Text messaging or SMS is one of the most popular ways of communication nowadays, it can deliver info to people precisely, not to mention the messages sent by this way is also reliable. Basic cellphones from the past and feature-capable handsets of today such as the iPhone surely come with this essential telecommunication feature. All you need to do is type in your message, press the “send” button and you’re all done. Messages are then stored in your smartphone’s inbox. But what if you accidentally delete important messages and conversations? Are there ways on how to retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone?
Users’ comments such as “I’m very regretted that I deleted all my SMS stored on the iPhone 5c. They are very important. I need to recover them soon, please help me!” are very rampant. You will see people trying to seek help from mobile communities and forums on how they can retrieve deleted text messages from iPhone. Remarks like “All the text messages on my iPhone have gone, how can I recover them?” are indeed flourishing.
For the sake of cleaning out your iPhone system and freeing up some space, deleting text messages is basically part of the routine. But on the other hand accidental deletion of important messages and conversation is pretty common. Same as to deleting SMS messages right before you can read them. Gladly, there are stress-free ways on how you can retrieve erased SMS from iPhone through third party applications and backups. Here’s how.
3 Ways to retrieve deleted text messages from iPhone
Way 1: Use iPhone Data Recovery to retrieve messages from iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 5s, 5c, 5, 4s, 4, 3GS
For those who don’t want the complicated and sometimes unsuccessful data recovery through backups, using iPhone Data Recovery tool is the best way to go. It was called the “doctor” of Apple iOS devices and that is indeed true because it has the ability to recover not just deleted text messages but other data such as photos, contacts, call list, bookmarks, memos, notes, videos reminders and more. It can restore up to 7 types of data (Messages, Safari Bookmark, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Call history, Notes) from iPhone 5, 5s, 5c and 4s, iPod touch 5, iPad mini, 2, 3, and iPad with Retina display without the need of any backups. On the other hand up to 12 types of files (including above 7 types and Voice Memos, Photo Stream, Camera Roll, Photo Library, Message attachments) can be retrieved from older models such as the iPhone 4, iPad and iPod touch.
Using iPhone Data Recovery is pretty simple. All you need to do is download and install the program directly on your computer, connect your iOS device and let the system begin to analyze your files. That’s it, after completion you will see all your native and recovered files in the preview thumbnails. File information such as date, size, time and important notes are similarly available making it easier to trace your important messages and retrieve them.
Way 2: Retrieve erased messages from iPhone with iCloud
Now for the network dependent storage system of Apple, users can also retrieve deleted texts from iPhone 5s using iCloud. However, bear in mind that there are some consumers reporting unsuccessful attempts with this method as it doesn’t support all iPhone models. Restoring SMS with iCloud is easy, see below:
- Login to iCloud.com using your ID and password
- Locate text messages (make sure that you have previously backed it up)
- Search the exact SMS you want to restore
- Go to your iPhone and choose “settings” then “iCloud”
- Turn off text messages
- A pop up should appear and select “Keep on My iPhone”
- Turn on text messages
- Click “merge” and wait for the SMS to be restored
Way 3: Restore SMS on iPhone from iTunes Backup
If the above still doesn’t let you retrieve lost message conversations from iPhone, don’t worry as you have another option at hand. Recover messages with the help of iTunes by following these steps:
- Please ensure your iPhone and iTunes don’t sync together automatically. Check “settings” first and unclick “automatically sync” in case you are skeptical.
- Connect your phone to iTunes and head over to “Preferences” then “Backup from iTunes” to backup. You can also right click on your device and choose “backup”.
- Retrieve erased SMS from iPhone by selecting “Restore” under the tab “Preferences”. However, this will also restore your previous firmware and all your current data will be completely erased.
- Finally, you can now restore your iPhone from the backup data you created from Step 2. This will allow you to easily recover deleted text messages.
The above ways on how to retrieve deleted messages from iPhone and to other models do have its own advantages and disadvantages. Clearly, restoring lost SMS using iCloud and iTunes require you to have previous backup for it to be successful. If you don’t have previous backups, the best way to recover text messages together with other files is to use iPhone Data Recovery. They are more reliable and simple to use. In addition you have several options available such as to restore directly on your phone without any backups or to retrieve messages via previous reserves.
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