How to Find Deleted Messages on iPhone

A lot of stored iPhone messages are useless for you. It takes quite much persistence to make up your mind to delete iPhone messages, worrying that you may need them one day. The funny thing is, once you delete these iPhone SMS, somehow they become useful and have some information you need. So how to find deleted messages on iPhone? In the following article, there are 4 working ways to recover deleted messages on iPhone

Find Deleted Messages on iPhone

Method 1. Use the Recently Deleted Folder (Within 30 Days)

Your deleted iOS message is not destroyed. On iOS 16 and later, Apple added a Recently Deleted folder inside the Messages app. It keeps deleted messages for 30 days. This is the easiest and safest way to recover messages.

Step 1:
Open the Messages app on your iOS device and tap the Edit button on the top left. Then, tap Show Recently Deleted.
Step 2:
Select the messages you want to recover and tap Recover All. Go back to the iPhone messages app, and you can find the deleted message.
Find Deleted Messages on Delete

Keep in mind that your messages in the Recently Deleted file only stay 30 days. After that, iOS deletes them automatically. Once removed from here, Apple cannot restore them.

Method 2. Try Spotlight Search to Find iPhone Deleted Messages

Sometimes deleted messages still appear in Spotlight search for a short time. This happens because:

1. iOS updates its search index in the background

2. There can be a delay between deleting a message and removing it from search

Step 1:
Swipe down on your Home Screen.
Step 2:
Type a keyword, name, or phone number.
Step 3:
Check the results.

If you’re lucky, you may still see the deleted message. However, using Spotlight to find deleted information usually has a low success rate

iPhone Spotlight Search

Note: This only works briefly and is not reliable, but it’s worth trying right after deletion.

Method 3. Find Deleted Messages from iCloud Backup

If your messages were in a backup, you can restore the backup to get them back. This method works well, but it has one big downside:

It replaces your current data and remove all new messages, photos and app data.

Steps of iCloud Backup Restore

Step 1:
Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Step 2:
Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
Step 3:
During setup, choose Restore from iCloud Backup.
Step 4:
Pick a backup from before the messages were deleted.
Find Deleted Messages on iCloud

Method 4. See Deleted iPhone Messages with Aiseesoft iPhone Data Recovery

iCloud recovery can be convenient if you do have a backup. But some people want to find all deleted messages on iPhone/iPad without data loss. So, there is another way to check deleted iPhone texts, scan, and view all iPhone text messages, including the deleted ones. Aiseesoft iPhone Data Recovery is an ideal iPhone manager. How to see deleted messages on iPhone? You can follow the simple steps below:

Step 1:
Download and Launch FoneLab iPhone Data Recovery and connect iPhone to PC/Mac. Wait until iPhone is recognized automatically.
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Step 2:
Choose Recover from iOS Device to see deleted messages. All files on your iPhone will be scanned and displayed according to categories such as Media, Playlists, Photos, Books, Contacts, SMS and more.
See Deleted iPhone Messages with FoneLab
Step 3:
Click SMS from the left list, then all iPhone messages, including deleted will be displayed in the preview window. Now you can find all deleted messages on iPhone. Check the Only display the deleted item(s) option, then you can see deleted iPhone messages only.
How to Find Deleted Messages on iPhone

With this iPhone messages manager, you cannot only find deleted iPhone messages, but also see other deleted files such as photos, contacts, memos, etc. Besides, if you want to not just see deleted iPhone text messages, this software supports you in recovering deleted photos, videos, messages, etc. on iPhone.

FAQs of Finding Deleted iPhone Messages

Do deleted text messages stay on iPhone?

Yes. The deleted text messages still stay on your iPhone after deletion. It will be marked as deleted by the internal database on iPhone. Besides, the deleted text messages is sent to the network provider.

Can I retrieve permanently deleted text messages without making any backups?

In this case, the official methods have a low success rate. But you can try using third-party data recovery software. There are some specialized iPhone data recovery tools on the market, like Aiseesoft iPhone Data Recovery.

Where are iMessages stored?

iMessages are automatically stored in Apple's backup system iCloud. You can enable iMessages on in Settings > Messages.

Conclusion

In this article, we have sloved the basic question “are iPhone messages really deleted?” and we have offered you simple tricks on how to find deleted messages on iPhone, if you have more questions or suggestions to see iPhone deleted messages, leave your comments down below.

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