Abdalla

Q: how to restore deleted iMessages on mac

Hi

I have by accident deleted contents of an iMessage on a specific contact on my mac.

We used to communicate through my mac, naturally, mac was linked to my iphone.

 

Is there a way to restore the contents of the iMessages deleted on my mac. My operating system is Mavrick

 

Thanks folks to advise me

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz, Time Capsule

Posted on Feb 18, 2014 4:59 AM

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Q: how to restore deleted iMessages on mac

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  • by BobRz,

    BobRz BobRz Feb 18, 2014 6:14 AM in response to Abdalla
    Level 5 (6,115 points)
    Feb 18, 2014 6:14 AM in response to Abdalla
  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Feb 18, 2014 9:14 AM in response to Abdalla
    Level 10 (208,022 points)
    Applications
    Feb 18, 2014 9:14 AM in response to Abdalla

    You can only restore the whole message database, not individual messages or conversations. This procedure will replace the database with an earlier version, so you'll lose all later changes.

      

    Sign out of iMessage and all other IM accounts, if any. Quit Messages. Hold down the option key and select

      

    Go Library

      

    from the Finder menu bar. A folder window will open.

     

    Restore the subfolder named "Messages" from a backup that predates the unwanted changes, then log out and log back in.

      

    If you're running OS X 10.9 or later, delete the subfolder Containers/com.apple.iChat.

     

    If you don't have a backup, the archive can't be restored.

  • by Abdalla,Helpful

    Abdalla Abdalla Feb 18, 2014 11:32 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Feb 18, 2014 11:32 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Really great!

    Yes, it solved my problem and all older database is back.

    Thanks a milion, Linc

    Abdalla

  • by julesorlando,

    julesorlando julesorlando Dec 29, 2014 12:51 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2014 12:51 PM in response to Linc Davis

    How do i restore the subfolder?

  • by julesorlando,

    julesorlando julesorlando Dec 29, 2014 12:57 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2014 12:57 PM in response to Linc Davis

    How do i restore the subfolder?

  • by eddied112,

    eddied112 eddied112 Dec 27, 2015 10:12 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 27, 2015 10:12 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi there,

     

    I tried following your suggestion after accidentally deleting a conversation, but when I start iMessage again it just brings up a blank window. I restored the Messages folder from Time Machine and I can see it still has a chat.db size of 28.6MB, but nothing is showing in the iMessage window. I'm running 10.11.2 on an iMac.

     

    Any suggestions on how to get my iMessage conversations back on my Mac - am I missing something?

     

    Many thanks.

     

    Eddie.

  • by Symanski,

    Symanski Symanski Sep 28, 2016 12:34 PM in response to Abdalla
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Sep 28, 2016 12:34 PM in response to Abdalla

    I've just done this myself on El Capitan.   After following the instructions and not getting anywhere, I figured out that you also have to restore com.apple.iChat.   So my updated instructions are:

     

    Firstly, you need a Time Machine backup.   Time Machine is brilliant and I highly recommend everybody to have this device.   If you don't have, and you have shared iMessages on your other iOS devices those deleted messages are probably there still.

     

    In iMessage, use Preferences -> Accounts, and sign out of everything.   Next, ctrl click iMessages and select Quit (two finger tap).

     

    Open Finder, use Option -> Go (option then shows extra hidden menu option) and select Library.

     

    Rename Messages (Message-old), and go in to Containers and rename com.apple.iChat in the same way.

     

    Go back up and enter Time Machine (Top right side, with the clock rewinding).   Pick a suitable date and restore Messages.   Go back in to Containers and do the same for com.apple.iChat.

     

    Once done, log out.   Give a moment.   Log back in.   Open iMessages and sign in again.   And for me, that was it.   All done.   You of course will now have lost any messages from the time the backup was made, but I'm guessing those old messages were more important.