How to recover deleted text messages on Android

If you are reading this post, then there is a good chance that you may accidently deleted some important messages and are trying to restore them now.

Unlike Gmail where the deleted emails are stored in the bin, it’s harder to restore deleted messages on Android because of how Android manages them. When you delete a message, it is marked to be overwritten with new data.

In most cases, deleted messages are gone for good. Yet, there’s a chance that they have not been overwritten. In this post, we will show you how to recover deleted messages on your Android smartphone.

How to restore deleted messages on Android

Restore via Google backup

If you have backed up your phone to Google Drive, there is a chance that the backup may contain your text messages. You can restore this backup by following the below steps:

• Open Google Drive on your phone.
• Open the menu by clicking on the three lines button at the top left corner.
• Now, select ‘Backups’.
• Check if your data has been backed up.

Android data backed up to Google Drive can only be restored while logging in on a new device. This means that you will need another smartphone to retrieve your messages.

• Sign in with your Google Account on a different phone.
• During device setup, click on ‘Restore’ when it asks if you want to restore your Android backup.
• Complete the setup process and check your messages folder.

This process does not always work. In that case, you can use third party apps to try and restore messages.

Restore via third-party apps

• Download the Android Data Recovery app on your PC.
• Now, connect your device to the computer and enable USB debugging.
• Now, on the screen, select ‘Messages’ and click on ‘Next’.
• Then, install the FonePaw app on your smartphone using the Android Data Recovery program.
• Allow the app to read your messages.
• Then, click on ‘Scan authorized files’ on your computer.
• Click on the messages you want to restore and then tap on ‘Recover’.

See also:
How to recover deleted messages on WhatsApp
How to restore deleted contacts on Android
How to track and recover a lost smartphone