Can Deleted iPhone Messages Be Recovered?

Deleted messages on Apple’s iPhone can’t officially be recovered. Although there are some ways to unofficially retrieve the messages, none of them are super simple and each one comes with its own issues and caveats that will need to be taken into consideration before attempting. In reality, when a message is deleted on an iPhone, it is meant to stay deleted.

In recent months, Apple has placed a greater emphasis on security and privacy. This is not only in terms of the user experience, but also before apps are even downloaded on an iPhone or iPad. While this focus on privacy protection is great from the user perspective, it can lead to occasions when the extra levels of security prove problematic. Accessing deleted messages after they were accidentally deleted to free up space is a prime example.

As to be expected with a company that now uses privacy as a selling point, recovering a deleted message is not something Apple actively encourages or even makes possible. The company explains as much in a support post by stating “when you delete a message or conversation, you can’t get it back.” Furthermore, even though an iPhone and its data can be linked to iCloud, deleting from an iPhone automatically syncs and deletes from iCloud as well, including messages. However, this is where one of the possible ways to recover deleted messages comes in.

Options For Recovering Deleted iPhone Messages

Put simply, the easiest and best option for recovering deleted messages is through an iCloud backup. Providing the user has backups turned on and a recently captured one, it is possible to recover deleted iPhone messages by restoring a recent version. However, this is not something to do lightly. For starters, the iPhone will first need to be reset before the backup can be applied and this will result in all of the data being wiped from the phone. Secondly, the deleted messages will only be recovered and accessible again if they were saved as part of the backup being installed. Even if the backup is applied successfully, and does include the deleted messages, it is worth keeping in mind the iPhone has only been restored to the point in time when the backup was created. In other words, any data since the backup was created, including new messages, won’t be available.

An alternative to restoring a backup is using a third-party app. The benefit here is these apps don’t require an iPhone reset or any loss of data. Instead, these apps are able to retrieve the deleted messages from the system before they have been overwritten. However, these are third-party solutions and come with their own inherent risks. Therefore, choosing an app that’s designed to specifically access personal and potentially sensitive information like text messages is not one to take lightly. Of course, there is also the option of going the carrier route. Depending on the provider, there is the possibility that an iPhone user will be able to recover deleted messages by contacting their carrier and requesting access.

As mentioned in the beginning, there’s no real easy way to recover deleted messages on an iPhone, and this is somewhat by design. All of the methods above are possibilities, but they all come with their own unique problems. For iPhone users looking to get back those deleted messages, they’ll have to weigh up whether using an older backup, a third-party app, or getting in touch with their carrier is worth the time and effort involved.

Source; Apple

About The Author

John Finn
(827 Articles Published)

John Finn is a technology editor and writer for Screen Rant. John has been covering technology since 2014 and focuses on where tech meets the movie and TV industry. A Psychology graduate from England who now lives in the US, John previously worked in the aviation industry as an airline reviewer. You can find John on Twitter @J_Finns or email at john [at] screenrant [dot] com.

More From John Finn