- You can recover deleted text messages you deleted on your iPhone with iOS 16 or later within one month of deletion.
- You can also use iCloud, iTunes, or Finder to recover texts if you saved backups to your computer.
- You can also reach out to your mobile carrier — they may restore deleted messages for you.
- If all else fails, you may be able to use a third-party app to recover deleted texts.
Text messages have a reputation for being informal and inconsequential, but you might have really critical information in there. So, if you’ve deleted some texts to clear up space on your iPhone and accidentally deleted a text message that you meant to keep, or wiped your iPhone and discovered your messages were not longer there when you recovered it, don’t panic — there are a few different ways to recover lost text messages on your iPhone.
You might be able to restore the lost text or iMessages from the Recently Deleted folder; you can restore your iPhone from a backup made before the message was deleted; you might be able to contact your wireless provider for a backup if you don’t have one; and you may be able to use a third-party app to recover deleted texts. Here’s a brief explanation of all the methods. None of these are guaranteed to work, but if you’re desperate, they’re worth a shot.
Method 1: Recover deleted texts from Recently Deleted
Starting with iOS 16, you can recover all text messages within one month of deletion.
Here’s what you need to do to recover deleted messages on an iPhone from Recently Deleted:
- Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
- In the Messages conversation list, do one of the following:
- Tap Edit in the top-left corner, then tap Show Recently Deleted.
- Tap Filters in the top-left corner, then tap Recently Deleted.
- If you’re in a conversation, tap the Back button to return to the conversation list.
- Select the conversations whose messages you want to restore, then tap Recover.
- Tap Recover Messages and those messages will move back into your conversation list.
How to check deleted text messages on your iPhone
If it’s been longer than 30 days and isn’t in the Recently Deleted folder or you lost the messages due to a failed update or something you didn’t do, don’t panic! There are still numerous ways to recover your missing messages via a backup. If you back up regularly via iCloud on your device, Finder on your Mac, or iTunes on your PC, your texts won’t be gone forever. Here are several ways to recover that lost text you want to get back:
Method 2: Recover deleted texts using an iCloud backup
If your iPhone is set to backup to iCloud, you might be able to recover deleted text messages using a recent backup.
This will revert your iPhone back to the point when you made that backup, meaning that while it can help you recover the text message, you might lose some other data.
Find your backup
Open Settings, tap on (your name) at the top of the screen, select iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
Choose the right backup
You’ll see a list of backups for your devices and can tap on the one for your iPhone to see when it was last backed up prior to when you deleted the messages.
Restore to factory settings
Now comes the annoying part. You’ll have to reset your iPhone to factory settings and set it up again, choosing to restore from your iCloud backup during the process. Note that you’ll lose all your data from the time after the backup, so I hope those texts really are important!
To reset your iPhone go to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings.
Restore from iCloud backup
Once your iPhone restarts and begins the setup process, go through the first few steps, and on the Apps & Data screen, choose Restore from iCloud Backup. Select the backup that is dated prior to when you erased your text message.
Method 3: Recover deleted texts from an iTunes or Finder backup
If you backed up your iPhone onto a Mac or PC instead of iCloud, you can try restoring your iPhone with that backup instead. This means using iTunes if you have Windows, or Finder if you’re on a Mac. Just as with the iCloud method, this requires having a backup from before you deleted the message and the resetting your phone, restoring from that backup. You’ll lose everything from after the backup. So, export and save separately any recent files you want to keep.
- Connect your iPhone to your computer containing the backup and open iTunes or Finder, if they don’t pop up automatically.
- In iTunes, you should see an iPhone icon appear in the top left-hand corner. Select it. In Finder, select your device from the lefthand menu bar.
- Now choose Restore backup. In Finder, you’ll find this option under the General tab.
All the data you previously backed up will now replace the data on your iPhone. It will take a few minutes. As long as you haven’t backed up since deleting those text messages, they should now appear in the messaging list on your phone.
Method 4: Retrieve deleted texts using iCloud merge
There is a method that’s brilliant if it works, since it doesn’t require a complete reset. It’s called iCloud Merge, but we’ve had mixed reports on how successful it can be. For reasons that remain unclear, in certain territories and for certain phone operators, iCloud simply doesn’t back up SMS messages.
So try the first two steps to see if you’re one of the lucky ones, and jump ahead to the next method if you’re not.
- Log into iCloud.com using your Apple account credentials.
- Click on Text Messages. (If this option isn’t visible, your messages haven’t been backed up here–so you might as well skip to the next method.)
- Search the messages to find the ones you need.
- Now go to your iPhone and choose Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
- Turn off Messages in iCloud (you may have to select Show All under Apps Using iCloud).
- You’ll see a popup. Select the option to Keep On My iPhone.
- Now turn text messages back on.
- Tap Merge, then wait. After a few minutes the deleted text messages should reappear on your iPhone.
Method 5: Request deleted messages from your carrier
If the previous methods didn’t work, consider reaching out to your phone carrier. Some service providers keep a record of your text messages like they keep a record of your calls.
Quick tip: You won’t be able to retrieve any of your iMessages from your carrier, since they only keep records of SMS messages.
You’ll either need to log in to your carrier account or use the service provider’s customer service line. Either way, it’s a good last-ditch effort to retrieve that deleted message from your iPhone.
Note: you may be required to prove your identity or even get permission from the other person you were texting. And most carriers only keep records of SMS messages for a limited time–you’re not likely to ever be able to recover a message from a year ago.
Method 6: Restore deleted texts using a third-party app
There are quite a few third-party software tools that promise to let you restore deleted data on your iPhone, including deleted texts. It’s a bit of a risk–they’re almost never free and there’s no guarantee they’ll even work. But if you’ve exhausted all other options, and it’s _really_important, it might be worth a shot.