You might be conversing with a friend or colleague on iMessage when the message thread is suddenly deleted from the app. it may happen due to an accidental mishap, system upgrade, or device failure. It may be a critical situation because the conversation may hold important information from the person you were talking to.
While you have every reason to panic, the good news is that you shouldn’t because you can recover them on your iPhone or iPad. In this article, you’ll learn how to recover deleted messages on your iPhone and protect yourself from such incidences.
Reasons why iPhone deleted your messages
There are a few reasons why all texts from one person disappeared on iPhone. They include:
1. Wrong settings
You may have customized settings to delete chats after 30 days or one year instead of never.
You can change the settings by doing the following:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap on Messages and then Keep Messages.
- Change the settings to prevent losing messages if it is not set to forever.
Read: How to see the timestamp on an iPhone text
2. iOS bugs or glitches
Your messages may get deleted after installing the new iOS version, as many users on iOS forums complain.
It may be because the app does not configure with the apps, and the bugs can delete your messages.
How to retrieve deleted texts on iPhone
Follow these steps to retrieve deleted text messages on the iPhone:
1. Recovering messages using the iMessage app
Your messages may be deleted from iMessage temporarily, but where are they stored? Below are steps on how to recover messages on your iPhone:
- Launch the iMessage app.
- Tap on Messages and then Edit.
- Select the conversations you want to retrieve and tap on the Recover option.
- Tap on the Recover Message button or Recover (number) Messages.
2. Recover messages from iTunes or iCloud backup
If you regularly back up your files and data on iCloud or iTunes back up, then you are on the safe side. You can directly restore your lost or deleted messages on iTunes or iCloud backup.
However, it is worth mentioning that you should erase all the data on your iPhone before you recover the backed-up data. You’ll also need a password to access the backup.
Below is how you can recover data from iTunes backup:
- First, connect your iPhone to the Computer it is in sync with and open iTunes.
- When your iPhone appears on iTunes on your PC, click on the phone icon and then the Summary option.
- Click on the Restore Backup option. If the option is grayed out, you should change your backup preferences from iCloud to Computer. Of course, you can always change it after restoring your iPhone’s data.
- You will have to wait a while for it to finish, and then you will see your messages restored on your phone.
Read: Can you see texts from a blocked number in WhatsApp
Alternatively, you can retrieve deleted messages on iCloud backup using the following steps:
- You first need to reset your phone before starting this process.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap on your iCloud name at the top of the menu.
- Next, tap on the iCloud toggle and ensure that Messages are enabled on the list of apps.
- Turn on the iCloud backup toggle. This is only if you have recently backed up your data.
- Return to the main Settings app menu and tap on General, then scroll down and choose either Reset, Transfer or Reset iPhone, depending on your iOS version.
- Select Erase All Content and Settings option, then confirm that you want to proceed with the process. You must provide your iCloud password to turn off Find My Device.
- Your Apple device will take a few minutes to reset to factory settings. Once done, the iPhone’s initial welcome screen will display on the screen. Next, revisit the first few steps, and on the Apps & Data screen, choose Restore from iCloud backup.
3. Restore messages using your carrier
It can also be difficult to recover deleted texts without a backup. If you did not back up your messages, you could try to contact your phone carrier. Some phone carriers store message backups as they do phone calls.
You can try to log in to your carrier account or contact them using the customer’s service line. This is, however, the last option since it is not guaranteed that you will recover your messages using this method.
Read: How to send a direct message in Clubhouse
Stephanie is a tech writer with over 3 years of experience covering How To’s, Troubleshooting, and many other topics related to iOS, Windows, and Android. When she isn’t writing, Stephanie is either walking her dog or traveling.