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Level 1

132 points

Text messages don't actually get deleted

To all apple iPhone owners! Beware !! Apple iOS software stores every text message ever made on your phone.
You may think you've deleted them but there still there. I found out myself when I was using spotlight search to find something and noticed that some text conversations I made months ago were showing up!
These text messages were deleted a long time ago or so I thought.
When I contacted apple customer support, they told me the only way to permanent remove all text messages and ooh yes also emails , is to do a master reset, or restore to factory setting on iTunes. This intern removes all data from your phone. The downside to this is all your contacts , apps, and settings are erased. You also can't backup from previous because then it puts it back in ur phone. I know I have done it.

imac, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Sep 26, 2010 8:09 PM

Best reply

Myriasnyder

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Jan 10, 2017 12:05 PM

How do I find a deleted text? I didn't want my dad to see these texts because he would tease me about it but I really want the text so I can reread them

View in context

121 replies

Sep 27, 2010 4:55 PM in response to gixxermike

I just tried to do this, and I don't see any text messages on the spotlight search after I delete them.

gixxermike Author

Level 1

132 points

Sep 27, 2010 11:54 PM in response to molotovito

I wouldnt have posted this thread if i didnt see it for myself and speak with apple customer care!
Type a text message with a certain sentence to somebody , delete that message and go into spotlight search. type in any word from that text or the persons phone number or the persons name in your address book.
The only way it will not show up in spotlight is if your settings has messages unchecked!! ( goto ) settings/general/spotlight search/
If messages is checked you will see every text message you have sent in spotlight search

Sep 28, 2010 12:32 AM in response to gixxermike

I just sent myself a text message, went to Spotlight, search found it, deleted the message, went to Spotlight. It still had the search results showing. I pressed the ⓧ at the right of the search bar and reentered the search word. It did NOT find it.

Do you have the latest firmware (4.1)?

KTjazz

Level 1

9 points

Sep 28, 2010 1:05 AM in response to Malcolm Rayfield

I checked this morning. I've looked in settings and I have the tick next to messages. I did a search, like the person above. deleted one of the messages found and did the search again. The message was gone.

I think if that was a problem before 4.1 has fixed it.

Sep 28, 2010 1:29 AM in response to gixxermike

tested today on my device, iPhone 4 iOS 4.1, search in messages enabled in spotlight, deleted message was completely erased.

DCGOO

Level 3

769 points

Sep 28, 2010 7:24 AM in response to KTjazz

I think if that was a problem before 4.1 has fixed it.

All that means is the constraint of a spotlight search has been limited to undeleted messages. The messages are very likely still buried in flash somewhere. It probably eliminates the prying eyes problem, but not necessarily the security implications. Just depends on what you are trying cover up, and from whom.

Sep 28, 2010 7:34 AM in response to DCGOO

Yep - until the area on the drive where the deleted data was stored is overwritten with new data or until the Erase All Content and Settings option on the iPhone is used which is a secure erase, data can be recovered if someone goes to the trouble and expense to try to recover it.

Igor_G5

Level 2

323 points

Sep 28, 2010 8:16 AM in response to gixxermike

I tried it on my iPhone sending a message with a word that I know I never texted before. After deleting the text Spotlight didn't find the word.

I also tried sending an email from a different account to my iPhone. After deleting the email from both my inbox and the trash Spotlight didn't find that either.

I think your confused. Yes, like on a computer, the information is still there. But your average person cannot access it.

Igor_G5

Level 2

323 points

Sep 28, 2010 8:22 AM in response to DCGOO

DCGOO wrote:
Just depends on what you are trying cover up, and from whom.

Yes the authorities can probably recover it if they are suspicious of you. If you're involved in illegal activities, don't do it with text or email. BTW your email can be retrieved from your ISP as well as a record of where you've been on the web.

Maybe an experienced hacker could retrieve it. Don't let any hackers have access to your iPhone.

Sep 28, 2010 8:35 AM in response to gixxermike

Don't let any iPhone forensics people get close to that phone!

Igor_G5

Level 2

323 points

Sep 28, 2010 1:51 PM in response to DCGOO

DCGOO wrote:
All that means is the constraint of a spotlight search has been limited to undeleted messages.

What that means is that the information is removed from the directory. It has nothing to do with spotlight the iPhone has no idea that it exists. It's just like on a computer. Even though it's really there the computer thinks it isn't. The iPhone thinks it isn't there. It has nothing to do with how Spotlight works.

It would take some serious retrieval tools to retrieve it.

kbiz

Level 1

5 points

Oct 27, 2010 3:56 PM in response to Igor_G5

I'm running 4.1 and I can still pull up old deleted text messages in spotlight search by typing in the area code of the phone number... it's not every one of them but it's a lot of them... I can't always reproduce it but there's a bunch of deleted texts that come up with previews of the text I can read... I really don't like this issue.

Jan 5, 2011 7:00 PM in response to gixxermike

They guy who posted this is correct. I dont know about emails but I know the spotlight search and the text message search can pull up previously deleted messages, but I do believe there are some stipulations. I think the deleted text messages that appear must be the last text in a deleted conversation, as in clearing a conversation. I think manually deleting each text message fixes this problem as far as i can tell. And yes it is possible to delete some messages in a convo without deleting the whole thing.

Lxgina

Level 1

9 points

Oct 13, 2012 3:30 AM in response to gixxermike

Thanks for the heads up.

It angers me that 2 years later, this is still an issue.

Windows deletes things so "you" can't search them out unless you're super techy.

Come on Apple - I can accept a false sense of security, just find a way to delete TEXTS from the phones "spotlight search" . It should be a flood light search or a interrogation room search.

i will send apple my thoughts. Yet another missed opportunity to fix stuff we beg them to fix for years.

patnas

Level 1

4 points

Mar 18, 2014 9:06 PM in response to gixxermike

HOW TO COMPLETELY DELETE A TEXT MESSAGE

1 – Always sync your phone with iTunes.

Sync regularly and sync often. Syncing your phone with iTunes is what actually erases the messages that you’ve marked for deletion. Once the sync is complete, the messages will be deleted for good.

2 – Remove Spotlight Message Search

Spotlight cant look for items when you specify it to stay away from. You can control what apps Spotlight can or can not look into. To change your settings go to:

Settings

General

Spotlight Search

Scroll to the bottom and uncheck “Messages”

While you are at it, you can uncheck any other application that you don’t want Spotlight to sniff into.

3 – Erase All Content & Settings

This is the most radical step that you can take. It goes without saying that this option, like the name suggests, will erase everything from your phone. Just make sure all your important information is already backed up. This will delete your music, email, apps, pictures and everything else. To do a complete content erase follow these steps:

Settings

General

Reset

Tap “Erase all content and settings”

Text messages don't actually get deleted