Text messaging is a quick and convenient way to relay messages to anyone. Although it’s mostly used for more personal exchanges, text messages can also be a valuable means of more formal communication. 

Whether it is a personal message or something about work, text messages could be crucial. This is why it could get rather frustrating if you accidentally delete messages. The next thing you know, you’re getting frustrated trying to recover deleted texts or lost texts. Don’t worry anymore. Read on to learn several ways on how to recover deleted text messages. 

Is It Possible to Recover Deleted Text Messages?

Is it even really possible to recover deleted text messages on an Android or recover deleted text messages from an iPhone? The good news is, yes, you can retrieve deleted text messages. There are several ways of going about this; some ways are similar on both Android phones and iOS devices, while there are ways unique to each operating system.

The three main ways to recover deleted text messages are:

• Recovery software
• Phone Carrier
• Data Backup Storage (Google Backup for Android; iCloud for iOS)

How to Recover Deleted Text Messages On Android Device

So what do you do if you accidentally delete a text message? Initiate the retrieval process the moment you realize you actually needed that text message. There are several ways to do this, although, in some instances, recovery is not exactly guaranteed. Some methods, however, are more reliable than others.

Google Backup

For this one, you must act as quickly as possible. Also, it might be a good idea to check right now if your phone data is getting backed up on Google Drive. To recover deleted messages via Google backup, do the following:

Switch phone to Airplane Mode

Once you delete a message, it will be marked as inactive until new data is created and overwritten. Switching to Airplane mode will help prevent you from creating new data that could overwrite the message you just deleted.

Check when your SMS was last backed up on Google Drive

Go to Google Drive to see when your SMS is last backed up. Of course, you’d have to do this on your laptop or other internet-enabled devices. 

To verify the last backup date:

• Open Google Drive
• Go to Menu
• Tap Settings
• Tap Google Backup
• Select the name of your device. Check whether the last backup timestamp for SMS Text Messages was before you deleted the text message you want to retrieve.

Factory Reset your Phone

This step is required since you can’t directly recover the deleted message in your Google Drive account. The process may vary depending on your Android phone. In general, though, just:

• Go to Phone Settings
• Find Reset option
• Choose Factory Reset, then follow the prompted steps.

Phone Carrier

You may contact your phone carrier to retrieve deleted text messages. They actually store deleted messages for a while after you’ve deleted them. Just take note of the following.

• Your carrier might not grant your request to access deleted text messages if they do not find your reason valid enough.
• Your carrier will certainly grant your request if it’s for critical reasons, such as the text being a piece of evidence for a case and the like.
• Even if your phone carrier agrees, they may not still be able to retrieve the deleted text message.

Data Recovery Software

Not everyone would want to reset their phone because, although it might restore the deleted text, it could also delete some important files. In this case, you might want to use data recovery software. You must, however, be prepared to spend some money, especially if you’re going to get genuinely reliable software.

1. Switch your phone to Airplane mode to avoid getting the deleted text overwritten.
2. Download the recovery software on your desktop.
3. Enable USB debugging to allow your device and desktop to communicate.
4. Run the recovery software and follow the prompted instructions.

How To Recover Deleted Messages On iPhone

Now, here’s the answer to your problem about how to recover my deleted text messages on my iPhone. Aside from the ones mentioned below, you might also want to try to request retrieval from your carrier.

Recovery Without Computer (via iCloud)

1. Stop sending texts to avoid overriding the deleted text.
2. Check when was the last time your iPhone was backed up on iCloud.
3. Restore iPhone to the last backup.

• Go to Settings
• Tap on General
• Go to Reset
• Tap on Erase All Content and Settings
• Tap on Erase Now
• Once reset is completed, choose Restore from iCloud when prompted

Finder on Mac

This one works for Macs running on macOS Catalina.

1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac. Simply follow the steps if it prompts you to enter a passcode or Trust This Computer.
2. Open Finder.
3. Select your iPhone in the left column.
4. Choose a backup to restore (make sure to choose a date that’s before you deleted the text).
5. Select Restore and wait for your iPhone to sync with your computer.

Recovery Software

For extreme cases, you can opt to use recovery software. This is an excellent option if you don’t want to reset your iPhone but remember that you need to have an iCloud backup for this to work.

1. Download recovery software to your desktop.
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer with the Lightning to USB (or USB-C) cable that came with your iPhone.
3. Follow the prompted instructions.

Why You May Need to Recover Text Messages

We’ve covered, “how do I recover deleted text messages or iCloud messages”, but why exactly would you want to do so?

Retrieve Conversations

This could range from personal conversations you might want to keep out of sentiment to those you could use to build a case against someone. Now, those two are quite the polar opposites, but these have been known to happen.

Check for Important Information

There might be instances where crucial info is only available in a text message you’ve sent or received. You might also want to consider what someone says jives with what they’ve said in the past or others have said.

TurboSpy – The Best Phone Data Recovery Software 

Recovery software may come in the form of text spy apps or monitoring software such as TurboSpy. This monitoring software is the best app to recover deleted text messages as well as keep track of other files that you might need in the future.

Here are some of the reasons why Turbo is a perfect choice.

• It’s a convenient way to back up information.
• It keeps complete records of in-device and online activities; that includes incoming, outgoing, and deleted messages.
• It has a streamlined and user-friendly control panel where users can access the information anytime simply by logging into their Turbo account.
• It offers a fantastic array of features for a very affordable price.