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Level 1

7 points

Deleted SMS text messages found in search

I regularly delete SMS (text message) conversations. When I search my iPhone, however, I find that conversations I have deleted are discovered by the search.

If I select a deleted message that is discovered by search, the phone jumps to the Messages screen but the deleted message does not appear. The deleted messages are only visible in search mode.

How can I ensure that messages I delete are genuinely deleted from my phone's memory and will not show up when I search my phone? I've tried switching the phone on and off but that doesn't work. I've also synced the phone to my computer. That has no effect.

I'd be really grateful for any advice!

Thanks!

MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz Core i7, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 4GB RAM

Posted on Sep 18, 2010 2:44 PM

76 replies

Nov 20, 2010 7:20 PM in response to anton kuznetsov

im having the same prob

Aztec420

Level 1

0 points

Dec 5, 2010 7:09 PM in response to Willmason

Any update on this?

ExxxTwo

Level 1

0 points

Jan 4, 2011 6:28 PM in response to Willmason

Having same issue 😟

Jan 7, 2011 4:04 PM in response to Willmason

I think I may have found a solution, or uncovered a glitch!

On my 3GS, spotlight search will still find deleted text messages if I deleted them using the "swipe", then "delete" method.

But if I deleted text messages using the "edit", then "delete" method, (viola!!) it doesn't show up on spotlight search!

Jcstokka

Level 1

0 points

Jan 10, 2011 11:43 PM in response to Willmason

Just leave it unchecked always for now if you're worried someone will see your text history. From now on click edit delete instead of swiping and deleting.

Jan 11, 2011 11:43 PM in response to Willmason

Hello,
im usually have the same problem.
trying to delete SMS message any way, but the problem isn't solved!!!
How to clean spotlight search cache?!
If the problem wouldn't be solved, my wife is kick my *** 🙂

neotonny

Level 1

0 points

Mar 28, 2011 10:38 PM in response to Willmason

Lately updated to 4.3 it does not resolve the issue. hopefully they did something in 4.3.1 😟

Apr 18, 2011 1:17 PM in response to neotonny

Unfortunately they didn't.

And they did not in 4.3.2 either 😟

It's unbelievable...

pcosta

Level 1

0 points

Apr 21, 2011 7:14 AM in response to Willmason

I have this issue, but I'm hoping it means I can recover some messages.

Background: I was out and about trying to send an MMS from the photo album... the phone crashed for whatever reason (black screen followed by automatic restart) and when I checked my message history I discovered all my messages had vanished. When I search using spotlight on the phone I can still see the messages are on the phone, but I can't read them. I have checked the contents of the backup and the messages are indeed there, but when I try to restore from that back up the messages still don't turn up. Very strange.

Apr 30, 2011 1:48 AM in response to Willmason

I have same issue 😟

May 5, 2011 10:55 PM in response to Willmason

Same issue. It doesn't happen all the time for me and I haven't figured out the steps to reproduce it.

marzukh

Level 1

0 points

May 6, 2011 12:20 AM in response to Willmason

my experience show no solution for this irritating problem. either you deleted the message selectively or the entire thread, they wont go away. If you do character search, say you key in character "y", all messages contain "y" will be shown in your search result, even if you turn off spotlight search.

My solution is to use messaging apps instead of iphone sms utility, but be careful not to include application search in your spotlight search criteria 😉

message dont die....they remain forever 👿

neotest

Level 1

0 points

May 15, 2011 8:05 PM in response to Willmason

I can't get this to work on my iphone 3gs with ios 4.3.3

How can i search for deleted sms on an iphone 4 with 4.3.2? Some sms's have not been deleted so the "contact" is still in sms of iphone but I do know some sms's are were deleted using "edit" then "delete". Can i recover these somehow?

Any help appreciated.

cmgrospe

Level 1

0 points

May 25, 2011 4:56 PM in response to Willmason

FACT: SMS messages remain on the iPhone after deletion. When “deleted” on the iPhone, they are technically hidden and marked for deletion. Text messages are then deleted only after sync with iTunes.

cmgrospe

Level 1

0 points

May 25, 2011 4:59 PM in response to Willmason

hope this helps...

http://iphone.jomra.com/2009/06/23/recover-deleted-text-message-on-iphone/

Deleted SMS text messages found in search