Messages showing “Tap to Download” instead of images

Question

Lately when someone sends me a picture via iMessage, I see a box that says "Tap to Download" instead of an image. Most of the time when I try tapping the box, it says "Downloading" but it is stuck at 0 bytes out of about 2 MB. Other times it will actually download after I tap it and show me the image.

This seems to be tied to the user sending me the message. E.g. I can view all photos I get from Alice perfectly (no tap to download required), I can view all photos from Bob (after tapping to download), I cannot view any photos from Charlie (I get a tap to download box, but it's stuck at 0 bytes).

If I view the conversation on another device (e.g. a MacBook), I see the image just fine.

Why is this happening, and what can I do to resolve this issue on my iPhone?

I tried restarting my phone, but that doesn't help.

Answer 1

On the device with the issue, go to Settings -> Messages -> Send & Receive and then click on your Apple ID to sign out and then sign back in again. This seems to resolve the same issue for other people.

I think the reason for the issue you are experiencing is a corrupt file, by signing out and back in your device deletes a handful of files associated with your iMessage chats and regenerate them afresh from Apple's servers.