It’s happened to all of us. We accidentally delete an important text message from our phone or another cell phone or the other person deletes it before we have a chance to read it. There’s no need to panic, though—with these simple steps, you can restore deleted text messages on your iPhone and get that information back again.
Overview
Text messages have become so common, it’s not unusual for people to send or receive thousands of messages per month. That number can grow even higher when considering how many text messages you’ve deleted without a backup copy, or texts that are lost because of your iPhone’s malfunctioning software. Since recovering deleted texts is difficult and can only be done using third-party tools, the best thing you can do is take precautions to avoid losing them in the first place by following these simple tips:
1) Quit an app in the foreground if you’re not currently using it; some apps will continue sending data through your phone’s internet connection while they remain open in the background, which might result in a lost text message from hours ago.
2) Disconnect from any Bluetooth devices if you’re not using them; a Bluetooth connection can cause your phone to send information, and losing your texts could be a result. 3) Stay away from Wi-Fi-based applications that don’t require passwords and may log data while they run in the background; anything connected to your phone through Wi-Fi has access to its data, which includes your deleted text messages. Don’t use free Wi-Fi hotspots as they are known security risks where anyone can access your data.
iCloud Backup
- iCloud Backup
- iTunes Backup
- Restore Factory Settings
a few minutes, your device will reboot and you’ll see an image of an Apple logo. When your phone reboots, enter your passcode. iTunes Backup – Second Paragraph:
- Restore Navigate to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings
After via iTunes
iTunes Backup
It’s possible that you might accidentally delete a text message before you have the chance to save it and so, if this is the case, you can use an iTunes backup. You’ll first need a computer with iTunes installed or your phone connected to a working WiFi network. Connect your device and select Restore Backup then select your most recent backup. It may take a while for your iPhone to sync with the software again but once it does, messages will be restored from when they were last backed up. The downside of this method is that messages won’t be recovered if you’ve only been using the device for a few days because messages get overwritten as soon as new ones are sent and received.
Recovery Mode
The first method is a bit more technical and will allow you to look for deleted text messages by switching your phone into Recovery Mode. Apple details this process in their instruction manual, so we suggest consulting it for the full run-down. Switching your phone into Recovery Mode makes it so that you can access both old and new messages. Note: Doing this will erase all data from your phone, so be sure you back up everything beforehand.
To switch into Recovery Mode, you must first turn off the iphone while its still connected to iTunes. Then disconnect the phone from the computer before turning it back on again (don’t forget to do this step or nothing will happen). Wait until the apple icon appears and connect your device with iTunes again.
Once your phone is connected with iTunes, press and hold down both home button and lock/sleep button until an app screen appears. You should then be able to see text messages in that same app. We highly recommend that you backup your device at this point, as it will enable you to restore all your lost data if anything goes wrong. If you don’t backup, any messages you find will be lost forever once you disconnect from iTunes. Note: If you don’t have a backup and are still able to open up deleted text messages successfully, congratulations! Do note that their recovery may not last forever though—Apple notes that information recovered from