3 ways to retrieve deleted text messages on your iPhone

• You can retrieve deleted text messages on your iPhone by restoring them using an iCloud backup.
• You can also use iTunes or Finder to recover your iPhone's texts if you saved backups to your computer.
• If all else fails, reach out to your mobile carrier — they may restore deleted messages for you.

Whether you regularly delete your iPhone messages, or recently mass deleted them to free up storage space, you should always try to save the texts you still need.

If you've accidentally deleted some text messages that you meant to keep, don't panic — there are a few different ways to recover lost text messages on your iPhone.

Here's what you need to know.

Use iCloud

If your iPhone is set to backup to iCloud, you might be able to recover deleted text messages using a recent backup. This will revert your iPhone back to the setting when you made that backup. 

To do this:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 

2. Tap your name at the top of the Settings page to go to your Apple ID page.

3. Tap iCloud, and make sure that Messages is set to ON in the list of apps using iCloud.

4. Tap iCloud Backup and check that your iPhone has been backed up recently – look at the timestamp next to Last successful backup.

5. Go back to the main Settings app menu and tap General. 

6. Scroll down and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.

7. Tap Erase All Content and Settings, and then confirm that it's what you want to do. You'll likely have to provide your iCloud password to turn off Find My.

8. Your iPhone will take a few minutes to reset to factory conditions. After that, you'll be greeted with the iPhone's initial welcome screen. Follow the first few steps, and when you get to the Apps & Data screen, tap Restore from iCloud Backup.

9. Sign into iCloud to access your backups, and then choose the last backup you made before you deleted the text messages you want to recover.

Try iTunes or Finder

If you backed up your iPhone onto a Mac or PC instead of iCloud, you can try restoring your iPhone with that backup instead. This means using iTunes if you have Windows, or Finder if you're on a Mac.

To retrieve deleted iPhone messages with iTunes or Finder:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes or Finder, unless they pop up automatically.

2. In iTunes, click on the phone icon at the top of the screen, and then choose Summary in the left side menu. In Finder, click your phone's name under Locations in the menu on the left.

3. Click Restore Backup and your old texts will hopefully reappear on your phone. If they don't, your backup didn't include these texts.

Restore deleted messages from your carrier

If all else fails, consider reaching out to your phone carrier. Some service providers keep a record of your text messages – the same way they keep a record of your calls.

You'll need to log in to your carrier account or use the service provider's customer service line. Either way, it's a good last-ditch effort to retrieve that deleted message from your iPhone.

How to retrieve deleted text messages on Android

iPhones are not the only devices capable of retrieving deleted text messages. You can also do the same on an Android smartphone using other methods. 

If you own an Android, check out our guide on how to recover deleted Android texts.