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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

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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

121 replies

Jul 25, 2013 11:22 AM in response to gixxermike

A large number of people on this and related posts seem to be misunderstanding the problem. The issue raised is that the iPhone does not delete the name and/or number to which text messages or iMessages have been sent. This is not a problem related to Spotlight Search. That is easy to fix and has been explained on here several times. Go into settings/general etc and uncheck "messages" and that does the trick, leastwise it should.


The problem here is that when you start a new Text message or iMessage (NOT an e-mail), the system pulls up a list of previous addressees not just from your current Contacts. For example, you once had a Contact called LS Dancing School but your kids now no longer go there, but you had sent the school text messages in the past. Now that your kids don't go there, you have deleted LS Dancing from your contact list. This has been backed up and synched with iTunes on your laptop several times. However, every time you send a text to a contact beginning with "L", up pops LS Dancing in the autotype list!!!


Apparently it is not possible to delete these old contacts from the autotype list. Whilst this is only irritating for many, it is a MAJOR SECURITY FLAW for the business world. For example, any contact with companies by text in the past, can be shown up this way. If that was unauthorised, or something similar, then there is no way of stopping that companies name showing in the autofill list thus recealing past contacts.


It seems that the only thing to do is a factory reset. This simply deletes all no-system data so you have to start again - but be warned, a back-up/restore will re-instate the problem.


I love my iPhone but this is a serious flaw which Apple seem to be ignoring. If they don't fix it I will end up with a Samsung and Android which would be a shame.

Dec 28, 2012 8:27 PM in response to gixxermike

You are correct. My bf unknowingly was showing me how to look up contacts through the spotlight search, little did he or I know at the time that the first sentance of text messages would show up.

Oh how I did not like what I saw. 😟

I have also played with it on mine, it is hit or miss as you have to type in a keyword that is actually in the text. You cannot read the whole text, nor really tell who the actual sender or reciever is, only the other name exchanging the texts.

Seems to me if they are still in there enough to show up in spotlight search there has to be a way to recover them. But you cannot open them once they have been deleted.

There can be enough evidence just in that to get you in trouble.

Although the easiest solution is just to do the right dang thing in the first place and not be exchanging texts that you wouldn't want someone else to see. Grrrrrr!!!

But changing your settings will stop the spolight search from searching text messages, or email whatever you don't want to show up.

But all someone has to do if they can get to your phone is recheck the settings and bam!!

The truth will always come out in time anyway!

Sep 16, 2017 9:35 PM in response to The Hidden Wizard

Hi there.... I try to explain this to people. all phone company's including cell phone company's are required to keep records of all your texts messages period so.....every word you text there will always be a record of it....

example

Fighting with your girlfriend

picking up a bag of pot.

Doing anything illegal or unethical?

You are stupid to use texting

Voice calling is the safest form of communications always have, always will be. They can easily be retrieved via court order. HTH

Sep 27, 2010 2:13 PM in response to gixxermike

Settings are lost when restoring as a new iPhone or not from your iPhone's backup, but all iTunes content on your iPhone - all music, movies, tv shows, and 3rd party apps should be in your iTunes library on your computer, and contacts are designed to be synced with a supported address book application on your computer and should be available on your computer with or without an iPhone or any cell phone. Not a good idea to depend on your iPhone or any cell phone alone for contacts, which can be lost or stolen.

I have nothing to be worried about - mainly since I have nothing to hide. If I discovered someone I allowed to use my iPhone doing a spotlight search for something in particular on MY iPhone, that would be the last time they would use it.

Sep 27, 2010 2:46 PM in response to gixxermike

Not necessarily.

OS X on your Mac includes a secure erase feature when emptying the Trash, but not when deleting email from within an email client. If you don't use the secure erase feature on your Mac when emptying the Trash, the data can be recovered with a data recovery utility until the area on the hard drive where the data was stored is overwritten with new data, or until the hard drive is securely erased when being reformatted.

This applies to email deleted with the email client used on your computer since there is no secure erase for this data.

The same applies to the iPhone with the Spotlight search feature being overzealous with finding data that was deleted. Until the area on the flash drive where the data was stored is overwritten with new data or unless Erase All Content and Settings on the iPhone is used which is a secure erase, the data will be picked up by Spotlight which can be important to some users when data is accidentally deleted from the iPhone.

Text messages don't actually get deleted

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