Does iCloud Backup Deleted Text Messages [Answered]

Does iCloud backup deleted text messages?

Sometimes, you may wonder can you retrieve text messages from iCloud when you’re accidentally deleted some of your important messages. The answer is it depends.  

If you mistakenly deleted text messages after making a backup with iCloud, fortunately, the answer is YES, iCloud backed up your deleted text messages. But if the messages you deleted are created after the last backup, it means that none of your iCloud backups will contain the text messages you deleted from your iPhone. Then, unfortunately, the answer is NO.

How to retrieve deleted text messages from iCloud backup

The first step in learning how to recover deleted text messages from an iCloud backup is to make sure that iCloud Backup is enabled. If you haven’t activated iCloud Backup, you won’t be able to recover deleted text messages on iPhone.

Step 1. Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > iCloud Backup, and check whether you’re iCloud Backup is enabled. If not, you can go to the next section to retrieve deleted text messages in other ways.

Step 2. If it is enabled, go back to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings.

Step 3. When your iPhone wakes up again it will take you through the usual setup. On the Apps & Data screen, choose Restore from iCloud Backup.

Step 4. Log in to iCloud to access your backups, then select the most recent backup before the text messages you want to restore were erased. Then check your Messages to see if any of your deleted text messages have reappeared.

Note: This will revert your iPhone back to the point when you made that backup, meaning that while it can help you recover the text message, you might lose some other data.

Three more options to retrieve deleted text messages

If you aren’t enabled iCloud Backup or you can’t retrieve deleted text messages from iCloud for any other reasons, you can try the following three methods to retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone.

Option 1. Recover deleted texts messages from an iTunes backup

Recovering lost text messages from an iTunes backup will wipe any data on your iPhone that is newer than the backup, just like recovering deleted text messages from an iCloud backup. As a result, please double-check that you have backed up the data you require.

Step 1. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes on your computer. Then connect your iPhone to the computer.

Step 2. Click the Device tab.

Step 3. Tick This computer, on the right side, click Restore Backup, choose the one with your deleted text messages backed up before, then click Restore and wait for the restore to finish.

Step 4. Then go to your Message to see if your deleted text messages back or not.

Option 2. Restore deleted texts by contacting your carrier

Your cell phone company may keep a record of the text messages you send for a period of time. If you've accidentally erased a crucial text message, you might be able to retrieve a copy by calling your carrier. This only applies to SMS text messages (green bubble discussions), not iMessages (blue bubble conversations).

Option 3. Restore deleted texts using a third-party recovery tool

The final option is to use iPhone data recovery software to recover deleted text messages on iPhone without backup. There are many iPhone data recovery tools in the market. You can choose one with iPhone text messages recovery feature.

Bonus tip: Backup text messages via the free iOS backup tool  

To protect your text messages from loss, we recommend you to use the free yet professional iOS backup tool FoneTool which allows you to quickly and easily backup iPhone text messages and iMessages to your computer and restore them to your iPhone at any time. It has the following advantages:

• Fast speed. It can backup 1000+ texts in 1 minute and 35 seconds, which is faster than most other mobile phone backup applications.
• Flexible selection. Instead of backing up the entire Message app, you can pick and choose which messages you want to keep.
• Preview messages. It allows you to preview and pick messages in order to filter out those that aren't important, and you may access them at any moment with it.
• Free of data loss. When you restore the backed-up messages to your iPhone, it will not destroy any existing data on your devices.

Step 1. Download and install FoneTool on your Windows PC. Connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable and then launch FoneTool.

Step 2. Click Phone Backup > Locate Selective Backup and click Get Started. (You can also click Full Backup to fully backup all data on your iPhone.)

Step 3. Tick Messages only.

Step 4. Double-click the Message icon and uncheck the messages you don’t want to back up, then click OK to return to the main page.

Step 5.  After that, click Start Backup to start the task.

You can check the backup task on the Backup History page. You can also choose to Restore, Browse, or Delete the backup files later.

Note: FoneTool not only allows you to transfer data between iOS devices but also allows you to transfer data between PCs and iOS devices.

In addition to backing up text messages, you can manage your iCloud files with the help of FoneTool. Just follow these steps: Launch FoneTool, go to My iCloud, sign in with your Apple ID, and select Manage iCloud to manage your notes, photos, videos, and more.

Conclusion

This post primarily answered the question does iCloud backup and restore deleted text messages. Also, how to retrieve deleted text messages from iCloud backup is addressed. In case you haven’t enabled iCloud Backup, we also introduced three more options to help you retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone.

Besides, the free iOS data backup tool FoneTool is introduced to help you backup your text messages in case you accidentally deleted them.