So I was on my iPhone today and I got a message from a random person and I wanted to delete it. So I swiped my finger across the first entry in my Messages folder and hit delete. Then I looked at my screen and saw the same message, still there. Then I realized that I deleted the wrong one. I had deleted the entry for one of my friends who I've been texting for years now. I don't know how to get all our messages back. Is there any possible way? Please tell me there is.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is there any way to recover deleted SMS messages on the iPhone 4?
- Thread starter charlenec123
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Don't think so. A device like that doesn't usually have a "Trash" directory like a computer. Once you delete something it is marked as free space.
It's possible you could take it to a data recovery place and have them recover the messages, but that would be expensive.
It's possible you could take it to a data recovery place and have them recover the messages, but that would be expensive.
if you've backed up your phone via iTunes, all of your messages will still be there as of that point. Hopefully you do it often and wont lose many of the new ones..
These guys have a free trial program which lets you see if your deleted sms messages are recoverable. http://www.deciphertools.com
While you won't be able to restore any deleted messages, look for a program that will backup your messages in case you accidentally do this again. I use PhoneView from eCamm...I think that's who made it. It cost me $20 and has been the best app I've bought recently. It will save all of your messages and will allow you to export them to PDF or CSV file. It also saves your call logs and voicemails. It's a wonderful app and one that I absolutely swear by now.
I paid $7 for that app and it didn't work!
They DO NOT give refunds either
Works on my 4S 5.1.1
If you back up to iCloud or iTunes, and have not backed up since you deleted the messages, you can restore the backup and they will come back.
Caveat: You will lose all changes made to the phone since the last backup. Whether this is acceptable is entirely up to you.
Simply "erase all content and settings" and restore from the backup.
Caveat: You will lose all changes made to the phone since the last backup. Whether this is acceptable is entirely up to you.
Simply "erase all content and settings" and restore from the backup.
Exactly.
Folks, SMS text messages are backed up with the iPhone - whether it's locally or to iCloud. If you've already written over the backup that had them (as in, backed up after the delete) then they're gone.
If you still have a backup available from a time where you had the messages on your iPhone, all you have to do is erase the iPhone and restore from that backup. Simple as pie.
In fact, I just went through that recently, and it worked without a problem. Only things I lost were some photos in the camera roll (taken after that backup) but they were up in Photo Stream anyway.
- Status