One chat in Google Messages history gone?

[user54TdS1E4LF]

One of my chats in Google Messages suddenly indicated that it was now end to end encrypted. All the prior history for this chat was gone. It only happened for one chat. I have RCS turned on and have an S23 Ultra. Any idea if there is a way to get the chat history back? Tia. 

[Mujibar]

Look at your other conversations. It's probably in the list somewhere.

[realaud]

Sometimes it happens that Google Messages separates the encrypted chats from the unencrypted ones when the other person switches on RCS and then starts a new chat.  You may end up with two chat streams from the same contact, one SMS and one RCS.  Look for a duplicate stream.  It may be way down in your list.  It did that to me with a group chat once when one of the participants who had not previously had RCS switched it on.  Since I did not want a duplicate chat feed and did not need any history of the nonsense that went on in that chat, I just deleted it.  If you find a duplicate chat, you will not be able to merge them, but you can archive the chat so you don't accidentally delete it.  Or, if the new chat stream is very short and you don't need that history, delete it and respond in the old chat.  You will see a dividing line between encrypted and unencrypted chats.  Might be best, though, to archive the old chat.

[user54TdS1E4LF]

Thanks for the replies. There is no duplicate chat. The other party does still have all our chat history.

[realaud]

Out of curiosity, do you still have Samsung Messages on your phone?  If you do, first make it  your default (temporarily) and check to see if your chat history with that party is intact.  If it is, go back into Google Messages and see if the history has returned.  The two apps should have the same messages, so if they exist  in one, they should exist in the other. 

[user54TdS1E4LF]

I went into Samsung Messages and the history is all there. When I go back to Google Messages I only have the messages after I received the notice that the note chat was now RCS encrypted.

[realaud]

That is odd.  Have you tried clearing the Google Messages app cache and data?  Clearing the data will not delete any messages, only reset some settings. Have you tried sending a message in the chat to see if the history comes back?  Both apps should have the identical history. What happens if you turn off RCS chats in Google?  

[user54TdS1E4LF]

I tried clearing cache and history and it did not bring back the history. The only difference is now you dint see the Google message about starting an encrypted chat although that's where the history still starts. I also tried turning off RCS chats and that didn't do anything. Thanks for the suggestions.

[realaud]

Well, then as long as you keep Samsung Messages on your phone, even if you do not  use it, you will have your chat history.  Another way to go is to download SMS backup and restore from the Play store and back up that particular conversation (and/or any others you would like). The history would be accessible and readable in the app or with a pdf viewer.  You set the backup location, so you can back up to a cloud or flash drive or your phone (although backing up to a device where the original exists is never a good idea.)

[user54TdS1E4LF]

I meant clearing cache and data