The Messages in iCloud feature is finally available to iOS and Mac users with the iOS 11.4 and macOS 10.13.5 update. You can enable the feature by going to iCloud settings on your iOS device and through Messages app on your Mac.

What Messages in iCloud does is it uploads Messages from all of your devices to the iCloud, then syncs them back to all your devices so you can check your messages on any of your Apple devices.

When you enable Messages in iCloud, you also save on storage space used by Messages on your iPhone or iPad. If you have a 2.8 GB of data in the Messages app on your iPhone’s storage, after syncing with iCloud the data consumed on the local storage may reduce down to less 100 MB.

But what if you have to turn off the iCloud Messages sync feature because it’s eating too much of your iCloud storage? The free storage you get in iCloud is only 5GB, and if you actively use the Messages app for sending and receiving photos and videos, chances are pretty good you’ll have a storage problem with Messages in iCloud because of the considerable data you’ve on the Messages app.

So, how do you download Messages from iCloud when you have to disable the feature on your iOS device. Well, it turns out Messages are automatically downloaded back to your device when you disable Messages in iCloud on your iPhone or iPad.

How to download Messages from iCloud

  1. Open Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap on your name to get to Apple ID screen.
  3. Select iCloud, and then turn Off the toggle for Messages.
  4. You’ll get a confirmation dialogue, tap Disable and Download Messages.

That’s it. Your messages will now get downloaded back to your iPhone or iPad from the iCloud. It may take some time if you have a massive amount of data in your iCloud Messages.