How to Recover Deleted Messages on iPhone

If you have recently completed a backup using iCloud, you can recover deleted messages on your iPhone by restoring the old backup.

Unfortunately you will need to reset your phone to factory settings before you can restore the backup. This means that anything added to your iPhone after the backup was taken will be deleted.

Also, something important to keep in mind is that you cannot check what was saved during the backup without resetting the phone and restoring the backup. The main indicator of whether it will recover your messages is the date (and whether they were still saved on your phone at the time the backup was taken).

1 – Open Settings, select the Apple ID at the top.

Then select iCloud, Manage Storage, Backups.

Here you will see a list of backups previously taken. Select the one for your iPhone to see the date it was taken.

2 – Now reset your iPhone to factory settings

3 – After it restarts and you enter the setup process, choose to restore iPhone from an iCloud backup. Then you can select the backup you want.

If you don’t have any iCloud backups stored on your phone, you may have some saved through iTunes. As with the previous method, to recover messages from iTunes you also need to reset the iPhone to factory settings before restoring a backup, thus deleting everything added to the iPhone since the backup. Apple has some fairy thorough instructions for this method. 

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB or USB-C cable or a Wi-Fi connection.
2. Select the Device button near the top left of the window in iTunes.
3. Select Summary.
4. Select Restore, then follow the onscreen instructions.

If you don’t have any iCloud backups stored on your phone, you may have some saved through iTunes. As with the previous method, to recover messages from iTunes you also need to reset the iPhone to factory settings before restoring a backup, thus deleting everything added to the iPhone since the backup. Apple has some fairy thorough instructions for this method. 

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB or USB-C cable or a Wi-Fi connection.
2. Select the Device button near the top left of the window in iTunes.
3. Select Summary.
4. Select Restore, then follow the onscreen instructions.

If you don’t want to reset and restore your iPhone through a backup you can recover deleted messages from your iPhone directly through iCloud.com.

1. Log into your iCloud account using your Apple ID and password through https://www.icloud.com

2. Once logged in, select the Messages app icon. If it doesn’t show, then your messages aren’t backed up and this method won’t work.

3. Find the messages you want to recover to your iPhone.

4. On your iPhone, open Settings, select the Apple ID at the top.

5. Select iCloud.

6. Turn Messages OFF (if not already).

7. A window will appear, select “Keep On My iPhone.”

8. Go back and turn Messages ON.

9. Select “Merge” and wait a few minutes. The deleted messages should now be on your iPhone.

If these methods won’t work for you, there’s the option of third-party software tools that promise to restore deleted data to your iPhone. These tools usually cost $$$ and there’s no guarantee that they will work for you. If you REALLY need to recover messages to your iPhone it might be worth a try. The best way to choose these kinds of services is to double check independent reviews or forums for ones that are tried and tested by other users.

Another option is to contact your phone carrier as some do keep a record of deleted messages. If taking this approach it’s best to give it a try sooner rather than later as there will be a higher chance that the record will still be there.

The final way to see if you can recover deleted messages from your iPhone is a data recovery service. We at Aussie Mobile Phone Repairs can check over your phone to see if the messages are able to be recovered. Contact us or drop into one of our 3 Brisbane stores to get started.

We are capable of doing all repairs – hardware and software issues. We stock parts in store for apple repairs and are ready and able to complete your iPhone repair within 1 hour.