If you accidentally delete an SMS conversation on your Android phone, it is not easy to undo it. Here we explain how you can do this.
Have you accidentally discarded an important text message? Unfortunately, there is no recovery option in the settings of your Android phone. There are a number of apps available in the Google Play Store that allow you to recover deleted messages, but they are not all equally effective, and if they do work, it is not at all certain that everything will actually be restored. Here we discuss how you can try to recover your deleted text messages yourself. Also read: 7 tips to make your Android smartphone faster.
Why is it so difficult to retrieve a deleted SMS? Why not just go through the settings? The data of SMS messages is stored in a local database on your Android phone. Once it's adjusted, the data is gone. And if the memory is too full with text messages, the oldest messages will be overwritten. In that case it is very difficult to retrieve your text messages.
For starters, make sure it was a deleted text message and not some other type of communication like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc., as many of these services have their own (often simpler) ways to retrieve deleted messages.
If you are sure that it was indeed a text message, you can try contacting your mobile operator to see if your messages are still somewhere on their servers. Chances are slim, but it's worth a try.
If that does not help, you will have to use special software because your Android phone does not offer recovery options itself. The annoying thing about this is that in many cases you have to give such software root access so that it can access your files. This can pose security risks and in the worst cases it can make your phone unusable.
If you are willing to grant root access, you can use Android Data Recovery from FonePaw to search for deleted messages and recover them in CSV/HTML format.
Unfortunately, the software is pricey ($49.95), but you can do a lot more with it than just recover lost text messages. The software can recover all kinds of data, including contacts, call history, photos, audio and video files, and documents.
When you restore a text message with the FonePaw software, you will not only see the content, but also when the message was sent, and the name and phone number of the sender or recipient. The company's website clearly explains how the recovery process works.
Ultimately, it's up to you to determine how important your lost messages are, as they can cost a lot of money and/or effort to get them back.
