Text messages disappeared

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MonicaC2021 Author

Level 1

10 points

Text messages disappeared

My text messages have disappeared. I’ve had the same phone number for 11 years, and have kept all my text messages throughout the decade. I often refer back to older conversations for many purposes (professional and personal). I just found that ALL of my messages from over one year ago are suddenly gone. They have disappeared from my phone with no warning, and they’re not on iCloud. I can’t figure out why my texts have evaporated, (a possible update?) but I know I never voluntarily changed the settings. Since I rely on old text conversations for many reasons I am wondering if there’s a way to retrieve them. Thank you.

iPhone 11, iOS 14

Posted on Feb 27, 2021 10:57 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 27, 2021 11:28 PM in response to MonicaC2021

Delete a message or conversation

When you delete a message or conversation, you can't get it back. So make sure that you save important information from your messages.

Though restore from iTunes backup is an option but you need to restore the entire iPhone (only messages restoration option does not exists) including all apps, Photos, Videos, Voice Memos, Notes on your iPhone etc...

The question is when did you backup on iTunes and when did you delete...Read on...

Let us assume...

Date1 : Backup date

Date2 : Message Deletion Date

Date3 : Current Date / Restoration Date

Given that --> Date1 < Date2 < Date3

Risk of restoring on Date3: You may lose data between the Date1 & Date 3

Mitigation: Create Multiple backup on iTunes for the same device. (By default iTunes creates incremental backup over the existing backup such that you only will have one backup per device on iTunes)

How to create Multiple Backup for the same device.

On iTunes Click on Manage Backups
Right Click on a Backup and Click Archive
Click Backup Now.
You will see a fresh backup will get created See the GIF below

Restore from Backup dated Date1 (Archived)
Retrieve the message and store it separately
Restore from Current Backup Date3

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Answer 2

Feb 27, 2021 11:27 PM in response to MonicaC2021

Settings > Messages > Keep Messages [Chose your option]

Watch the GIF below

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Answer 3

MonicaC2021 Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 28, 2021 6:15 AM in response to SravanKrA

Yes, thank you, as soon as I noticed this issue, I immediately went to settings and saw that the “1 year” option was somehow selected and switched it to “forever.” But I can’t figure out how that “1 year” selection had ever been changed, since I’ve always saved all my texts forever and have never deleted any. With the correct option now selected, I know this won’t happen in the future, but I can’t figure out how to retrieve my old messages from the past.

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Answer 4

MonicaC2021 Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 28, 2021 6:22 AM in response to SravanKrA

Thank you for your reply, but since I’ve never voluntarily deleted a text message, I’m not sure how this applies. I have kept ALL of my text threads forever. Now, any conversation older than 12 months has inexplicably disappeared. I’m trying to get them back since I need some of them for professional reasons. My backups have photos and voice memos, but not text messages.

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Answer 5

Feb 27, 2021 11:28 PM in response to MonicaC2021

Please check whether you are using the correct Apple ID on your device.

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Text messages disappeared

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