How to recover deleted text messages on Android

We’ve all been here before. All of us have accidentally deleted important text at some point. Gloria from Cheppachette, Rhode Island asked us this question:

“I accidentally deleted a text message; how do I get it back on my Android phone?”

We’re sorry to hear that you accidentally deleted a text message. Resilience depends on several factors, including your phone model, whether you have a backup, and the specific messaging apps you are using. Here are some general methods you can try. (iPhone users please follow these tips.)

GET SECURITY ALERTS, EXPERT TIPS – SUBSCRIBE TO KURT’S NEWSLETTER – CYBERGUY REPORTS HERE

Check if a message is archived (Google Messages)

If you have an Android phone or a Google account, you can use Google Messages as your primary platform for text messaging. Here’s how to check if your messages are archived in Google Messages.

SSettings may vary depending on your Android phone manufacturer.

• Open Google messages app
• Click on your Profile icon next to the search icon
• choose Archived
• Long press message you want to retrieve
• Click Unarchive button in the upper right corner

google messaging app (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutson)

Enable text message auto-reply on Android

Check the Recycle Bin (Samsung Messages)

SSettings may vary depending on your Android phone manufacturer.

If you are using a Samsung-based smartphone, your text messages can be stored in the Samsung operating system recycle bin Up to 30 days. If you are using a Samsung smartphone, follow these steps to check the built-in Trash app to see if your messages are there:

• Open messaging app
• Click Three point menu in the upper right corner
• choose recycle bin
• choose Deleted SMS you want to retrieve
• tap recover Send them back to your message list

Samsung messaging app (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutson)

Quickly access your favorite apps with SAMSUNG GALAXY’s EDGE panel

Use third-party recovery apps

If you don’t have a backup and your messages are permanently deleted, you still have a chance to restore them using a third-party Android data recovery app. You can find Kurt’s selection of data recovery software here. Different apps will have different capabilities, so be sure to pay close attention to which third-party recovery solution best suits your needs.

Restore from backup

Google Drive for Android (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutson)

If you have backed up your phone to Google Drive, you may be able to restore the backup to recover deleted text messages. Please note that restoring a backup may overwrite existing data on your phone. Here’s how to check if your smartphone has a Google Drive backup:

SSettings may vary depending on your Android phone manufacturer.

• Open Google Drive on your smartphone or visit drive.google.com.
• On Google Drive, select storage options in the lower left corner.
• Click backup View any Android backups attached to your Google Drive.

7 Things to Watch About Google Just Announced

Kurt’s key takeaways

Gloria, I hope we were able to help you recover your lost Android messages. It is always a good idea to back up your data regularly to prevent future data loss. If you have an Android smartphone, I highly recommend using Google Drive to back up your phone; this way, you can always access the backup in your Google account. Don’t panic if you can’t find a deleted message in your phone’s Trash or Recycle Bin. You’ll still likely be able to get any deleted data back through a third-party program, but check the capabilities of any program before paying.

Have you experienced severe data loss? What lessons did you learn from that experience? Please write to us Cyberguy.com/contact.

For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Reports newsletter: Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.