As with most data, SMS also applies: in most cases, it can be recovered after deleting it. When forensic experts want to bring out SMS again, as is currently the case with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s Ibiza Committee or after the scandal with Heinz-Christian Strache, they use professional software – but in principle, anyone can do that. In this article, we read about How to recover deleted text messages?
If you delete data from the mobile phone, it is not actually removed from the phone memory, you just can no longer see it. If storage space is then required, for example, because you receive new messages, install apps or take photos, the data marked as “deleted” will be overwritten. As long as that has not happened, you can easily restore them with the right program.
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iTunes backup to recover deleted text messages
The easiest way for iOS users to recover recently deleted SMS is to make regular backups. on iOS, this is possible with iTunes. You connect the smartphone to the computer and start iTunes. There you select the device and click on “General”, where the option “Restore backup” is located. You can now select a backup that is old enough to restore the deleted message.
However, it is advisable to save a new backup beforehand. If the SMS is in a very old backup, you can save the message you are looking for, for example by loading it into cloud storage, and then restore the current backup so that the phone is up to date again.
Recuva to recover deleted text messages
Android users have to use an additional program. A free option is Recuva from CCleaner. The software is available for Windows PCs. It scans external data carriers – which includes the smartphone – and shows everything that is on them, including the data that has actually been deleted. They can then be selected and easily restored by clicking on “Recover”.
It sometimes happens that Recuva does not recognize the smartphone, even if it is connected to the PC via USB and was also found by the PC. Then you should first check whether data transfer from cell phone to PC is allowed at all. You can find this on Android smartphones by opening the menu at the top of the screen with a downward swipe. There you can set whether the mobile phone should only charge or whether it can also transfer data.
If that doesn’t help, you can activate USB debugging as follows: Settings> Software information> Tap the build number 7 times. The smartphone has now identified the user as the developer and “Developer options” appear in the main settings menu. “USB debugging” can be activated there and the program should recognize the smartphone. After the application, you should deactivate the USB debugging and the developer options again.
FonePaw to recover deleted text messages
A paid alternative is FonePaw. The program is available for iOS and Android and can be tested free of charge for 30 days. Then 76.90 euros (Android) or 97.91 euros (iOS) are due. The smartphone must be connected to the computer. FonePaw will then ask the smartphone for permission to access files. If you have agreed, the program scans the memory and displays all files that are on the mobile phone memory, clearly arranged according to file type. So you can search for the desired message that you deleted and restore it.
If you want to restore messages from another service such as WhatsApp, you can use the automatic update that the app does every day at 2 a.m. The prerequisite is that the message was recently deleted.
Then all you have to do is reinstall the app and load the last backup file. The settings for the backup can be found in the settings under “Chats”> “Chat backup”. There, Android users can save the backup in the Google Cloud and iOS users in the iCloud.
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