How to stop audio messages from disappearing on iPhone and iPad

Audio messages in the Messages app are cool little ways of communicating without text. You can tell someone you love them, send them a song clip, or just ask what’s up, all with your own voice.

The thing about audio messages, however, is that they don’t hang around forever. By default, they expire after two minutes of sending or listening to them, not to be heard again. This might be fine for some but not for others.

If you fall into the “others” category and want to hang onto those clips, here’s how to stop audio messages from expiring in the Messages app on iPhone and iPad.

Stop Audio Messages from Expiring on iPhone

Stop iPhone audio messages from deleting automatically

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down and select Messages.
  3. Tap Expire under the Audio Messages heading.
  4. Finally, tap Never.
Set Audio Messages to Never Expire on iPhone

This changes the default two-minute expiration so that you can replay the audio messages whenever you want.

One thing to keep in mind when stopping your audio messages from expiring is that they can begin to take up space on your device. So, if down the road you want to change it back, just follow the steps above and select 2 minutes in Step 4.

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