You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: MonicaC2021
MonicaC2021 Author
User level: 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

Reply

Similar questions

5 replies
User profile for user: SravanKrA
SravanKrA
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
413,940 points

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.

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



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

 

Reply
User profile for user: MonicaC2021
MonicaC2021 Author
User level: 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.

Reply
User profile for user: MonicaC2021
MonicaC2021 Author
User level: 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.

Reply

Text messages disappeared

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up