3 Ways to Retrieve Deleted Text Messages on iPhone 6/6s

"Hey guys, can you tell me how to recover deleted text messages on iPhone 6? I'm a furniture retailer and have to send and reply tons of text messages to customers every day. Yesterday, I accidentally erased all of them. They're really important, is there any way I can get them back?"

-- A question from the Apple community

The iPhone touchscreen is so sensitive that you might accidentally delete a text or your entire text thread. Don't worry! If you have a backup, you can restore your iPhone's texts from an iTunes or iCloud backup. Even if you don't have a backup, you can recover deleted texts with third-party software. Use the methods in this guide to get back your deleted or missing messages, whether or not you had a backup beforehand.

Method 1: Recover Deleted Text Messages from iPhone with a Trustworthy Recovery Tool

In fact, the information you delete isn't really gone – it's still safely stored somewhere on your device until new data overtakes it. However, without the help of a third-party recovery tool like MobiSaver, you can't access and restore that info. MobiSaver is one of the best iPhone data recovery tools available on the market – professional, reliable, and green. It can scan your iPhone directly and retrieve all your deleted data smoothly, whether or not you have a backup. Plus, MobiSaver has many amazing features waiting for you to explore.

• Selective Recovery: Restore only the information you need instead of all deleted items.
• No Content Erased: It won't delete or replace any content on your iPhone 6/6s.
• Preview before Recovery: Preview deleted messages before recovery so that you can choose what to restore.
• Support Various Types of Information: In addition to iMessage conversations in iPhone 6 Messages app, it also supports retrieving Kik messages, text messages and WhatsApp chat history.

Important: Act quickly. The faster you scan your phone with a recovery app after erasing the information, the more likely it is that you'll be able to retrieve it.

Step 1: Choose the Recovery Mode

Connect your iPhone to the computer and run the MobiSaver tool. Click “Recover from iOS Device” on the left, then click “Start”.

Step 2. Scan your iPhone to find the lost messages

The MobiSaver tool will scan your iPhone 13/12/11/X/XR/XS/8/7/6/5/4 automatically and find your lost text messages and message attachments.

Step 3: Preview and recover the lost text messages

Check “Messages” and “Message Attachments.” Select the messages and attachments you want to recover. Click “Recover to Computer” or “Recover to Device” to choose where you want to save them.

Tip: If you have an iCloud or iTunes backup, you can use this software to restore from that backup. Launch the program, connect your iPhone, and select “Restore from iTunes Backup” or “Restore from iCloud Backup” (you'll need to enter your Apple ID to log into iCloud). MobiSaver will scan the backup and look for all existing and deleted files.

Method 2: Recover Lost Text Messages from iPhone via iCloud and icloud.com

This tutorial is great if you use iCloud backups. However, there's a risk of erasing your data. If you don't want to take that risk, use the best iPhone Backup Extractor to recover data from your iCloud backup instead.

Recover Lost iPhone Text Messages via iCloud

Step 1: On your iPhone, go to Settings > Scroll down and tap General.

Step 2: Scroll down and tap Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

Step 3: Enter your iPhone passcode, then tap “Erase iPhone” again.

This will completely erase your iPhone, so make sure to back up any data on your iPhone that you don't want to lose, such as photos, videos, and messages!

Step 4: When prompted, tap Restore from iCloud Backup. Enter your Apple ID and password when asked.

Step 5: Select the backup file > Choose the backup date > Wait for the recovery to finish.

Recover Lost iPhone Text Messages via iCloud.com

Restoring deleted texts from iCloud.com is simple, but this method isn't available to all users, as not all iOS devices back up SMS through iCloud. Try it anyway – you might get lucky!

Step 1: Go to iCloud.com and sign in to your iCloud account using your Apple ID and password.

Step 2: Tap “SMS” (if you have this option).

Step 3: Search for the text messages you want to recover.

Step 4: On your iPhone, open the Settings app > tap your name > choose iCloud.

Step 5: Turn off Text Message Forwarding. (Skip this step if it's already turned off.)

Step 6: A window will pop up with two options. Tap “Keep on My iPhone.” You can then turn iMessage back on.

Step 7: Tap “Merge,” and wait for the deleted messages to reappear on your iPhone.

Method 3: Recover Lost Text Messages from iPhone with iTunes

This method is for anyone who regularly backs up their iPhone through iTunes.

Step 1: Run the latest version of iTunes on your Windows or Mac > Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB. (Solution to “iTunes Could not Connect to This iPhone”)

Step 2: Click the device icon in the top-left corner of the iTunes window.

Step 3: Tap on “Restore Backup” to the right of “Backup.”

Step 4: In the dropdown next to “Device,” select the backup date that you want to restore from. This should be the date where all your information was still on the iPhone.

5. Select “Recover” to restore the deleted information back onto your iPhone.

Method 4: Recover Lost Text Messages on a Mac with macOS 10.15 Catalina

If you previously backed up your iPhone to your Mac, you can try to restore the deleted text messages by restoring from that backup. Before doing this, you'll need to turn off “Find My iPhone” on your iPhone. Tap Settings > Your Name > Find My > Find My iPhone, then turn it off. You can then proceed with the steps on the next page to restore deleted texts from your Mac.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac using the original Lightning cable.

Step 2: Double-click the hard drive to open “Finder.”

Step 3: In the left sidebar, click on the icon of your iPhone.

Click “Manage Backups,” browse through all of your saved backups, and select the one that contains the deleted text messages > Click “Restore iPhone.”

Method 5: Retrieve Deleted Texts through iPhone Technical Support

If none of the above methods worked to recover your deleted texts, try contacting customer service or tech support for assistance. They might not be able to guarantee recovery, but it's worth a shot!

Ultimately

That's all about how to recover deleted messages from iPhone or iPad. Each method has its own features. You can choose the most suitable one for you. Generally, if you want to get back your lost messages quickly without erasing your device, Method 1 would be the best choice. If you don't mind overwriting the data on your iPhone, then you can easily restore deleted texts with iTunes or iCloud. For those who have backed up their iPhone on Mac before, they can recover text messages on iPhone via Mac. We hope our guide is helpful to you. By the way, we highly recommend you to back up your device regularly to prevent data loss again.