Accidentally deleting important text messages from your iPhone can be frustrating, but if you’ve backed up your device using iTunes, there’s a good chance those deleted messages can be recovered. iTunes backups store a lot of data, including messages, photos, and app data, allowing you to restore your device to a previous state. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to recover deleted messages from an iTunes backup.

Why Use iTunes Backup to Recover Deleted Messages?

Before jumping into the steps, here’s why iTunes backups are an effective method for retrieving deleted messages:

Comprehensive backups: iTunes backs up most of your iPhone data, including text messages, iMessages, and multimedia (photos, videos) sent within messages.
Offline availability: Since iTunes creates a local backup on your computer, you don’t need internet access to restore your data.
No need for third-party software: While there are third-party apps for data recovery, iTunes offers a free, secure way to recover lost messages without additional tools.

Important Notes Before You Begin

Backup dates matter: Make sure the iTunes backup you are restoring contains the messages you want to recover. This means the backup should have been made before the messages were deleted.
Complete device restoration: Restoring an iPhone using an iTunes backup will revert your device to the exact state it was in when that backup was created. This means all data and settings will be overwritten, so consider backing up your current data before proceeding.

Now that you’re prepared, let’s go through the steps to recover your deleted messages.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Deleted Messages with iTunes Backup

1. Check for Recent Backups

Before restoring your iPhone, it’s essential to confirm that you have a recent backup that includes the messages you want to recover.

Open iTunes: Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch iTunes (on macOS Mojave or earlier) or Finder (on macOS Catalina and later).
Find Your Backup: Click on your device’s icon and go to Summary. Under Backups, you’ll see the date and time of your most recent backups.

If your latest backup was made before the messages were deleted, proceed to the next steps.

2. Backup Your Current Data

Since restoring from a backup will overwrite everything on your device, it’s a good idea to create a fresh backup of your current iPhone data to avoid losing anything important.

Create a New Backup: In iTunes or Finder, under Backups, choose Back Up Now to create a new backup of your device. This ensures that if you change your mind later, you can restore your phone back to its current state.

3. Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup

Once you’ve secured your latest data, you can proceed with restoring your iPhone from a previous iTunes backup.

Connect Your iPhone to the Computer: Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone to the computer that holds your iTunes backup.
Launch iTunes (or Finder): Open iTunes or Finder on your computer.
Select Your Device: In iTunes, click on your iPhone’s icon when it appears in the upper-left corner. In Finder, your iPhone will be listed in the sidebar under Locations.
Choose “Restore Backup”: In the Summary tab (iTunes) or the General tab (Finder), you’ll see an option labeled Restore Backup. Click on it.
Select the Correct Backup: A list of available backups will appear. Choose the backup that contains the messages you want to recover (the one made before the messages were deleted) and click Restore.
Enter Password for Encrypted Backup: If your backup is encrypted, you’ll need to enter the password you set during the backup process to continue.
Wait for Restoration: The restore process can take a few minutes. Keep your iPhone connected to your computer until it’s fully restored and reboots.

4. Verify Message Recovery

Once the restoration is complete, your iPhone will restart. At this point, you should have access to your recovered messages.

Open the Messages App: Navigate to the Messages app and browse your conversations to check if the deleted messages have been restored.

Alternative Option: Selective Data Recovery from Backup

If you don’t want to restore your entire device and only need to recover messages, you can use third-party recovery software designed to extract specific data (like messages) from iTunes backups. Some popular programs include:

Dr.Fone - Data Recovery
iMazing
PhoneRescue

These tools allow you to scan iTunes backups and selectively retrieve deleted messages without wiping your entire iPhone.

Conclusion

Recovering deleted messages using an iTunes backup is a simple and effective method, provided you have a backup from before the deletion occurred. While restoring from a backup will overwrite your current data, creating a fresh backup before starting ensures that no new data is lost. If you frequently back up your iPhone using iTunes, you’ll always have the peace of mind that your important messages and data can be recovered when needed.

By following this guide, you can easily bring back those important conversations and stay on top of your message history.