How to recover deleted text messages on iPhone and Android?

recover deleted text

Have you ever gotten a new phone to discover that all of your important text messages are gone? Have you just accidentally deleted text messages that were kind of important? Regardless of your reason for needing to recover text messages, your Google searches probably look something like this:

  • How to recover text messages iPhone
  • Recover Android text messages
  • How to recover text messages
  • How to restore text messages

Don’t panic, though. There is a way to restore text messages that were previously deleted. How you’ll go about it all depends on the type of phone you have.

How to recover deleted text messages on iPhone using iCloud and iTunes

If you have an iPhone, you’ll have an easier time recovering deleted text messages. It still takes a hard reset of your phone to its factory settings, and maybe a few hours depending on how much data is there. If you’ve been regularly backing up your phone, though, the wait to recover text messages will be worth it.

Recover Deleted Text Messages with iCloud

First, check when you last backed up your iPhone. Any messages on your phone at the time of it being backed up will be in the iCloud, making it easy to recover text messages on iPhone.

However, if you’re trying to recover specific text messages that were sent after the time of your last backup, you should stop here. Not only will this method not bring your text messages back, but you will have lost all the new data on your iPhone from the time of the last backup.

If you think this method will recover text messages, make sure you set aside a lot of time.

Go to Settings > General and tap Reset. After that, you’ll want to tap Erase All Content and Settings. This will wipe all data currently saved on your phone. If you’ve been backing up your phone frequently, all this data will be there when you reupload. If you haven’t, this data will be lost forever.

, Finally, you’ll want to go to Apps and Data and select Restore from iCloud Backup. Depending on how much you’re re-adding to your phone, this part of the process could take a while. When your phone starts up though, you will have restored all of your text messages.

Recover Deleted Text Messages with iTunes

iPhones also sync to iTunes automatically if you frequently plug your phone into your computer. This is a nifty feature that creates a second backup of your phone, keeping all your data safe.

Once you’ve plugged your phone into your computer, open up iTunes. In iTunes, go to the backups section on the right side. You’ll be able to see a list of backups to choose from. Once again, you’ll want to check and see the date and time of your last backup. If you’re trying to recover specific text messages, make sure that the text messages were sent before this backup took place. If it has, you can replace the current data on your iPhone with this backup data.

The Downsides

There are a few downsides to using backups to recover deleted text messages. If you haven’t frequently been backing up your iPhone data to iCloud or iTunes, it might not work the way you want it to. If you’re looking to recover specific text messages, check to see if they would have been sent before your most recent backup in iCloud or iTunes. This will prevent unnecessary loss of data.

On the plus side, if you’re trying to recover text messages and load them to a brand-new phone, these are the easiest and most effective ways to do that.

How to restore deleted text messages on Android

If you have a Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, or similar Android devices, this section is for you. Unfortunately, it’s a little harder to recover android text messages compared to the iPhone. Recovering Android text messages still rely on backing up your phone to Google’s cloud service. But that’s a less intuitive process than backing up your iPhone to the iCloud, and it can be hard to restore these backups without losing monumental pieces of data. Oftentimes, your best bet for recovering android text messages is using a third-party app.

Recover Deleted Text Messages via Backups

This process is very similar to the way we recovered iPhone text messages. You’re erasing all of the data on your Android Phone and replacing it with a backup. If you haven’t been backing up your phone using Google Backup, though, this won’t work.

If you haven’t been backing up your Android text messages, you can go to Settings > Google Backup. And then select SMS Messages. This will ensure your messages are being backed up in the future.

The downside of restoring your text messages with this method is that you have to do it immediately after you’ve deleted your text messages. Google Drive backs up your phone onto Google Drive, which updates every 12 to 24 hours. You’ll also lose any other texts that came after you last backed up your phone.

Using a Text Message Recovery App to Recover Deleted Text Messages

Text message recovery apps might not work, but it’s sometimes your best bet to recover deleted text messages that would otherwise be lost forever. You can also use a third-party app on your iPhone, but there are a few downsides.

  • Sometimes you have to pay for the service. Depending on how important your deleted text messages are, this might be worth it.
  • Third-Party Apps aren’t as trustworthy as the backups on your phone. They get root access to your phone, which allows them to search any file on your device. Even if you recover your text messages, it might be sacrificing the security on your phone.

Third-party apps are good for recovering deleted text messages if you’re desperate, but make sure to be careful with what apps you trust and how much access you give.

Protecting Text Messages

What’s the easiest way to recover deleted text messages? Frequently backup your phone and make sure you’re backing up any saved texts. If you have a coupon code or have a similar text message you want to save, screenshot it to retrieve it later easily. In extreme cases, you can use a third-party app to restore text messages, but these come with security risks.

When’s the last time you backed up your phone?

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