Text messages can be the memories of our loved ones or the important data from the office or anything which is crucial to us. What if they got deleted somehow? Don’t Worry. This article will guide you here to recover the text messages and iMessages from your iPhone.
How to Retrieve Deleted iMessages or Text Messages
Here we will discuss five methods by which we can restore our messages to our device with or without Backup. Let’s dive in.
1. Restore deleted iMessages or text messages from iCloud backup
Clouds are the best way of storing data and managing them. Here we will use iCloud to retrieve our text messages and iMessages.
First of all, we will check whether we have backed up our data on iCloud or not. Make sure that we have backed up data before the message is deleted so we can retrieve the messages.
- Open the Settings app.
- Now, tap on your Apple ID profile.
- Go to iCloud and select Manage Storage.
- Choose the Backups option. Then you will be able to see the backups on your iCloud.
- Choose a backup and you can see when the backup was made.
If the date of the last successful backup is before the message got deleted, YAYYY! we can retrieve the messages. It is good practice that we successfully backup our data from time to time.
Now if we have the backup of our messages it’s time to restore the messages. Here’s how to do it.
- Open the Settings app and tap on General.
- Now scroll down and select General.
- Choose Transfer and Reset iPhone.
- Select Erase All Content and Settings.
- A pop-up will show up and follow the on-screen instructions to factory reset your iPhone.
- Follow the instructions until the App & Data Page shows up.
- Choose Restore from iCloud Backup on App & Data Page.
- Sign in to iCloud and proceed to Choose a backup.
- While choosing backup choose the recent one.
After this process is completed you may have to sign back into accounts. Now Check the messages you deleted, it will show up.
2. Restore deleted iMessages or text messages from iTunes backup
iTunes is another way to find deleted texts on our iPhone but for this method, we should have a PC or a Mac.
- Connect your iPhone to your computer.
- Open iTunes on Windows or Finder on Mac, and click the iPhone icon.
- Go to the Summary page and choose Restore Backup.
- Select a backup that might include your deleted iMessages or text messages.
- Click Restore and wait for the entire process to finish. Then set your iPhone and check your messages.
This process may take some time but it will help you to get the deleted messages on your iPhone.
3. Check another Apple device using the same Apple ID (if you have)
If we have another Apple device with the same Apple ID on your iPhone, the data including text messages and iMessages will be synced between them. Therefore it is recommended to cut the network connection on the devices to avoid a sync so that there may be a chance that the messages have not been deleted on another device. Then we can check and again restore the messages.
4. How to recover deleted messages on iPhone without backup :
There may be a possibility that our data was not backed up and we can’t recover our data from either iCloud or iTunes as they both require backups. In that case, we have to use some other applications which can help us to get the deleted text messages or iMessage. However, the question is, do these recovery tools really help?
Let’s find out.
Our messages are written in the form of code and saved in the internal memory. When we delete a message, we cannot see it on the iPhone, but it is still there in the internal storage unless some other new data takes up its storage position, which is called data overwriting. Because of that, you are recommended not to use your device after the deletion to avoid the deleted data being overwritten.
Therefore, you can get back deleted messages in this situation by using the help of some data recovery tools which is to search for the deleted but not viewable data.
There are some recovery tools that can help you to recover your deleted messages from your iPhone.
Wondershare Dr.Fone is the software that we can use to recover our deleted data. It recovers not only messages but photos, videos, and contacts too. It is highly compatible and easy to use. Here are the steps to use Dr. Frone
- Install Dr. Frone on our Computer.
- Now connect your iPhone with the computer using a data cable.
- Then after launching Dr. Frone on our computer, choose the Data Recovery.
- After the program detects our device a window will appear.
- In this window, we have to select what we are recovering. Here it is the Messages & Attachments.
- After selecting what we are recovering, tap the “Start Scan” button so that the program can look at the deleted text messages and iMessages on our device.
- Finally, we have the data that have been recovered.
- With the free version, you can preview the messages. With the full version, you can restore the messages to your device.
5. Contact your carrier to recover text messages
If we have no backup and deleted text messages have been overwritten, there is still the last chance and option we try asking for help from your iPhone cellular provider or carrier which we will discuss later on, who may have stored your text messages on their servers.
Carrier companies have access to a backup of your text messages, which is another way of recovering the deleted text messages. It is to contact your carrier. If the data has not been overwritten or updated by some other data, they can provide us with a copy of our data. Remember that these companies do not record the data for too long so it is necessary to contact them as soon as possible.
This will only work for the text messages not for iMessages as they are encrypted from end to end. In this case, even the carrier companies won’t be able to help.
