recover deleted messages

The Apple Support article just above your name has all the answers. To review the critical elements:

• iOS 16 must be installed on the iPhone
• The message was deleted.....after....iOS 16 was installed
• No more than 30 days have passed since the message was deleted

If the message meets all 3 requirements above....

Tap Settings

Tap Messages

Tap Edit

Tap Recently Deleted

You can tap to select the particular message you want in Recently Deleted and the tap Restore to move the message back to regular Messages.

IF.....Recently Deleted does not appear at all.....then there are no messages that meet the requirements above.

mymessage225 wrote:

if I deleted this message over 30 days ago, i am out of luck? Will the provider be able to recover them for a regular human customer?

You're out of luck. Carriers don't store the actual message content.

mymessage225 wrote:

Thank you, appreciate the answer, I agree i may not be able to get them but the police seem to be able too, well on tv anyway.

Don't believe everything you see on television! It makes for a great plot device but it's not reality.