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When you delete a message from an iPhone, it’s not actually gone forever. It’s still stored in your iPhone’s local drive, and you can view the deleted messages on iPhone from Recently Deleted folder or using a special tool or app.
What Happens When a Message Gets Deleted on iPhone?
When you delete a message on an iPhone, it is not removed immediately from your device. It will stay on iPhone as long as 30 days. After that, the message is not visible on iPhone. But remember, the message is still stored on a physical location on your iPhone. And there are many ways you can use to recover a deleted message from iPhone.
New Recently Deleted Feature on iOS 16
The Recent Deleted feature on iPhone is a great way to recover any accidentally deleted files, photos, or videos. it stores all of the recently deleted items in a separate folder, so you can easily view and recover them. However, this feature is only available in Photos app.
The good news is this amazing feature is available in Messages app since iOS 16. This means you can view recently deleted messages from Messages app now!
How to View Deleted Messages on iPhone in Recently Deleted Folder (iOS 16 Only)
This is a new feature on all iPhones with iOS 16 or later. All deleted text messages will be moved to Recently Deleted folder and you can easily view and recover those deleted messages within 30 days after deletion.
If your iPhone is updated to iOS 16, then you can use this feature to view deleted messages on iPhone.
1. Open Messages app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the three dots at the upper right corner to open message settings.
3. From the menu being displayed, please select Recently Deleted at the bottom of screen.
4. You will see all the deleted messages from the new window.
5. Tap to choose which message to be recovered.
6. The recovered messages will be visible in Message app and now you can view them directly on iPhone.
This is currently the most effortless way to view deleted messages on iPhone. Unfortunately, this is not supported on old iPhone models that are running iOS 15 and elder.
How to View Deleted Messages on iPhone Using Spotlight Search
Spotlight Search is a feature on the iPhone that allows you to search for content on your device, including messages, contacts, apps, emails, and more. You can access Spotlight Search by swiping down from the top of the home screen.
Spotlight Search can be a useful tool when you’re trying to find something specific on your iPhone. For example, if you can’t remember the name of a contact, you can search for their email address or phone number. Or, if you’re looking for a specific app, you can search for its name or keywords.
To view deleted messages on an iPhone, you can do so by using the spotlight search feature.
1. Open the spotlight search feature on your iPhone by swiping down from the top of your home screen.
2. Type in the keywords "deleted messages" into the search bar.
3. A list of deleted messages will appear in the search results.
4. Tap on the message that you want to view.
5. The message will appear in a new window.
One downside of Spotlight Search is that it can sometimes return results that are not relevant to your search. For example, if you search for "Twitter," you may see results for the Twitter app, as well as tweets from people you follow. To improve the relevance of your search results, you can use the "Limit Results" option in the Settings app. This will allow you to specify which types of results you want to see when you perform a search.
How to View Deleted Messages on iPhone from iTunes Backup
iTunes backup is a process that allows you to create copies of your data and settings, so that you can restore them if needed. This can be useful if you ever need to factory reset your device, or if you want to switch to a new device and don’t want to lose your data.
Restoring iPhone from iTunes backup is another way to view deleted messages, but it’s not as easy as using a tool or app. You have to find and download a third-party app like iMyFone D-Back to extract content from iTunes backup. Why? Because iTunes is not supposed to do this. It can only restore the whole device.
1. Download iMyfone D-Back software from our website.
2. Double click the setup file to this app on your computer.
3. Connect your iPhone to computer using a USB cable.
4. Launch D-Back software and select the option to recover data from an iTunes backup.
5. Select the iTunes backup file that contains the messages you want to recover.
6. Choose the option to recover deleted messages.
7. The messages will be recovered and saved to your computer.
You are able to view deleted iPhone messages after exploring the backup made by iTunes. However, those messages can not be restored to iPhone.
How to Recover Deleted iPhone Messages on a Computer
If you have accidentally deleted some important messages from your iPhone, don’t worry, there are ways to recover them. In this article, we will show you how to recover deleted iPhone messages using FoneLab.
FoneLab is a professional iPhone data recovery software that can help you recover deleted or lost data from your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It can recover deleted messages, contacts, photos, videos, notes, etc. from your iPhone.
Here are the steps to recover deleted iPhone messages using FoneLab:
1. Download and install FoneLab on your computer.
2. Connect your iPhone to the computer and run FoneLab.
3. Choose "Recover from iOS Device" and click "Start Scan" to scan your iPhone for deleted messages.
4. After the scan, you can preview the found messages and select the ones you want to recover. Finally, click "Recover" to save the recovered messages to your computer.
Video Guide: With iOS 16 You Can View Deleted Messages
By default, the deleted messages will be still on iPhone after tapping the Delete button. Though it is not visible in Messages app, there are still some workaround to view deleted messages on iPhone. This is very simple for an iOS 16 device. It is a bit more complicated for old iPhone according to our test.