting it manage itself, and not concern yourself and waste your time on another tedious task.

 

[coldwaves]

Unfortunately its not accurate. Messages are deleted off the Apple Watch 15-30 days automatically due to the AWs limited storage space (at least with the AW3 and older). If they were sync'd to the cloud that means you would lose your messages from iPhone, iPad, iMac due to the limitation of the Watch.

I never delete mine however the oldest messages I have is from the 14th. So 23 days ago is the oldest message I have.

So you can just ignore them if you don't have a privacy concern. If you do then you can delete the messages that you don't want by swiping them. Personally I would get into the habit of letting it manage itself, and not concern yourself and waste your time on another tedious task.

I'm pretty sure that deleting SMS on Apple Watch does not delete it from the iPhone regardless whether message on iCloud is turned on or not. I don't know whether Apple Watch automatically delete old SMS or iMessage without asking the user. I doubt this is the case. I have message on iCloud turned on; both my iPhone and MacBook keep iMessages and SMS dated back to January 2018. If Apple Watch delete message automatically after 15-30 days and that consequently results in deletion of the same messages on the phone, I would not have these many message on the phone and Mac.

And yeah, I agree that just let the Watch handle itself and not worry about it unless you are running out of storage space. Unless you send tons of pictures or videos, message itself does not use that much space at all.

 

[cynics]

I'm pretty sure that deleting SMS on Apple Watch does not delete it from the iPhone regardless whether message on iCloud is turned on or not. I don't know whether Apple Watch automatically delete old SMS or iMessage without asking the user. I doubt this is the case. I have message on iCloud turned on; both my iPhone and MacBook keep iMessages and SMS dated back to January 2018. If Apple Watch delete message automatically after 15-30 days and that consequently results in deletion of the same messages on the phone, I would not have these many message on the phone and Mac.

And yeah, I agree that just let the Watch handle itself and not worry about it unless you are running out of storage space. Unless you send tons of pictures or videos, message itself does not use that much space at all.

I agree, I guess I poorly worded out that post. But yes what you are saying is what I'm saying.

What is confusing is I can't find ANYTHING from Apple saying messages automatically delete however I can clearly tell the oldest of my messages are going away. Maybe as I get new messages from new contacts the oldest drops off the end. I'll really need to pay attention to this...

 

[coldwaves]

I agree, I guess I poorly worded out that post. But yes what you are saying is what I'm saying.

What is confusing is I can't find ANYTHING from Apple saying messages automatically delete however I can clearly tell the oldest of my messages are going away. Maybe as I get new messages from new contacts the oldest drops off the end. I'll really need to pay attention to this...

Yes, I cannot find anything from Apple that explicitly explain the behavior of the Apple Watch. I recently got a new iPhone so the watch only has the few message since it was paired with the phone. I guess I can report back in a few month and see if the old message are still there or not.