• 08 Apr 2024

How To Restore Deleted iPhone Text Messages In A Few Simple Steps

Text messages are one of the most significant pieces of information we possess. Whether it’s a simple letter from a friend or a handwritten note that could be used as evidence in a lawsuit, protecting these messages is important.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to accidentally delete your messages when you’re trying to free up some space on your iPhone.

You can protect your valuable messages by backing up your phone regularly. But what happens if you don’t have a backup?

Don’t worry, this article will show you 6 tried and true ways to get your deleted iPhone SMS, iMessage, or WhatsApp messages.

Method 1: Recover messages from an iPhone backup on your computer

However, unlike some of the other solutions mentioned in the article, this method does not necessitate that you overwrite your existing iPhone data to recover deleted messages.

You can also get all the messages that were on your iPhone at the time you created the backup using a tool like ibackup Extractor. As a result, if you’ve lost your messages since you last backed them up, you can get them back with the help of i Backup Extractor.

Your deleted messages will be saved to your computer or printed for you by iBackup Extractor. It will not be restored to your iPhone.

Here’s how to restore deleted iPhone messages from backup:

  • Launch iBackup Extractor after downloading it to your Mac or PC.

  • Choose the backup of your iPhone that you want to get.

  • To view the conversation that contains your deleted messages, click “Messages”.

  • You can save the reports to your device or print them.

You can save in PDF format, HTML format, or plain text using the drop-down buttons at the bottom of the ibackup Extractor.

SMS, MMS, iMessage, line, and WhatsApp conversations can be extracted from an iPhone backup using iBackup Extractor.

Backup Extractor saves your texts, important data such as the date and time they were sent, and attachments such as images when exporting messages.

Method 2: Restore your iPhone Messages using an iCloud backup

If you back up your iPhone on iCloud, you might have a copy of your device before your messages were erased. 

If the answer is yes, you can get your messages back by restoring your iPhone from the iCloud backup. Please note that if you use this method, your current iPhone data will be overwritten with the backup data. This can lead to data loss. This is why you should proceed with caution when choosing this solution.

How to Back Up Messages with iCloud Backup

  • Make sure you have an up-to-date backup of your deleted messages. Go to Settings > [name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups. Next, click on the device under Backups to view the date and the size of its most recent backup.

  • Then, go to Settings > General > Reset, and tap ‘Erase All Content and Settings’. This may take a couple of minutes and will trigger a device installation when it’s done.

  • During setup, go to Apps & Data and click Restore from iCloud Backup.

  • Log in using your Apple ID.

  • Finally, click “Choose backup” and make sure you choose the right iCloud backup you want to restore.

Method 3: Use an iTunes backup to restore your iPhone’s messages.

If you’ve backed up your iPhone to iTunes instead of iCloud, you can do the same thing. You can therefore get your texts back if you have an iTunes backup stored on your computer that was made when your iPhone had the messages you wanted on it.

This method will also overwrite your existing iPhone data, just like the iCloud backup method. Ensure you have backups of any data that you don’t want to lose in the backup-recovery process.

How to Restore iTunes Backup to iPhone:

  • Open iTunes and plug in your iPhone using the USB cable.

  • In iTunes, select your device icon.

  • Select “Restore Backup”.

  • Choose the backup with the messages you want.

  • To restore, click on the “Restore” button. If you have encrypted backups, you’ll need to enter the backup encryption password now.

Method 4: How to See Deleted Messages on iPhone

iOS 16 brought us one of the most awaited features: the ability to restore deleted messages on your iPhone.

This feature allows you to recover deleted messages from your iPhone that have been deleted within the last 30 days, without backup or even on a computer.

How to Restore Recently Deleted Messages on iPhone

  • To do this, go to your iPhone’s Messages app.

  • To do this, click on ‘Edit’ and then select ‘View Recently Deleted’.

  • Choose the messages that you want to recover.

  • Select ‘Recover’ and then ‘Recover Messages’.

As soon as you have a recovered message or conversation, it will automatically reappear in the Messages app.

Also, Read: The Top Smartphone Brands In India

Method 5: Contact a friend

The easiest way to do this is to ask the recipient of your deleted messages if they have them on their device.

Depending on your needs, you can ask them to take screenshots of the messages and then send them via email or WhatsApp.

It’s easy, isn’t it? Sure, it’s not as reliable as copying your messages as PDFs or printing them directly from your PC, or as easy as restoring them to your iPhone if you can’t find them anywhere else, but it’ll keep your important messages safe.

Method 6: Contact your phone service provider

If you don’t have a backup of your deleted messages or your contact doesn’t have them, your last option is to call your phone company.

Some service providers don’t store deleted messages, but others do! So it’s a good idea to check with your service provider if they have deleted messages.

This should be done as soon as possible as messages are sometimes only saved for a few days.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. There are plenty of ways to get your deleted text messages back on your iPhone. All you need to know is where to look.

Use this guide immediately after you realize that your messages have been removed. The more time you wait, the more likely it is that your backups will be overwritten or that your service providers will delete your backup messages.