Dear Lifehacker, I cannot delete individual text messages for some of the conversations on my iPhone 6s. I hold my finger on them until I see “more”, tap more, and nothing happens! Not only is there no trash can, there isn’t even a circle to check off to the left of the text. I dont want to delete the entire conversation because there are some texts I need to keep. Any suggestions? Thanks, Stick To The Message
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Dear STTM,
The ability to delete individual text messages has caused issues for multiple iPhone 6s users. When you open a message, are you still seeing the filing cabinet icon at the bottom of the screen? If so, click on this and you should be given the trash option.
Otherwise, the first step is to forced-close the Messages app and reset your device by pressing and holding the Home button and power button simultaneously. (This might sound suspiciously like “have you tried turning it off and on again?”, but has proved successful in fixing this particular issue.) With a little luck, this will cause the trash icon to reappear.
We also scoured Apple’s support forum for possible fixes and found the following trouble-shooting method:
First, try closing the message app. Go to the app. Exit from it. Double-press the HOME button to bring up the quick launch screen. Swipe up on the message app screen image to close it. Now reboot the phone by holding the HOME and SLEEP buttons until an Apple logo appears. If this doesn’t resolve the problem try clearing RAM on the phone, as follows:
- Press HOME once, then double-press it to bring up the Quick Launch screen
- Kill each app you see by flicking its screen image up. Continue until all apps except the Home screen are closed
- Press HOME once, and wait about 2 minutes for all apps to finish shutting down
- Turn the phone off by holding the SLEEP button until Slide to power off appears, and do so
- Wait another minute for it to finish the shutdown
- Turn the phone back on by holding the SLEEP button until an Apple logo appears.
If none of these steps work restore iOS on the phone using iTunes. Connect the phone to your computer, click on its icon in iTunes, and click Restore iPhone.
You could also try installing a third-party message deleting app, although these aren’t generally recommended for inherent bug issues and could lead to further problems. Naturally, you should also head to your nearest Apple Store for hands-on assistance — if they can’t work out a solution you might even score a replacement phone.
We’re also going to throw this one over to our readers. If you’ve encountered this problem before or know how to fix it, let STTM know in the comments section below.
Cheers
Lifehacker
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