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Recover deleted text messages on iPhone without backup or computer

It's possible to not use a computer or an iPhone backup to recover text messages that you accidentally deleted. Here's how to retrieve a deleted message without backup/ computer.

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Elena Spencer Updated on Aug 24, 2023 2:25 PM

The Messages app on your iPhone normally holds your important texts, iMessages, and attachments including photos, videos, documents and more, and keep them forever. Unfortunately, something could happen and result in your messages being disappeared.

There may come a time when you delete messages from the iPhone only to find that you accidentally deleted a critical one. Or perhaps your text messages get lost in a factory reset iPhone, or an iOS update. Whatever your scenario of losing the conversations is, you may wonder whether it's possible to recover deleted messages on iPhone, even if you don't have a backup or a computer nearby.

This is where this post comes in. You'll learn how to retrieve deleted text messages from iPhone without backup or computer - using the iOS 16 Recently Deleted folder, and how to recover your deleted text messages without computer from iCloud, as well as how to recover deleted iPhone messages directly from iPhone without backup.

You no longer have to use a backup to restore iPhone to recover a deleted text message and iMessage in iOS 16 or later.

Tip: The simplest and most effective way — if you fail to recover the deleted messages and conversations from the built-in Recently Deleted folder within 30-40 days, is to use a professional tool - iPhone Data Recovery. It's a smart SMS recovery tool that lets you retrieve deleted text messages from your iPhone without iCloud backup or iTunes backup. It gets back texts and iMessages as well as attachments like photos, videos, etc. from device's memory.

Table of Contents

Tip 1- Recover deleted text messages from iPhone without computer or backup

Starting with iOS 16, you can check the Recently Deleted folder for the iPhone deleted texts without backup or computer, and recover conversations and messages you mistakenly deleted in the inbox of Messages app.

The Recently Deleted folder acts a temporary holding bay and allows you to have 30 to 40 days to retrieve the deleted text messages on iPhone for free. Here's How to see recently deleted messages on iPhone without a backup or a computer:

1. Open Messages app on your iPhone with iOS 16 version or higher.

2. Click Edit at the top left corner, then tap Show Recently Deleted. Or tap Filters, then tap Recently Deleted.

3. In the new Recently Deleted folder, you will see all your conversations that are deleted within the last 30 days to 40 days.

In iOS 16 or later, you can recover deleted messages on iPhone if not backed up.

4. Tap Recover All at the bottom right. This will restore all the deleted messages and conversations and return them to the list with the rest of your Messages.

5. Or, you can tap on the dots individually to choose the conversation(s) with the messages you wish to get back, then tap Recover.

6. In the pop-up that appears, tap Recover Message or Recover [Number] Messages.

Your conversations and messages should be recovered to the Messages list in seconds.

A text message deleted within 30 days can be restored without iTunes or iCloud backup in the stock Messages app.

Related article: How to fix an unavailable iPhone

Tip 2- Retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone without computer

If you've accidentally deleted or lost all text conversations from your iPhone and don't have a computer available, you still have options to retrieve messages. An iCloud backup and iCloud for Messages is your iPhone messages recovery routes with no need of a computer.

How to retrieve deleted text messages from iCloud backup

If you've backed up your iPhone to iCloud prior to the deletion of the texts, you can restore iCloud backup to restore your messages and other files to your iPhone without computer. However, this erases your iPhone, meaning that while you can recover iPhone deleted messages, you'll lose any other device's data from after the iCloud backup. So separately backup any recent SMS and files you need to keep.

Before restoring the iPhone from iCloud, you still need to make sure your erased message is backed up to iCloud. By default, an iCloud backup is a copy of almost all of your contents and settings to use in case you lose your data or your iPhone is lost, damaged or replaced. The backed-up contents should include iMessages, SMS texts, MMS, contacts, photos, videos, Calendars, Notes, Health data, Apple Mail data, and more.

Next, follow these steps to recover deleted iPhone messages without computer.

Step 1: On you're sure your lost or deleted text messages are stored in the backup, open Settings app on iPhone.

Step 2: Tap General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Then tap Continue and enter your device passcode to confirm factory resetting your iPhone.

Erase the contents on the iPhone before you can recover messages from iCloud backup.

Step 3: After all iPhone data and settings has been deleted, set up your iPhone.

Step 4: In the Apps & Data screen, choose Restore from iCloud Backup, and sign into iCloud with your Apple ID and password.

Step 5: Choose an available backup that saves the messages you deleted, and the restoration begins automatically. This restores everything including your text messages to the iPhone.

Select the recent iCloud backup to restore message without using a computer.

How to recover iPhone messages using iCloud with Messages

With iCloud for Messages set up to sync the messages across all Apple products logged in with the same Apple ID, chances are that you're supposed to recover iPhone lost or deleted messages from iCloud without computer.

Go to Settings > [you name] > iCloud, and if Messages has been turned on, then continue to learn how to recover deleted text messages from iPhone using iCloud.

  • When you reach iCloud page within Settings app, tap Show All under APPS USING ICLOUD.
  • Tap Messages.
  • Turn off the switch for Sync this iPhone.
  • On the notification of Messages in iCloud, choose Disable and Download Messages.
  • Wait for a while and toggle on Sync this iPhone for Messages.
  • Return to Messages app, and you should find that your messages synced with iCloud is now restoring to your iPhone, with the alert "Downloading Messages from iCloud…" at the bottom.

Note:

  • This is not always working, as any change like the deletion of the text conversations might sync from iPhone to iCloud. Every time a message is removed from iPhone, it will also erase on iCloud server as well as other devices sharing the same Apple ID.
  • In certain territories and for certain phone service providers, users could log into icloud.com, go to Text Messages and find & retrieve the messages that's deleted from iCloud without overwriting your iPhone.

Tip 3- Recover deleted iPhone messages without backup

What if you don't have an iTunes or iCloud backup that is that is dated prior to when you erased your text message? Can you recover deleted text messages from iPhone without backup?

Definitely Yes. Go through the information below to figure out how to recover deleted texts or iMessages from iPhone even without backup.

Can I retrieve deleted text messages on iPhone without backup

There's a good chance the missing messages can be recovered, even without using iTunes or iCloud backup. Much of the time, a message gets deleted on your iPhone is still in the flash memory, but is invisible to use. Plus, it is available for any piece of new data overwriting it.

So before the data overwrite ruins your missing texts, you need to grab a third-party software tool to find deleted messages on iPhone's internal storage without backup and retrieve them as quickly as possible.

Recover deleted messages from iPhone without backup via a smart file recovery tool

If accidentally deleted text messages weren't backed up to iTunes or iCloud, or you don't have iOS 16 or later serving the Recently Deleted folder to let you restore the texts on iPhone, then faster your act and use Appgeeker iPhone Data Recovery for recovering permanently deleted text messages without backup.

Download Now!

for Windows | for MacOS

The professional file recovery software carries a powerful search engine that enables you to scan every section of your phone memory thoroughly and deeply, and return a list of deleted files sorted by sensible categories. You can then preview the messages and get them back.

Key Features:

  • Offer three modes to get back data from iPhone without backup, from iTunes backup, or from iCloud backup.
  • Recover SMS messages, iMessages, WhatsApp, photos, contacts, notes, reminders, calendars, call logs, Safari history & bookmarks, and many more.
  • Retrieving deleted messages on an iPhone is as easy as 1-2-3.
  • Flexibly restore your desired files without a complete reset.
  • All iPhone models and iOS versions are supported.

How to recover permanently deleted text messages without backup

Having no backup of iPhone to restore deleted messages, see how this utility works.

Step 1: Connect the iPhone to computer

Download and install the software on your computer. It doesn't matter you use a PC or Mac.

Launch it and connect your iPhone with a USB cable. Choose "Recover from iOS Device" mode.

Step 2: Scan the device and see the text conversations

Click the "Start Scan" button at the bottom center to begin scanning process for the deleted text messages on iPhone. This will take a bit of time, especially you have a large amount of data.

Once completed, you can click the "Messages" and "Messages Attachments" categories in the left menu. It shows you all deleted messages that are found, plus attachments files such as photos, link, videos, emoji. If you want to preview the full conversation, just check the right section of the window.

Step 3: Recover deleted text messages on your iPhone

Go through and check the boxes next to the messages you'd like to get back. If you know you want them all, just check the box next to Name at the top.

With your deleted messages or conversations selected, click on the "Recover" button at the bottom right. Then select a location where you want them to be saved when a dialog box pops up. The recovery process starts.

Done! You have successfully recovered the messages from iPhone without using a backup. Couldn't be easier.

Related: Accidentally deleted Messages icon from Home screen. How to restore it to iPhone?

Contact service provider to get back messages without backup

This is your last chance to retrieve deleted text messages without backup. You can try asking your wireless phone company to provide you a record of SMS text messages. It will keep a copy of texts for a limited time.

Just one note – cell provider doesn't actually have any record of iMessage, which is what Apple to Apple devices use and adopts end-to-end encryption. If they don't retain in Recently Deleted folder, you will want to recover deleted iMessages without backup by searching for your iPhone internal memory.

Bonus - How to find deleted messages on iPhone without iCloud?

To see deleted iPhone messages without iCloud, there're a few solutions:

1. Restoring from iTunes backup, which requires to have an iPhone backup on your computer from before you deleted the text message and the resetting your iPhone.

2. Check Recently Deleted folder that is built into iOS 16 or later, and lets you to find deleted messages on iPhone without iCloud or backup.

3. Use AppGeeker iPhone Data Recovery, which handles the recovery job by searching for deleted texts on iPhone itself instead of remotely on iCloud.

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