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Restore message conversation

I accidentally erased one conversation in my messages. I tried to find information on how to restore it from my iCloud back-up but can't find a relevant subject anywhere. What should I do?

OS 10.14.6

iOS14.6

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 31, 2021 1:36 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 1, 2021 12:02 PM

Thanks for reaching back out, peo bjorn. While you have your backup, with your messages, you wouldn't be able to just restore the messages, you'd have to restore the whole backup.


Also, before you take this step, it's a good idea to go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud and see if Messages is enabled there. If it is, your conversation will not be stored in your backup. You can read more on this here:


How to delete messages in iCloud


Also, if you deleted the entire conversation, it may not be recoverable, even when restoring a backup. The following article states "You can’t recover a deleted conversation."


Delete messages on iPhone


Have a good day.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 1, 2021 12:02 PM in response to peo björn

Thanks for reaching back out, peo bjorn. While you have your backup, with your messages, you wouldn't be able to just restore the messages, you'd have to restore the whole backup.


Also, before you take this step, it's a good idea to go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud and see if Messages is enabled there. If it is, your conversation will not be stored in your backup. You can read more on this here:


How to delete messages in iCloud


Also, if you deleted the entire conversation, it may not be recoverable, even when restoring a backup. The following article states "You can’t recover a deleted conversation."


Delete messages on iPhone


Have a good day.

Jun 1, 2021 10:40 AM in response to peo björn

Hello, peo bjorn.


Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We see you have questions about missing conversations from your Messages. We'd like to help. Did you have a back up created for your iPhone, with that thread in it? If so, restoring to that backup would be the way to get those messages back. This link can help: Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup


Take care.

Jun 1, 2021 11:32 AM in response to Nicholas_B2

Thanks for your response! I do have an iCloud backup of my phone from the day before the mishap. In iTunes I can see a slice of the content bar marked Messages. I don’t want to restore the phone totally, only the erased Messages conversation. But when trying to follow the instructions found on Apple Support I get nowhere. I don't even manage to log in from the iTunes restore button in order to use the backup copy, because the interface doesn't tell me which password it’s asking for. I tried my general Mac password, my iCloud password and my keychain password, but it recognizes neither. Please tell me where I can find accurate instructions!

Restore message conversation

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