How to see deleted messages on iPhone

Apple offers a lot of features in its devices including, iPhone, iPad, and more. If you’re using an iPhone and deleted a text message, there are a few ways to get back deleted text messages on iPhone, especially with iOS 16. When you accidentally delete a text message, or you wanted to delete it, you may want to get this deleted message back. Apple allows you to get deleted messages on your iPhone by following a few ways. If you are looking for the recovering ways, here is how to see deleted messages on your iPhone.

How to retrieve a deleted message or conversation

If you deleted your messages, you can recover and see the deleted messages on your iPhone. The company released a new recovering feature with iOS 16 for iPhone devices. You can also use iCloud Recovery, your computer, and third-party apps to retrieve a deleted message or conversation. Here is how to see deleted messages on iPhone.

Recover deleted messages on iPhone in the Messages App

To see deleted messages on your iPhone via this method, you need to have the latest iOS version, iOS 16. Apple introduced a simple way to recover and see deleted messages. If you have iOS 16, you can now retrieve a deleted message 30 days after you erased them. You can follow these ways to see deleted messages in the Messages app:

1. Open the Messages app, click Edit in the top left corner. (If you have Filter Unknown Sender enabled in Settings, the screen will be a bit different. Tap filters in the top corner instead.)
2. Select Show Recently Deleted. (If you chose Filters in the previous step, tap the Recently Deleted folder)
3. You will see a list of all deleted messages within the last 30 days, with the number of days remaining listed on the left. You can select the conversations you want to recover.
4. Click Recover to see deleted messages.
5. Tap Recover Messages to restore your deleted messages.
6. Tap.

Apple explains this method,

1. In Messages, tap Edit.
2. Tap Show Recently Deleted.
3. Choose the conversations with the messages you want to restore, then tap Recover.
4. Tap Recover Message or Recover [Number] Messages.

“You need iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or later to recover deleted messages and conversations. You can only recover messages and conversations that you deleted within the last 30 to 40 days.”

How to see deleted messages on iPhone with iCloud Recovery

If you don’t have iOS 16 on your phone, you can use iCloud backups to recover your messages. You have to check your last iCloud backup at first,

1. Open the Settings app and tap your Apple ID profile at the top.
2. Click iCloud to navigate to your recent iCloud backups.
3. Scroll down if needed and tap on iCloud Backup
4. Check to see if the time of your last successful backup was before or after you deleted the texts on your iPhone.

If everything is okay, you can now restore deleted messages on your device with iCloud backup.

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap on General.
2. Scroll all the way down and select Transfer or Reset iPhone.
3. Select Erase All Content and Settings. Note: most of your settings will be safe when you restore your iCloud backup, but you may have to log back in to some of your apps.
4. In the confirmation menu that pops up, select Erase Now. If you have older software, you shouldn’t choose Backup Then Erase, or you will lose the previous backup and won’t be able to recover the deleted text messages.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions until you come to the Apps & Data page.
6. On the Apps & Data page, select Restore from iCloud Backup. Enter any passwords asked for from iCloud Backup, then sign in to iCloud.
7. Proceed to Choose backup, then choose from a list of available backups in iCloud. Select the latest backup that includes the deleted messages.

However, this option may not contain other significant data that you’ve added to your device since that backup was made. That’s why you should think twice before recovering a backup.