messages delete from my phone but still show up on phonelink.

Question

messages delete from my phone but still show up on phonelink.

Michael Mathison 30

How do I get rid of the messages that show up on phone link but have been deleted from my phone?

Kelly Snyder 10 Reputation points

2026-04-24T08:44:43.6033333+00:00

Neither of the responses so far are helpful in the least....

I am having the same problem; there are messages I deleted two weeks ago showing up in my message list on Phone Link. I've tried going to my laptop app settings and clicking repair, deleting the data, uninstalling phone link and reinstalling it, clearing the cache on link to window on my phone, clearing the data on link to windows on my phone, disconnecting my device and reconnecting my device, removing the message access permission and then allowing it again....

I'm out of ideas. Microsoft probably went and rolled out one of their oh-so-reliable updates that always seem to cause something to start malfunctioning 🙄 Looks like Phone Link is this week's casualty. Crossing my fingers they'll fix this bug sooner rather than later....
MARTIN 0 Reputation points

2026-04-25T14:24:06.66+00:00

If you’re using Google Messages, you need to empty the Google Messages trash. Tap your account icon to the right of the search icon, then tap Trash. Deleted messages are automatically removed from the trash after 30 days, and you can’t change that. However, you can delete all messages manually. Once the trash is empty, the messages will be removed from the Windows Phone Link app as well. This worked for me.
GAIA BEAN 0 Reputation points

2026-05-09T17:47:32.8933333+00:00

Deleting messages from Trash did not work for me
Tom Backscheider 0 Reputation points

2026-05-13T17:24:31.1633333+00:00

GAIA BEAN It may be in Archived, Spam & blocked, Or Mark as read.
Michael Montana 25 Reputation points

2026-05-18T19:35:10.0466667+00:00

The only thing that I can do on phone link on my computer is hide messages, but no way to delete them, even if I have deleted them on my phone. Also, some of the text messages that I am getting on my phone are not showing up on my computer. It's like they turned the phone link upside down.
brian_mk 0 Reputation points

2026-08-04T08:56:57.09+00:00

I have the same problem.

I deleted all the messages in the Google Messages trash bin on my phone. That removed the deleted messages from Phone Link as expected.

However, it also removed most of the undeleted messages from Phone Link. The missing undeleted messages remain on the phone.

In my view, the Phone Link messages interface is poorly designed.

Most users expect messages displayed on Phone Link to be automatically synchronised and mirror those on the phone. Instead we end up with a superset or subset with no obvious means of re-synchronising.
George 0 Reputation points

2026-08-14T00:11:13.2266667+00:00

Deleting the spam messages and then emptying the trash worked!
adelphiaUK 20 Reputation points

2026-08-21T18:46:15.8166667+00:00

I know it's a few months since this topic was posted, but I wanted to add that on my PC (via PC Link), I can see messages that are blocked on my phone, which I you definitely should not be able to do.

7 answers

Your answer

Kelly Snyder 10 Reputation points

2026-04-24T08:44:43.6033333+00:00

Neither of the responses so far are helpful in the least....

I am having the same problem; there are messages I deleted two weeks ago showing up in my message list on Phone Link. I've tried going to my laptop app settings and clicking repair, deleting the data, uninstalling phone link and reinstalling it, clearing the cache on link to window on my phone, clearing the data on link to windows on my phone, disconnecting my device and reconnecting my device, removing the message access permission and then allowing it again....

I'm out of ideas. Microsoft probably went and rolled out one of their oh-so-reliable updates that always seem to cause something to start malfunctioning 🙄 Looks like Phone Link is this week's casualty. Crossing my fingers they'll fix this bug sooner rather than later....
MARTIN 0 Reputation points

2026-04-25T14:24:06.66+00:00

If you’re using Google Messages, you need to empty the Google Messages trash. Tap your account icon to the right of the search icon, then tap Trash. Deleted messages are automatically removed from the trash after 30 days, and you can’t change that. However, you can delete all messages manually. Once the trash is empty, the messages will be removed from the Windows Phone Link app as well. This worked for me.
GAIA BEAN 0 Reputation points

2026-05-09T17:47:32.8933333+00:00

Deleting messages from Trash did not work for me
Tom Backscheider 0 Reputation points

2026-05-13T17:24:31.1633333+00:00

GAIA BEAN It may be in Archived, Spam & blocked, Or Mark as read.
Michael Montana 25 Reputation points

2026-05-18T19:35:10.0466667+00:00

The only thing that I can do on phone link on my computer is hide messages, but no way to delete them, even if I have deleted them on my phone. Also, some of the text messages that I am getting on my phone are not showing up on my computer. It's like they turned the phone link upside down.
brian_mk 0 Reputation points

2026-08-04T08:56:57.09+00:00

I have the same problem.

I deleted all the messages in the Google Messages trash bin on my phone. That removed the deleted messages from Phone Link as expected.

However, it also removed most of the undeleted messages from Phone Link. The missing undeleted messages remain on the phone.

In my view, the Phone Link messages interface is poorly designed.

Most users expect messages displayed on Phone Link to be automatically synchronised and mirror those on the phone. Instead we end up with a superset or subset with no obvious means of re-synchronising.
George 0 Reputation points

2026-08-14T00:11:13.2266667+00:00

Deleting the spam messages and then emptying the trash worked!
adelphiaUK 20 Reputation points

2026-08-21T18:46:15.8166667+00:00

I know it's a few months since this topic was posted, but I wanted to add that on my PC (via PC Link), I can see messages that are blocked on my phone, which I you definitely should not be able to do.

Answer 1

Messages shown in Phone Link are not automatically deleted when they are deleted on the phone. Phone Link keeps a local view of messages that were synced previously.

Key behaviors and options:

Message history scope
- For Android SMS/MMS, Phone Link shows messages sent/received in roughly the last 30 days to minimize bandwidth and improve performance.
- For iPhone via Phone Link, only messages sent/received while the iPhone and PC are paired and connected are visible. Disconnecting Bluetooth removes this history from Phone Link.
Deleting or clearing messages
- Messages cannot be managed or deleted directly from Phone Link on the PC.
- To clear iPhone message history from Phone Link, disconnect the Bluetooth connection between the PC and iPhone. When the Bluetooth connection ends, all message history in Phone Link from that iPhone disappears.
Controlling what syncs going forward
- In Phone Link on Windows: go to Settings > Features and turn Messages off if message syncing should stop entirely.

If the device is an iPhone and messages that were deleted on the phone are still visible in Phone Link, disconnecting Bluetooth (or unpairing the iPhone from Phone Link) will remove that message history from the PC view.

References:

Answer 2

nobuko c 125.1K Independent Advisor

Hello,

If you want to remove old messages from Phone Link, please try the following steps:

On your smartphone, open Link to Windows and set the SMS permission to “Deny.”

This prevents Phone Link from reading your message history, so messages will no longer appear on the PC.

If messages still appear even after denying the SMS permission, reset the Phone Link app on Windows:

Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Phone Link > Advanced options > Reset

Alternatively, you can turn off the messaging feature in Phone Link:

Settings > Features > Messages (Off)

By denying SMS permission on your smartphone, Phone Link cannot access your message history, and the message list on your PC will remain empty.

Charlene Davis 10 Reputation points

2026-04-21T15:11:46.5633333+00:00

I have tried this. I want to see my active messages. I just want the deleted messages to go away on the pc
Jengel71 5 Reputation points

2026-04-28T23:14:48.6+00:00

I'm going through the same thing. There are people and messages I have deleted long ago that just won't go away on Phone Link.
PA86 Steeler 20 Reputation points

2026-08-17T11:36:32.1233333+00:00

I have the same issue and nothing so far has resolved it, including this answer.

Answer 3

Kelly Snyder 10

Source of Issue Discovered

I use Google Messages as my default text messaging app. Today I noticed that a Trash Folder was added to the settings.

Once the messages in the Trash Folder were deleted, they disappeared from Phone Link as well. Apparently, Google just rolled out a new feature that sends deleted texts to a trash folder for 30 days for being permanently deleted instead of being permanently deleted right away.

If anyone is having this problem and does not use Google Messages, I'd say it would still be worth it to see if the app you use has a trash folder too.

PA86 Steeler 20 Reputation points

2026-08-17T11:39:25.6233333+00:00

The app I use allows me to clear my trash folder, and that did not work.

Answer 4

Daniel Kilburn 5

Yes I am stuck with many unwanted/spam messages on my computer. Is there a reason Microsoft is unable to build in the option to remove unwanted messages?

PA86 Steeler 20 Reputation points

2026-08-17T11:42:07.21+00:00

I like how the AI answer seems to come up with solutions for iphones, but not Android. So it seems the answer for Android users from Microsoft is to just use it as it is or quit asking?????

Answer 5

Robert Coscarelli 0

I had the same problem once Samsung switched over to Google messages. I tried the various suggestions on here and also from the Internet. None of these worked for me. What finally worked was rather than trying to repair or clear cache from PHONE LINK, I decided to try clearing the cache from GOOGLE MESSAGES. That cleared out the deleted messages from Windows Phone Link. All is now working properly.

PA86 Steeler 20 Reputation points

2026-08-17T11:37:03.1433333+00:00

I don't use Google Messages, but I tried clearing the cache on the messaging app I use and that did not work.