Appgeeker's goal is to provide users with the precise solution for their needs whether for entertainment, system repair or to manage data more securely and efficiently.
Home > Resources > How can I recover messages iPhone
How to recover text messages on iPhone with/ without backup
No matter how you lost text messages on your iPhone, you have a great chance to get the deleted messages back.
Among many ways of communication, text messaging is still one of the most widespread and oldest forms around. You never know how important these texts are until you need them badly. If you've accidentally lost or deleted text messages on your iPhone, fear not. This guide will outline six ways to recover deleted messages on iPhone effectively.
Recover your deleted iPhone messages before they are permanently lost.
For users with newer iPhone models or those on iOS 16 and later, check the Recently Deleted folder in Messages first. If you've backed up your iPhone with iCloud or iTunes/Finder, the recovery process is straightforward — simply restore your iPhone to the latest iCloud or iTunes/Finder backup to recover deleted messages.
If no backup exists, there are still ways to retrieve deleted iPhone messages by scanning device memory, using reliable iPhone data recovery software, or contacting phone carrier for potential message recovery. Now, let's explore how to recover deleted messages on iPhone in details.
In iOS 16, iOS 17, and iPadOS 16.1 or later versions, deleted messages are removed to Recently Deleted folder within the Messages app. They remain sheltered there for a duration of 30 to 40 days, offering you an opportunity to recover deleted messages on your iPhone.
After that, the iPhone messages in Recently Deleted become permanently erased. But employing appropriate tools, like iOS Data Recovery, enables you to deep scan the phone memory to find and recover the permanently deleted messages on iPhone/iPad, as well as other kinds of lost data, including photos, contacts, call logs and more.
Recover deleted messages on iPhone from Recently Deleted
To retrieve and restore deleted text messages / iMessages, start by checking the Recently Deleted folder in your iPhone Messages. Here's how to get back deleted messages on iOS 16 or later. For iOS 15 or earlier iOS versions, you may want to check out other options in this post.
1. Open your iPhone Messages app and tap Recently Deleted from the top-left corner.
Tip: If you can't see Recently Deleted option, press the Edit at the top of the conversations and select Show Recently Deleted. Otherwise, tap Filters if you've turned Messages Filtering on.
2. Select the messages you want to get back.
3. Tap Recover Messages to restore them all.
The recovered conversations will go back to the inbox list where they previously exist.
Yet, getting back deleted messages on iPhone can be challenging. Apple doesn't make it easy to recover iPhone messages once they're deleted from the Recently Deleted folder. But don't worry, there are still some iPhone message recovery options you can try:
Recover deleted text messages on iPhone from iCloud Backup
Yes! This is probably the most efficient way of restoring deleted texts, and it is free! If you've turned on iCloud Backup option in iPhone to make regular backups, or you have one iCloud backup that was created before the text messages were deleted, you'll be able to recover text messages from an iCloud backup to your iPhone even they are removed permanently.
Before attempting to recover deleted messages on iPhone, find the existing iCloud backups:
When iCloud Backup is enabled and there is enough storage, all earlier successful backups in iCloud will be listed here with date and file size.
If the last backup was made before your text messages were lost, you can use it to get them back. However, note that this process will erase your phone data and restore only the content from the backup.
To recover deleted text messages on iPhone from an iCloud backup, get your device connected to Wi-Fi and follow these steps:
Head to iPhone Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Tap Erase All Content and Settings > Erase Now. Wait for it to erase all current content and personal data.
When your iPhone restarts, go through the usual setup process.
Once reach the Apps & Data screen, tap Restore from iCloud Backup.
Sign in to iCloud account with your Apple ID and password.
Choose the iCloud backup with a date preceding the time you deleted the messages.
The duration of the process varies based on network speed and the backup's data size. Once done, your iPhone will be factory reset and be restored to the latest iCloud backup. The deleted texts (SMS), iMessages, and MMS messages should reappear in the Messages app inbox list.
Scan iPhone for deleted messages via iOS Data Recovery
When you delete a text conversation, it isn't immediately erased from the device but hidden there, waiting to be overwritten by new data or recovered. So it may be possible to scan the iPhone internal memory to find the conversations that haven't yet been overwritten and get back the deleted text messages on iPhone.
There are quite a few iPhone message recovery software programs available on the web. If you want a program that is simple and powerful, iOS Data Recovery is the one for you. It truly works magic when you need to retrieve data from an iPhone or iPad without any backup. This tool goes to the internal storage of device and do an in-depth scanning automatically, delivering all recoverable items for preview and selection before initiating the full recovery process.
In addition to recovering deleted iPhone messages (SMS, MMS, and iMessages), the program also supports recovery of contacts, photos, notes, reminders, call logs, WhatsApp messages, videos, voicemails, and more. Here's how to recover permanently deleted messages on iPhone using iOS Data Recovery, with no need for a backup.
Step 1: Run the program and connect your iPhone
Launch the program on your Mac or PC, select Recover from iOS Device from the interface.
Hook up your iPhone with computer using an USB cable.
Tip: The program also comes with Recover from iTunes and Recover from iCloud features to help you restore data from backup without affecting current data on the device.
Step 2: Start a full scan on iPhone for message recovery
Click the Start Scan button to run a deep scan in your device to search for lost texts.
Once completes, it will display all recoverable results that are found, including messages, contacts, camera roll, media pictures and others.
Step 3: Preview and recover deleted texts from iPhone storage
Click the checkboxes under Message & Contacts from left sidebar, like Messages, Message Attachments, or deselect what you don't need.
Select the messages you want to restore, click the Recover button to get them back. You're able to preview each message conversation, text, and iMessage.
In the pop-up dialog, choose a local path and let the program recover deleted iPhone messages and save them as CSV or HTML files on your computer.
Once the deleted iPhone messages are retrieved, you can then open it on desktop, or print it for later use.
Also Watch Video: Recover Deleted Messages on iPhone
Retrieve deleted messages on iPhone from iTunes Backup
iTunes recovery functions similarly to restoring iPhone text messages from an iCloud backup. If you regularly back up your iPhone with iTunes each time you connect it to a computer, you can then perform the message recovery on iPhone using an iTunes backup you created previously.
Note: Recovering iPhone messages from iTunes backup will restore your iPhone and reverts everything back to that backup. It cannot selectively recover only messages.
Recover deleted iPhone messages with iTunes backup — on Windows, macOS 10.14 or earlier
Link your iPhone to computer and launch iTunes.
Click the device icon appeared in the top-left corner of the iTunes window.
In Summary section, check This computer and click Restore Backup.
Select the most relevant backup that contains deletes texts you want.
Confirm the Restore option to recover messages.
Tip: If you have encrypted your iTunes backup, you will need a password to unlock and access it.
Restore iPhone messages from Finder backup — on macOS 10.15 or higher
For those who are using Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or above, follow these steps to get back deleted texts to iPhone from Finder backup.
Plug iPhone into your Mac via Lightning cable and open a Finder window.
From the left sidebar, click the device icon under Locations.
Select Restore Backup after clicking Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.
Choose the backup from a list of available archives.
Click Restore. The deleted messages will be restored and get back onto your iPhone.
Success with the recovery depends on whether you have a recent iPhone backup before accidental message deletion. You may back up your iPhone to computer to prevent future data loss.
Restore iPhone texts using iCloud for Messages
Since iOS 11.4, Apple offers the ability to synchronize message conversations across all iCloud-enabled devices over regions and carriers. This may restore messages that were deleted on one device but still exist on another. If you had iCloud Messages option enabled before deleting the text conversations, there's a chance you can recover them from there without backup.
Open your iPhone, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.
On iOS 15 or earlier, turn off the Messages option and enable it again.
On iOS 16 or later, tap Show All > Messages > Sync this iPhone, toggle it off and then back on. If the notification pops up, select Disable and Download Messages.
Done! It's possible to get your lost text messages back to your iPhone.
Contact your phone carrier
Explore this as your last free option to recover the deleted messages on your iPhone. Since many service providers maintain call logs and message history, there's a chance they may be able to provide a backup of your lost text messages. Reach out to your carrier for potential backups of deleted messages on iPhone.
Final thoughts
These methods all help recover deleted text messages from an iPhone. It would be a good idea to regularly back up your iPhone text messages to avoid the hassle of recovery in case of iPhone failure or accidental deletion of important conversations.
FAQs about iPhone message recovery
1. Can I recover permanently deleted messages on my iPhone?
Yes. Once text messages are permanently deleted on your iPhone, they remain recoverable until overwritten by new data. This provides an opportunity to retrieve deleted messages and recover lost data. Some efficient and powerful data recovery software can help you to fully scan your iPhone device storage so you can find the permanently deleted texts and get back recoverable messages.
Even if messages are overwritten, you can restore them from a recent backup stored in iCloud, iTunes, or Finder to reintegrate them into your iPhone.
2. How to find lost text messages on iPhone?
If you've mistakenly deleted a text message in the last 30 days, you can easily locate it in the Messages > Recently Deleted folder on iOS 16, iOS 17, or later. In case it's not there, utilize data recovery tools such as iOS Data Recovery to apply a thorough scan on your iPhone. This will help you find lost items that are still recoverable.
3. Can you recover deleted messages on iPhone without backup?
Recovering deleted iPhone text messages can be challenging but not impossible. Here are a few options you can make use of:
Check the Recently Deleted folder in Messages (since iOS 16)
