How to recover deleted messages in Messages on iPhone

You can recover text messages you deleted on iPhone for up to 30 days from Recently Deleted in Messages.

By Chris Smith - Senior Editor
1 Min Read

You can recover text messages you deleted on your iPhone for up to 30 days. They’re in Recently Deleted, in the conversation list. And if you use Messages in iCloud, a message you recover on your iPhone comes back on all your devices that use Messages in iCloud.

Recovering all messages deleted within two conversations.

  1. Start the Messages app on your iPhone.
  2. In the conversation list, tap the Filter button and tap Recently Deleted.
  3. Select the conversations whose messages you want to restore and tap Recover.
  4. Tap Recover Messages.

With Messages in iCloud, a message or conversation you recover on your iPhone comes back on all your devices where Messages in iCloud is on.

Note: Deleting and recovering messages affects only your iPhone and other Apple devices that use the same Apple Account. Messages, attachments, and conversations on anyone else’s device can’t be recovered.

Future messages from a blocked contact aren’t automatically deleted if you block them in a conversation with non-iMessage participants, then delete the conversation and recover it.

If you remove a message from a conversation using Undo Send, it’s permanently deleted. And audio messages that expire before being saved aren’t recoverable.

Senior Editor
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Chris Smith is a senior editor at GeeksChalk based in Canada. He likes to think of himself as a jack of all trades (and a master of at least a few), though he mainly focuses on iPhones and Macs. Often covering both at the same time. When not surrounded by various Apple devices while putting them through their paces, Chris can be found streaming the latest movies or series, gaming on his PS5, or getting fresh air on a hike in the beautiful wilderness of British Columbia.
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