How can i get back text messages that were deleted

Table of Contents Show

Try iTunes or Finder
Restore deleted messages from your carrier
Recover deleted texts using an iCloud backup
Recover deleted texts from an iTunes or Finder backup
Restore deleted texts by contacting your carrier
Restore deleted texts using a third-party app

You can retrieve deleted text messages on your iPhone by restoring it with an iCloud backup.
If you save backups to your computer, you can use iTunes or Finder to recover your iPhone's texts.
If all else fails, reach out to your cellular carrier — they may restore deleted messages for you.

Whether you regularly delete your iPhone messages, or recently mass deleted them to free up storage space, you should always take care to save the texts you still need.

But if you've accidentally deleted some text messages that you meant to keep, don't panic — there are a few different ways to recover lost text messages on your iPhone. Here's what you should know.

Use iCloud

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.

To do this:

1. Open the Settings app and tap your name at the top.

2. Select iCloud, and make sure that Messages are turned on in the list of apps.

3. Tap iCloud Backup. Check that your iPhone has been backed up recently.

Make sure you've got backups turned on, and you've been saving them. Apple; William Antonelli/Insider

4. Go back to the main Settings app menu and select General, then scroll down and select either Reset or Transfer or Reset iPhone, depending on what iOS version you have.

5. Tap Erase All Content and Settings, then confirm that it's what you want to do. You'll likely have to provide your iCloud password to turn off Find My.

6. Your iPhone will take a few minutes to reset to factory conditions. After that, you'll be greeted with the iPhone's initial welcome screen. Go through the first few steps, and on the Apps & Data screen, choose Restore from iCloud Backup.

Set up your iPhone using the iCloud backup. Apple

7. Sign into iCloud to access your backups, then choose the last backup before you deleted the text messages you want to recover.

Try iTunes or Finder

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.

To retrieve deleted iPhone messages with iTunes or Finder:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes or Finder, if they don't pop up automatically.

2. In iTunes, click on the phone icon at the top of the screen and choose Summary from the menu on the left. In Finder, click your phone's name under Locations.

3. Click Restore Backup and your old texts will hopefully reappear on your phone. If they don't, your backup didn't include these texts.

Click "Restore Backup" to use the backup saved on your computer. Laura McCamy/Insider

Restore deleted messages from your carrier

If all else fails, 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.

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.

William Antonelli

Tech Reporter for Insider Reviews

William Antonelli (he/she/they) is a writer, editor, and organizer based in New York City. As a founding member of the Reference team, he helped grow Tech Reference (now part of Insider Reviews) from humble beginnings into a juggernaut that attracts over 20 million visits a month. Outside of Insider, his writing has appeared in publications like Polygon, The Outline, Kotaku, and more. He's also a go-to source for tech analysis on channels like Newsy, Cheddar, and NewsNation. You can find him on Twitter @DubsRewatcher, or reach him by email at .

Recover deleted texts using an iCloud backup

This is probably the simplest and fastest way to restore missing texts. If you have an iCloud backup from before the time when you deleted the text, you should be able to get it back by restoring your phone to that iCloud backup.

Check to see if your last iCloud backup is before you deleted your text message.

Open Settings, tap on your Apple ID card at the top, select iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups. 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.

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 > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Once your iPhone restarts and begins the setup process, choose to restore from an iCloud backup and select the backup that is dated prior to when you erased your text message.

Recover deleted texts from an iTunes or Finder backup

If you don’t want to rely on automatic iCloud backups, or don’t have enough iCloud storage space for them, you can back up your iPhone to your Mac using Finder (or to your PC with iTunes or Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier). 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.

Connect your iPhone to the PC or Mac you’ve backed it up with. On a PC (or a Mac with an older version of macOS), launch iTunes. On a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open Finder. In iTunes, click on the iPhone icon in the top left-hand corner. On a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, select your device from the left-hand menu bar in Finder.

Now choose Restore Backup. 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.

Restore deleted texts by contacting your carrier

Your cell provider might keep a record of text messages you send, at least for awhile. If you’ve deleted a text message that is really critical, you might be able to call your carrier to get a copy of it.

Note that this will only work for SMS text messages (green bubble conversations), not iMessages (blue bubble conversations). Every iMessage is encrypted on your device and not decrypted until it reaches the recipient, so your carrier wouldn’t be able to help you recover them.

In order to get a record of texts from your carrier, you will probably need to jump through a bunch of hoops 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.

But as a last resort, getting a copy of your SMS messages from your carrier is a possibility, and it’s worth calling the customer support number to ask about it.

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.

Some of the software options with a good reputation online are PhoneRescue, Wondershare Dr. Fone, and Tenorshare UltData. Much of the time, a deleted message on your iPhone is actually still there in the flash storage, waiting to be overwritten by new data. If that’s the case, one of they programs might be able to restore it.

I have written about technology for my entire adult professional life - over 25 years. I enjoy learning about how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.