How to Recover Deleted Text Messages on iPhone With iOS 16
Beginning with iOS 16, Apple added several enhancements to its Messages app, including the ability to recover deleted text messages directly from the Messages app. Here’s how:
How to Recover Text Messages for iPhone Using iCloud
The process involves restoring your device with data from a recent iCloud backup. Any messages that were present on your phone at the time of the backup are retrievable. Be aware that your phone might not be backing up to iCloud and even if it is, it might not be backing up information from the Messages app. Before following the steps below, you might need to back up your text messages.
Recover Deleted iPhone Text Messages Using iTunes
If you regularly sync your iPhone with iTunes on your Mac rather than iCloud, iTunes has a backup available from each time you synced – unless you turned off the feature to automatically sync your iPhone with your computer. If you want to get that text message back and you’ve been backing up your iPhone to your computer, then you can likely retrieve it using a recent backup.
You Can Also Recover Using a Third-Party App for iPhone
If neither of the above methods works for you, the next option is to try a third-party app to recover your deleted text messages. There are plenty of apps out there designed to help you recover deleted text messages, many of which offer free trials and can be used to recover other types of lost data from an iPhone as well. The PhoneRescue and Dr.fone text message recovery apps for iPhone that often get positive reviews.
How to Retrieve Deleted Texts on Android
The story is a little different if you’re recovering deleted texts on an Android phone. If you haven’t backed up text messages to Google’s cloud service, your best bet is to use a message recovery app to recover deleted texts. Then, get into the habit of regularly backing up your Android phone so you can retrieve texts and other data in the future. These apps often offer free trials and include the ability to recover other types of data from your Android, which can come in handy. Some of the third-party apps for recovering deleted texts on Android that get positive nods online include SMS Backup & Restore, FonePaw Android Data Recovery, and MobiKin Doctor for Android. It is stressful to realize you accidentally deleted an important message, but with some patience and the right tools, you can often recover the deleted messages. By regularly backing up your iPhone or Android device, you can have the peace of mind of knowing you’ll never lose another important text message.
