Deleting text, especially unintentionally, can be quite unfortunate; this is because it can quite difficult to recover these deleted text messages. Recovering deleted messages can also be useful when you feel your partner is hiding something from you. For any methods that can be used, the most important feature is time. You can recover text messages as soon as they are deleted; the longer the text is in the recycle bin, the harder it is to recover it.
How to find deleted texts on Android phones
- Pull up the Google Drive backup: To use this method, you need to have a Google Drive backup; it is the only efficient way to retrieve deleted messages on your Android phone. Go to the Google Drive associated with your account on a computer, scan the backup folder for the date you received the message. Any deleted texts should be in there. If there are no backup files in your drive, this means backup is turned off. To use this feature later, open your “Settings“, tap “Connected Devices“, select “Backup“, and “Backup now“. Confirm that SMS is checked in the list. Do not access someone else’s drive without their permission.
- Use a third-party app: You can also download SMS Backup & Restore. This app is a free alternative for Android users, download the app on the your phone and connect the backup file to your personal Google account. Text messages can be backed up hourly, daily, or weekly.
Kindly note that there are several apps in the Play Store that claims to be used for this specific reason. Be careful while installing these apps, as some of them have malware or bloatware that can harm your phone or worse, steal your data.
Recover texts on your iPhone
- Confirm there is a backup file to restore: iCloud automatically backs up text on an iPhone. To confirm there is a backup, go to your “Settings”, tap on the Apple ID card and select “iCloud”. Then “Manage Storage” and “Backups.” This will give you a list of available backup points.
- Restore the phone using iCloud: Plug the phone into a computer and open the folder that pops up for the phone on the desktop. Select “Restore iPhone” to wipe the current contents. You’ll be able to select the backup point you want to restore. Wait a few minutes for the phone to finish restoring everything from that backup point.
- Use iTunes to restore a backup: If you don’t have iCloud set up, you can use iTunes to restore. Plug the phone into the computer and open iTunes. Click the phone in the sidebar on the left, and then select the “Restore iPhone” or “Restore Backup” option. This will erase everything on the phone. From there, select your backup point and whatever messages existed on the phone at that point will reappear. You can use Finder to do this if you have a Mac with macOS Catalina or newer. The process is identical, but you open the menu for the phone after it pops up in Finder, not iTunes.
- Use third-party apps and programs: For security reasons, you need to do this with extreme caution. Third-party apps out there are largely incapable of pulling deleted messages up. Most of them are malware or designed to steal your data. However, if it is necessary, Dr. Fone, Enigma Recovery, PhoneRescue, and Tenorshare UltData are the most reputable options. However, most users are unable to pull up deleted text messages.