How to retrieve text messages without backup from iMessage

Without an iCloud or iTunes backup with them to restore the device with, they are gone. Apple purges iMessages from their system once delivered, or within 30 days if undeliverable. Carriers similarly purge SMS/MMS as soon as they are delivered, or within a very few days if undeliverable. Nobody archives, stores or retains your texts for you anywhere. So unless you made a copy, archive or backup somewhere, your texts are gone for good once you delete them from your device(s).

As far as carrier SMS all the carrier retains is the date and time and number you sent the message to. They do keep the message itself. And Apple‘s IMessage Service has nothing to do with your carrier as that is Apple’s own internet based system, which again, does not retain messages.

On an iPhone with an secure enclave encryption system, as your SE has, deleted means the decryption key for those files is removed. All the police could possible recover from the phone itself is encrypted gibberish, with no way to decrypt it.

Doh! Except in that second paragraph, “They do keep the message itself” SHOULD read “They do NOT keep the message itself”. My bad, for not proofing my own post‘s text (or I blame the vagaries of the iPad touch screen with the forum software 😊 ).

This thread does point out an issue that comes up here in the forums frequently. So many younger people have grown up with texting and don’t realize it is not at all like email. Especially SMS, which is now a very old and dated technology (its origins go back to the 1980’s) and was never intended for anything permanent or even all that serious. Texting systems are simply meant for short communications and with no data integrity promised as part of the service. So if texting important discussions that need to be saved, that lands solely on each recipient to do so.

If texts are that valuable to anyone, they really should look into third party software for their computer (e.g. PhoneView for OS X) which not only allows you to archive texts to your computer as txt files, but also provides an arxhival system to organize them for safe keeping. At the very least, make regular iTunes and/or iCloud backups to keep them.

Beautiful thorough explanation 👏👏