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How do you retrieve deleted text messages

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 13

Posted on May 15, 2020 6:38 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 15, 2020 8:13 PM

If you have activated what is called iCloud Messages it sets up your devices so if you delete say an message from your iPhone it also deletes the message from your iPad and your MacBook Pro and iCloud so you don't have to delete them individually on each machine. Since it does this there is no backup available. If you did not turn on iCloud messaging then it is backed up presuming that you actually backed up your iPhone before you deleted the text. messages. If you did you can restore your iPhone from your backup and get them back. You will lost any data added to your backup since the date/time of that backup.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 15, 2020 8:13 PM in response to Jompowell

If you have activated what is called iCloud Messages it sets up your devices so if you delete say an message from your iPhone it also deletes the message from your iPad and your MacBook Pro and iCloud so you don't have to delete them individually on each machine. Since it does this there is no backup available. If you did not turn on iCloud messaging then it is backed up presuming that you actually backed up your iPhone before you deleted the text. messages. If you did you can restore your iPhone from your backup and get them back. You will lost any data added to your backup since the date/time of that backup.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

May 15, 2020 6:46 PM in response to Jompowell

If you go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Apple ID > iTunes & App Store > iCloud and if messages is turned on, you can't restore a deleted message. If you don't sync message in iCloud and you have a backup you made before you deleted the message, you can restore your iPhone from that backup. This will return your phone to the date the backup was made, so messages sent or received after that backup will be gone.

May 15, 2020 8:16 PM in response to Jompowell

iCloud is a syncing service, not an archive. If you delete data you sync with iCloud, it deletes from iCloud at the same time. This is why you are asked if you are sure you want to delete a text message before you delete to ensure you really want it deleted. This applies to anything you sync with iCloud, such as notes or photos. If you delete them on your iPhone (or for that matter any other iOS device you own with the same Apple ID), they delete from iCloud and the associated devices.

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