How To Recover Deleted Messages On Your Iphone

Maybe you've lost some important conversations from your fiancee that you want to recover. Or, maybe, you have an upcoming legal case, and you want to print messages for court. No matter the cause, we will tell you all we know about how to retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone. All the methods below will also work for WhatsApp chats .

Please choose a way from below that suits you best.

Recover messages only :

How to retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone

YouTube guide

How to recover deleted text messages to computer

YouTube guide

Restore deleted messages from a backup :

Restore using iTunes
Restore from an iCloud backup

How to retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone

Usually, when you restore from an iTunes or iCloud backup, you can only get your deleted messages by restoring your entire iPhone.

⚡ But good news! CopyTrans Shelbee can help you retrieve deleted text messages only, the rest of the data will stay intact.

How to backup contacts on iPhone

Some other perks of CopyTrans Shelbee:

✔ Can restore a full iPhone backup or just some selected data;

✔ Allows you to choose the folder to save the backup to;

✔ Validates backups made;

✔ Can do a full or incremental backup;

✔ Restores data from a corrupted iTunes backup.

Let's get started with recovering deleted texts on iPhone using CopyTrans Shelbee:

Start with downloading and installing CopyTrans Shelbee.

Download CopyTrans Shelbee

If you need help installing the program, refer to the installation guide.
Run CopyTrans Shelbee, connect your iPhone to your PC and click on "Custom restore".

NOTE: Please clean up enough space on your device for a full restore to perform custom. Even though the program will only restore your deleted messages, you need to have enough space for a full restore. We have an article about cleaning your device that will make this a child's play.
Click on the pencil icon to see the list of backups available. If you have no idea where your backups are, you can search with CopyTrans Backup Extractor. Once ready, click on "Next".

NOTE: If your backup is encrypted, you will be asked for a backup password. What password?
Select the types of data you want to restore and click on "Next".

NOTE: If your backup is encrypted, it will contain Account information: we recommend selecting it as well. "Accounts" contain contacts, calendars, notes and iMessages from your cloud account.
Please, keep in mind that existing messages on your phone will be overwritten. Click "Next".

NOTE: Before restoring we make a temporary backup just in case something goes wrong. We strongly recommend to wait until the process is completed.
In the next window, select the backup location. When ready, click "Start".
The restore is in progress now. Get a cup of coffee and wait until the program completes the operation.
And it's done! This is how to retrieve deleted messages on iPhone without iTunes or iCloud. The deleted texts are back to your iPhone!

How to recover deleted messages on iPhone

YouTube guide

If you prefer video to text, here is our YouTube tutorial on how to restore messages on iPhone.

How to recover deleted text messages

to computer

If you need your messages from an iPhone but you don't want any of your data overwritten, use this method to retrieve deleted text messages to PC. We have an application to help – CopyTrans Backup Extractor.

Advantages of CopyTrans Backup Extractor:

✔️ compatible with different backups: iCloud, iTunes, CopyTrans Shelbee or other programs;
✔️ find all the backups automatically;
✔️ save notes, messages and chats and all the attachments;
✔️ free version allows you to see what does backup have;

So, to restore accidentally deleted photos to your computer:

Download and install CopyTrans Backup Extractor:

Download CopyTrans Backup Extractor

If you need help installing the program, refer to the installation guide.

Run the program and log in to iCloud if you want to find more backups. Once ready, click "Find Backups".
You will see a list of all available backups: choose the one that contains your text messages.
If you are restoring from iTunes backup, you may be asked for a backup password. What password?

☁️ iCloud backups will be marked with a cloud icon, and they are never password-protected.
Click on "Messages" and press "Extract", then select the destination folder.
Wait while all your messages are being unloaded to your PC.
Once the extraction is finished, you can view all your messages from the backup in .pdf format.

How to retrieve deleted text messages

to PC | YouTube guide

CopyTrans 7 Pack

If you are interested in two or more solutions from our list, you might want to look at our combined application suite.

❤ We currently have a great deal – you can get 75% off CopyTrans 7 Pack. It's cheaper than buying just two programs 😉

How to recover deleted text messages on iPhone

with iTunes

iTunes might also be of help while recovering accidentally deleted messages. This method requires having a backup before you deleted messages on iPhone and resetting your device.

⚠ WARNING ⚠

iTunes restore means you will need to reset your device completely.

All the data will be erased and replaced with data from the backup.

If you'd rather avoid this, consider the two alternatives:

☑ Restore only messages from iTunes backup

☑ Extract messages from iTunes backup to PC

Here is how to recover deleted text messages using iTunes:

Start by connecting your iPhone to the computer and opening iTunes. Then click on the phone icon in the upper left corner.
Click "Restore Backup".
Choose the backup you want to restore from. You will need to remember (or calculate) which backup contains the messages you want to restore. When in doubt, just choose the latest.
The restore is in progress. Wait until it is finished.

How to restore messages on iPhone

from an iCloud backup

This section focuses on how to recover deleted texts on iPhone from an iCloud backup.

⚠ WARNING ⚠

iCloud restore means you will need to reset your device completely.

All the data will be erased and replaced with data from the backup.

If you'd rather avoid this, consider the two alternatives:

☑ Extract messages from an iCloud backup to PC

☑ Restore only messages from iTunes backup

If you want to recover deleted text messages from iCloud, here's what to do:

First of all, open "Settings" on your iPhone and tap on your name.
Tap on "iCloud".
Select "Manage Storage".
Now select "Backups".
Now it is high time to remember which of your backups may contain the messages you are looking for.
To restore your iPhone from iCloud backup, open "Settings" and choose "General".
Scroll down and find the "Reset" tab.
Choose "Erase All Content and Settings", then "Erase now". Yes, that's right: you will need to erase all of your data first. That may sound terrible, but this is how Apple works. Try not to worry, though, as you will set up your iPhone right after that using one of the old backups.
Your iPhone will then reboot and offer you a few standard setup steps. When you get to the step where you are offered to restore your device from an old backup, choose wisely: make sure you don't forget which backup you need.

That's the happy end of our story. Don't forget to keep your backups up-to-date! Hope this guide served you well. If you know more on how to retrieve deleted text messages, let us know in the comments below.

Ksenia is obsessed with food photography, video games and computer science. She could probably fix your laptop as well as she cooks the Neapolitan style pizza. Now she is open to share her knowledge of CopyTrans products with you, but remember: Ksenia doesn't share food.