Deleting a text message on your Android phone is easy to do by accident. Fortunately, with the right steps, you can often recover recently deleted texts.
Quick Answer
If you just deleted a text on your Android, the fastest way to try recovering it is to:
- Open your messaging app and look in the trash or deleted items folder – deleted texts may be recoverable here for up to 30 days.
- Use a third party app like Dumpster or EaseUS MobiSaver to scan your phone and restore recently deleted files including texts.
- Connect your Android to your computer and use data recovery software like EaseUS MobiSaver for Android to scan it and restore deleted texts.
If you deleted the text longer ago, your best bet is to contact your cell provider and ask them to recover deleted texts from a backup. But this typically only works for up to 5-7 days after deletion.
Can You Recover a Deleted Text on Android?
The short answer is maybe. When you delete a text on Android, it gets marked as free space rather than being erased right away. For a time, deleted texts can often be recovered using data recovery apps and software.
However, Android does eventually overwrite deleted data. So your chances of text recovery depend on how long ago it was deleted:
- Less than 30 days ago: Deleted texts can usually be recovered during this time period using various data recovery methods.
- 30 to ~90 days ago: Recovery becomes less likely the longer ago the text was deleted, but may still be possible in some cases.
- Over 90 days ago: Chances of text recovery are very slim after this long. The deleted data has likely been overwritten.
Method 1: Check Deleted Items in Your Messaging App
When you delete a text on Android, your messaging app may keep it in a Trash, Deleted Items or Archive folder for some time before erasing it permanently. Here’s how long deleted texts stick around in some common messaging apps:
- Android Messages: Deleted texts remain recoverable in Trash for up to 30 days.
- WhatsApp: Stores deleted texts for up to 30 days before erasing them.
- Samsung Messages: Keeps deleted texts in trash for up to 15 days on Galaxy phones.
So the very first thing you should do when trying to recover a deleted Android text is open your messaging app and check the Trash or Deleted Items folder:
- Launch your messaging app on your Android phone.
- Open the Trash, Deleted items or Archive folder.
- Look for the deleted text – if it was recently erased, it may still be in this folder.
- Tap and hold the text, then select Recover or Restore to undelete it.
This quick check can bring back accidentally deleted texts in seconds. However, it only works for recent deletions before the app permanently erases them from the trash folder too.
Method 2: Use Data Recovery Apps
If your text is no longer in the messaging app’s Trash folder, your next option is to use a dedicated data recovery app for Android. These apps scan your phone and restore recently deleted files and texts.
Here are some of the best Android data recovery apps to rescue deleted texts:
Dumpster
Dumpster is a free Android app designed specifically for recovering deleted photos, videos, texts and other files. To try to restore a deleted text with Dumpster:
- Download and install the Dumpster app from Google Play.
- Open Dumpster and select the Scan button.
- Dumpster will scan your device’s storage for any recoverable deleted files.
- Once complete, browse the messages category to see if your deleted text is listed and select Recover to restore it.
EaseUS MobiSaver for Android
EaseUS MobiSaver is a robust data recovery app for Android that retrieves a wide range of deleted data. Follow these steps to restore lost texts with EaseUS MobiSaver:
- Get and install EaseUS MobiSaver on your Android device.
- Grant the app the needed permissions and select the Scan button.
- Choose the Messages category after the scan finishes.
- Browse the found SMS messages and tick the deleted text you want to recover.
- Tap Recover to retrieve the deleted text back to your device.
EaseUS MobiSaver also has a free trial version with limited data recovery capabilities to test it out first before purchasing.
FoneDog Android Data Recovery
FoneDog is another highly rated Android file recovery app. Here’s a quick guide to undeleting texts with FoneDog:
- Get and launch the FoneDog Android Data Recovery app.
- Select the Deleted data recovery option.
- Choose the SMS category and click Scan.
- Preview found deleted texts and tick the ones to recover.
- Select Recover to restore your deleted Android texts.
Method 3: Connect Android to Computer and Scan
Using data recovery software on a computer provides another option for retrieving deleted texts from your Android device. When you connect your phone to a computer, these programs can scan it and restore deleted SMS messages.
Here are some top-rated Android text recovery programs for PC and Mac:
EaseUS MobiSaver for Android
EaseUS MobiSaver has both desktop and mobile versions of its Android data recovery software. To use the desktop app to undelete texts:
- Download and install EaseUS MobiSaver for Android on your computer.
- Connect your Android phone to your computer with a USB cable.
- Select the file types to scan for, including SMS, and click Scan.
- Preview and select the deleted texts to recover when the scan completes.
- Click Recover to restore the deleted texts back to your device or save them on your computer.
FoneDog Android Data Recovery
FoneDog also offers a desktop recovery program for Android. Follow these steps to use it:
- Get and install the FoneDog Android recovery software on your Windows or Mac computer.
- Use a USB cable to connect your Android device to the computer.
- Select SMS as the file type and scan your phone.
- Tick the deleted messages you want to recover after the scan.
- Click on Recover to retrieve the deleted texts.
DiskDigger
DiskDigger is a free desktop recovery tool for Android. Here’s how to use it:
- Download and install DiskDigger on your Windows or Mac computer.
- Connect your Android phone with a USB cable.
- Select your device and choose SMS messages in the recovery options.
- Click Start Recovery to scan your device.
- Browse the SMS results and tick those to recover after the scan completes.
- Click the Recover button to restore the deleted texts.
Method 4: Retrieve Deleted Texts from Google Account
If you were syncing your Android messages with your Google account, you may be able to recover deleted texts by restoring them from your Gmail.
Here’s what to do:
- On your computer, open Gmail and log into the Google account synced to your Android device.
- Go into your account settings and navigate to the Data and personalization tab.
- Under Download your data, click Deselect all, then select only Messages from the options.
- Click Next step, then Create archive.
- Once the archive of your Gmail messages downloads, extract it and browse for the deleted text.
- You can also import the relevant SMS folder back into your Android phone if you find the deleted text in the archive.
Method 5: Try Third-Party Text History Viewers
Some third party apps can retrieve your SMS history and call logs straight from your Android phone, which may allow recovering deleted texts. Examples to try include:
- Syncios – Extract and view your Android text history, even deleted messages
- PhoneView – View call history, texts, photos and more on Android
- GT Recovery – Retrieve deleted texts by creating a backup from your device
However, these apps don’t always work reliably for deleted text recovery and your success may vary.
Method 6: Contact Your Cell Provider
Your cell phone provider may be able to recover recently deleted texts from a backup of your device. They typically keep backups for a short time period, around 5-7 days on average.
To see if your carrier can restore deleted SMS messages:
- Contact customer support for your cell provider.
- Ask them if they can recover deleted text messages from your Android phone.
- Provide them with your account details and the approximate date the text was deleted.
- The provider may be able to restore the SMS from a backup if it’s less than 5-7 days old.
Tips for Recovering Deleted Texts on Android
To increase your chances of successful text recovery on Android, keep these tips in mind:
- Act quickly – Your odds of restoration are much higher for recently deleted texts vs. those deleted weeks ago.
- Don’t overwrite data – Avoid saving new files or texts to your device, as this overwrites deleted data.
- Disable syncing – Turn off automatic syncing to cloud accounts, which could remove deleted texts before recovery.
- Try multiple methods – Different deletion recovery techniques can work better for some texts than others.
- Check your cloud backups – Deleted texts may be preserved in your Google account, your phone manufacturer’s cloud backup or an app like WhatsApp.
Prevent Accidental Text Deletion
To avoid having to recover deleted texts in the future, you can take steps to prevent accidentally erasing SMS messages, such as:
- Being careful when swiping to delete messages.
- Turning on a delete confirmation dialog in your messaging app settings.
- Backing up your text messages regularly to your computer or cloud storage.
- Using a lock screen on your phone.
- Making your text deletion settings more restrictive.
Recover Deleted Texts with Android Data Recovery Software
One of the most effective and reliable ways to retrieve deleted texts from your Android device is using data recovery software. Programs like EaseUS MobiSaver and FoneDog Android Recovery include powerful scanning technology to locate and restore all kinds of lost or deleted files from Android.
The key benefits of using Android data recovery software include:
- Much higher success rate for recovering recently deleted texts vs. other methods.
- Recovers a wide range of lost or erased file types besides messages.
- Allows previewing files before recovery.
- Retrieved data can be saved directly back to your device or exported to a computer.
- Provides a user-friendly interface for restoring deleted data.
By using a dedicated recovery app, you have a great chance of getting back accidentally deleted texts – even those not in your device’s Trash folder. So don’t give up hope if you lost an important text on your Android phone. Try scanning it with data recovery software as soon as possible for the best results.
Conclusion
It’s often possible to recover recently deleted text messages on Android phones and tablets. The most effective method is using data recovery apps and software, such as EaseUS MobiSaver or DiskDigger. This allows you to thoroughly scan for and restore deleted SMS messages that are not in your messaging app’s Trash. Checking the Trash folder itself can also undelete texts deleted in the past few weeks. And if all else fails, your cell provider may be able to fetch deleted texts from a backup if they are less than 5-7 days old.
Just be sure to act quickly if you want to undelete texts on your Android. Your chances decline the longer you wait. Ideally, utilize data recovery software as soon as possible after deletion for the best results. With the right tools and techniques, you stand an excellent chance of getting back even your accidentally erased text messages.