Recovering deleted text messages on your Android phone can seem daunting, but it is possible with some effort. Text messages contain important information and memories that you may want to retrieve even after accidentally deleting them. Thankfully, Android offers a few different methods to get your deleted texts back.
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through six easy steps to recover deleted SMS messages on your Android device.
As soon as you realize you’ve deleted a text message that you need to recover, stop using your phone right away. The more you use your device, the higher the chance the deleted data will be overwritten with new data. This makes it much harder to retrieve the lost text.
Put your phone down and don’t send or receive any new texts until you’ve attempted to recover the deleted message. You want to freeze your phone’s state exactly as it was when you deleted the text.
Many Android messaging apps have a built-in feature to recover recently deleted texts. Open up your default texting app and look for a “trash” or “recycle bin” option.
On Samsung Galaxy phones, the default messaging app is called Messages. Open it up and select the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Choose “Trash” to look for your deleted text thread.
The Messages app on Google Pixel phones offers an undo option immediately after you delete a text thread. But there is no recycle bin.
Other Android texting apps may also have a short-term undo option or recycle bin you can check. Look carefully through the app’s menu options.
If your messaging app doesn’t have a deleted message restore feature, your next step is to use a file recovery app. These apps scan your phone’s storage for deleted files that haven’t yet been overwritten.
Some good options include:
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DiskDigger – Free file recovery app that’s easy to use. Can scan for deleted text messages.
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EaseUS Data Recovery – Recovers deleted files from Android internal memory and SD card.
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MiniTool Mobile Recovery – Scans your phone and finds deleted SMS as well as other erased files.
These apps take some time to scan your device’s storage, but they are able to dig up deleted text messages that would otherwise be lost forever.
Keep in mind you may need to grant the app administrative permissions on your phone to access all files. And some apps may charge for full functionality.
Another option is to connect your phone to a computer and scan its files directly. This bypasses any storage limitations of file recovery apps.
You’ll need a computer with data recovery software installed, like Recuva or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
Follow these steps:
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Install the recovery software on your Windows PC or Mac.
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Use a USB cable to connect your Android device to your computer. You may need to swipe down and select “File transfer” mode.
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Open the recovery software on your computer. Select your connected Android phone as the drive to scan.
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Choose to scan for deleted SMS files like .txt files.
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Preview and recover any found text messages.
Scanning your Android storage directly from a computer gives you the best chance of finding deleted text files before they are completely overwritten.
Another option is to use apps that specialize in recovering deleted texts from Android devices:
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FoneLab Android Data Recovery – Scans your phone and extracts deleted SMS messages.
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EaseUS MobiSaver – Android recovery app from a leading software company. Offers a free trial.
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UltData – Data Recovery – Claims to recover messages within 3 steps. Free trial available.
Make sure to download apps from reliable developers. Also check if scanning and recovering deleted texts is offered in the free version or if you need to upgrade.
Advanced SMS recovery apps like these comb through your phone’s storage to extract deleted text message files. They can recover old and new deleted texts.
As a last resort, you can contact your mobile carrier and ask if they have records of your deleted text messages. Most carriers keep SMS records for a short time.
Explain your situation and ask politely if a customer service representative can look up the deleted texts and send them to you. Make sure to have the dates and approximate times that the messages were originally sent.
Unfortunately, most carriers will only retain SMS records for 1-2 weeks. So this method will only work for very recently deleted texts. But for important messages, it‘s worth a shot!
The best way to avoid losing text messages is to regularly back up your SMS chats. Here are three easy ways to backup texts on Android:
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Use your phone’s built-in backup – Many Android phones have a Backup option in Settings that saves app data, including messages, to your Google Account. Turn this on to automatically back up SMS.
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Try SMS backup apps – Apps like SMS Backup & Restore and SMS Backup+ integrate with your Gmail, Dropbox or Google Drive to store SMS backups.
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Manually back up SMS to computer – Use a file manager app to copy SMS files from your Android phone to a computer for safe storage.
Regularly backing up your text messages is the only guaranteed way to avoid permanently losing valuable conversations. Enable backup solutions so you won‘t need to recover deleted messages.
Accidentally deleting important text messages is frustrating. Thankfully on Android, there are ways to recover recently deleted SMS chats. First check your messaging app’s deleted message folder if it has one. Then use a file recovery app or software to scan for deleted texts that haven’t been fully overwritten.
Contacting your mobile carrier or using an advanced SMS recovery service are last ditch options. To prevent this issue in the future, make sure to regularly back up your text messages.
Did you manage to get back your deleted Android text messages? Let us know which method worked for you in the comments!