How to recover deleted messages: SMS, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger

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Inevitably, there are times when we end up deleting messages that we have on the smartphone and that are important. It can happen when we are trying to archive or export them, for example, and in various apps, we use to communicate in addition to the normal SMS system. But you can relax: there are ways to recover deleted messages, both on Android and iOS.

This is possible because, in fact, most of the time messages are not actually deleted from the device. As with a hard disk of a computer, the data remains temporarily present, at least as long as no new information is stored on top of that record in the internal memory.

That is why it is important to act fast from the moment we give for the lack of messages that we want to recover, this with regard to the SMS system of the mobile phone. It may be necessary to use a computer, in fact, because we need the help of one of several free data recovery tools that are currently available.

To recover deleted messages on WhatsApp and Facebook, on the other hand, the process is simpler and faster, and also less complex. But you will need to have a backup made earlier to succeed. Let’s see how to recover deleted messages using different methods.

Recover Deleted Messages (SMS)

Let us then try to reproduce the process in a brief, step-by-step way, knowing in advance that we will need to use a program that helps us recover data in Android environment (the probability of success in iOS) is reduced, there are other methods for this.

Some examples of such tools are Phone Rescue, Coolmuster Android SMS + Contacts Recovery, Wondershare Dr.Fone for Android and Android Data Recovery. They work pretty much all the same way:

  • The first step is to always download the free program in question and install it on your computer, then use the USB cable from your smartphone to connect this device to your PC.
  • You may have to go to the Android settings to grant some system access permissions and ensure that an external program, in this case, can “flip” the files that are the basis for the installation of the mobile operating system. The ‘USB Debugging’ option, for example, should be allowed.
  • Virtually all of the data recovery programs on Android execute an analysis of all the files that have been recently deleted and can be recovered by displaying this information on the screen. You can search here for messages (or other files) that you wish to recover.
  • Once the content is found among all the information presented by the program, you can check everything at the moment or follow the process that the tool suggests to recover everything and send the information back to your mobile phone.
  • It is important to note that it may not be possible to retrieve the entire content, as it may already have been overwritten with the recording of new data in the internal memory. It is vital to act quickly as soon as we find the missing SMS by accident.

There are also free apps available on the App Store that can help retrieve particular written messages. Some examples are SMS Backup & Restore and SMS Recovery, and the following process is slightly different:

  • Of course, you need to locate these mobile apps in the Play Store and install them on your smartphone.
  • In the case of SMS Recovery, simply select the option for the written messages and search for deleted messages in the list that appears. If the content in question does not appear in this step, it is not possible to retrieve it.
  • Selects the message, chooses ‘Retrieve’ and waits for the process to finish.
  • In the case of the SMS Backup & Restore app, there must be a previous backup with this same resource, so that it can now be restored.

Recover deleted messages from WhatsApp

  • Recovering accidentally deleted messages in WhatsApp is a different process because it relies on the automatic backup that the app does repeatedly. Warning: Since we are going to restore conversations from a backup, the latest messages may disappear permanently!
  • Another important point: In the WhatsApp settings, never select an option to back up before choosing to do a restore. This is because the most recent backup would be based on the current state of the app in terms of messages.
  • The process is slightly different in the app for Android and iOS, but the first step should be to access the ‘Storage’ space in the app settings to check if there is a backup made (stored in Google Drive or iCloud).
  • If so, the easiest method is to remove the app from your phone without fear: when you re-download it and install it again, WhatsApp will restore the messages according to the existing backup and the messages that you deleted by accident will be back again gifted.

Recover Deleted Facebook Messages

In order to recover deleted messages in use in Facebook Messenger, it will be necessary to have more luck, because the existing methods for which they are not even totally guaranteed …

  • The first is to immediately check another device where you use Facebook and that is connected – the computer, for example. But before you can prevent it from being connected to the Web: the message in question may not have yet been removed and is available on the screen or in the message window itself. Unlikely …
  • The second attempt may be to contact the recipient of the message, since on the other side the message may not have been deleted by the user. And it may even be the case that this has been notified by email at the time and this content is still in the email box concerned.
  • But is the message even deleted on your Facebook? It could have been archived automatically or simply be in the message/contact request section if there was no response on the other side (when the recipient does not belong to our friend’s list, for example). You’ll need to access Facebook in your browser instead of your smartphone and explore the various options and sections of Messenger for the content you want to retrieve. There is a search feature that can also be useful.

Finally, we leave the alert that is already customary, in a way: it is very important to maintain an updated backup of our smartphone. There are a number of ways to do this on the system itself – by backing up Android and iOS via iCloud – and also with the many free apps available for that purpose.

It is thus much easier to recover not only deleted messages but also other important files such as videos, photos, and contacts, just to list a few.

In the same way, this process can also safeguard the information inherent in the various online chat apps we use, if they can not do it independently.

The next time you can not find anything on your phone, do not panic: if there is a backup, retrieving erased messages or any other information will be very easy to perform an operation and with almost (total) chances of success.

If you need help, have doubts or concerns, do not hesitate to leave a comment in the comment box below and we will try to help you as soon as possible!

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