Lost an important text? Here’s how to get it back on your iPhone

July 17, 2023

By Kim Komando

Your phone holds your banking credentials, credit card info, and maybe even photos of identifying documents such as your driver’s license and passport. That’s why malware-laced apps can cause so much damage. Tap or click here for 13 dangerous apps disguised as helpful cleaning software you must immediately remove from your phone.

Your phone also holds important memories, like photos and videos of the people most precious to you. But, be honest, are you the one who always looks a little awkward in photos? Tap or click for a few simple steps to look better in pics.

Then there are your text messages. I recently heard from a woman on my national radio show who accidentally deleted texts from her late husband. She was heartbroken. Luckily, there are ways to recover deleted text messages on your iPhone.

The key to retrieving text messages

Your best bet for retrieving deleted messages is accessing an older backup of your phone. You can do that through iCloud for your iPhone.

There’s a big caveat you need to keep in mind: Restoring your phone to a previous backup means you lose new data after that backup.

Now, it’s worth saying that these steps don’t always work. If you strike out, you can try contacting your phone carrier. It may be able to restore deleted messages for you.

Have an iPhone? Turn on iCloud and iCloud Backup

On an iPhone, you have access to 5 GB of free storage. You will likely need to upgrade to an iCloud+ plan to store multiple backups and all your photos and videos. See pricing and tiers here.

To retrieve deleted texts on an iPhone, you must turn on iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. Here’s how to enable Drive.

• Turn on iCloud Drive by going to Settings.
• Then, select your Apple ID.
• After that, tap iCloud.
• Lastly, turn on iCloud Drive.

After that, you need to turn on iCloud Backup. Do this by opening Settings > Selecting your Apple ID > tapping iCloud and selecting iCloud Backup.

NOTE: You will lose all new data after that backup. Make sure those deleted texts are worth it. Here’s how to access them.

How to get back deleted texts on iPhone

Remember, when you access an old backup, you reset your iPhone to old settings. This could lead to a few issues. If you’re willing to risk it, follow these steps to see if you have a backup available:

• Go to Settings.
• Select your Apple ID.
• Tap iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.

Next, follow these steps to use that backup to restore your phone:

• Head to Settings > General > Reset.
• Select Erase All Content and Settings.
• Tap Restore from iCloud Backup.
• Sign in with your Apple ID and tap Choose backup.

Your phone will revert to its former version. Now you can start looking through old texts.

This method won’t work if you’ve never backed up your iPhone on iCloud.