How to find every photo someone sent you in iMessage on a Mac, 3 ways.
That photo from the trip is somewhere in 6 years of texts. Messages can show you a conversation's photos in one place, and there are faster ways when you don't know which chat it's in.
Quick answer
In Messages on your Mac, open the conversation, click the person's name or picture at the top, then click Photos. You see every photo in that chat in a grid. To save one, drag it to your desktop. To look across every chat, search in Messages or use an app that lists attachments by person and date.
| Way | Best for | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation Photos | One chat, free | One conversation at a time. |
| Messages search | A photo you can describe | Results mix photos with everything else. |
| Textlore | Every photo by person and month | Paid app after a 14-day free trial. |
1. Open the Photos in a conversation
Each conversation in Messages keeps a list of its photos, links and other things you shared.
- Open Messages and click the conversation with the person.
- Click the person's name or picture at the top of the conversation. For a group, click the group name or picture.
- Click Photos. The photos from that chat appear in a grid.
- Double-click a photo to open it. Drag it to your desktop or a Finder window to save a copy.
Where it falls short
- One chat at a time. If you don't know who sent it, you check conversation after conversation.
- No dates to jump to. You scroll the grid to reach photos from years ago.
- Some photos are only in iCloud. With Messages in iCloud on, macOS removes older photos from your Mac when it needs space. They download again when you open them, so you need to be online.
If photos are missing or won't open
- Check that Messages > Settings > General > Keep messages is set to Forever. With 30 Days or 1 Year, older conversations and their photos were removed.
- Check that Messages > Settings > iMessage > Enable Messages in iCloud is on, then click Sync Now and give it time.
- Make sure you're online, so Messages can download photos that are only in iCloud.
- If the other person unsent the photo, or you deleted the message, it's gone from the conversation.
2. Search Messages for the photo
Messages search can look inside photos for text and objects, which helps when you remember what was in the picture.
- Click the search field at the top of the Messages sidebar and type a word, such as the person's name, beach, or a word that was written in the photo.
- Press Return. The results are grouped, with photos in their own section.
- Click a photo to open the conversation at that message.
Search for the person's name first, pick them from the suggestions, then add a word to narrow it to their messages. Our guide on searching old iMessages has more on what Messages search can and can't find.
3. Browse every photo by person and month in Textlore
Textlore is a Mac app with an Attachments page that shows every photo, video and file from every chat, grouped by person and by month. It only reads: it never sends, edits or deletes a message, and nothing leaves your Mac.
- Install it. Download Textlore, open it and switch on Full Disk Access when it asks. macOS keeps your Messages history in a protected folder, and this lets Textlore read it. About 100,000 messages import in under a minute.
- Open Attachments. Press ⌘3. Pick a person to see only what they sent, and scroll by month.
- Look closer. Press Space to Quick Look the photo under the pointer, or double-click it.
- Or search. Type
from:Jordan has:phototo find every message from Jordan that came with a photo, and add a word such asbeachorafter:2022to narrow it.has:videoandhas:filework the same way for videos and documents such as PDFs.
Photos that are only in iCloud show a preview marked Kept in iCloud, with an Open in Messages button that opens the conversation in Messages so it can download the original. Textlore never downloads from iCloud itself.
From the day you install it, Textlore keeps its own copy of every photo while it's on your Mac, so later, when Messages clears space, the photo is still in Textlore at full size.
Questions
Where are iMessage photos stored on a Mac?
In ~/Library/Messages/Attachments, in folders with random names. Photos that macOS moved to iCloud to save space are kept as small previews until you open them in Messages.
Why do some photos in Messages show as blurry or won't open?
They are probably only in iCloud. Your Mac needs to be online to download them when you open them. If a photo was deleted from iCloud as well, it can't be downloaded.
Can I save all the photos from one conversation at once?
Not in one click. In the conversation's Photos view, drag photos to a Finder window. Textlore's Attachments page shows them all by month, and keeps its own copy of each one from the day you install it.
Can I see photos from a group chat?
Yes. Click the group name or picture at the top of the group conversation and click Photos. In Textlore, the Attachments page and has:photo search include group chats too.
Does Textlore download photos from iCloud?
No. It shows the preview and an Open in Messages button. Messages downloads the original when you open it there.
Every photo anyone sent you, in one place.
Download Textlore and browse your photos by person and month. Free for 14 days.