u/An-airplane

I went back through an old imessage exchange and realized all of the old images/videos were blank. Where the picture would have been there was just an empty chat bubble. Is there a way to get them back?

I do have a newer iPhone then the one the original messages were received on. Idk if that makes a difference but adding that to the equation.

Also yes I pay for apple storage. And on the newest version of iOS.

iPhone 16 max plus
iOS version 26.4.2