How to Recover Old iMessages Successfully

Sometimes we mis-deleted/lost some important iMessages on iPhone. Usually, they can be regained from backups. What if there are no backups at all? This post will introduce some efficient tips to work out how to recover old iMessages.

How to Recover Old iMessages from iPhone

Usually, you can retrieve your old-deleted iMessages from a backup. If you don’t regularly back up your iPhone, you could use third-party recovery software to restore your files. PhoneRescue for iOS is quite professional in data recovery – just connect the iPhone to the computer, scan it and you will see the old iMessages and other data on it. And also, it could restore your iMessages from iTunes/iCloud backup without overwriting your iPhone.

Step 1. Launch PhoneRescue for iOS, click “Recover from iOS Device” option, and hit the right arrow to continue.

Step 2. Select iMessage > Click OK to scan your iPhone.

Step 3. Preview and find the old iMessages you’d like to retrieve. Click “To Computer” to get them back to the computer, or “To Device” to recover them directly to your iPhone/iPad Messages app.

Actually, the very old iMessages are almost overwritten by new data onto your iPhone/iPad. In this case, iTunes or iCloud backup might be helpful as long as the old iMessages that you want to retrieve are included in a usable backup. But usually, it’s tricky because both the iTunes and iCloud backup are hard to access and unreadable.

iMobie PhoneRescue has noticed the limitations. Thus here comes the PhoneRescue for iOS with the ability to access iTunes and iCloud backup, and then help you find and recover old iMessages from a backup successfully.

How to Recover Old iMessages from iTunes/iCloud Backup

Before the detailed instructions, go to download page of PhoneRescue to get the PhoneRescue for iOS installed to Mac or PC computer. And then follow the example of retrieving old iMessages from your iTunes backup.

Step 1 Launch PhoneRescue for iOS, click “Recover from Backup” option, and hit the right arrow to continue.

Step 2 Select the iTunes backup with messages you want to retrieve > Click right arrow to scan the selected backup. After scanning, Uncheck “Select All” option, select only “Messages” and hit the “OK” button in blue.

Step 3 Preview and find the old iMessages you’d like to retrieve. Click “To Computer” to get them back to the computer, or “To Device” to recover them directly to your iPhone/iPad Messages app.

If your old iMessages are contained in an available iCloud backup, the post explaining how to recover old iMessages from iCloud backup can help. Go and have a check.

Bonus Tip：How to Recover Old iMessages from Other Apple Devices

Usually, Apple devices would sync iMessages within the same Apple ID. Therefore, if you did not restore your iMessages from iCloud/iTunes backups, you can check the other apple devices out whether the devices synced them.

The Bottom Line

In addition, to help you recover files from iTunes or iCloud backup, PhoneRescue for iOS also enables you to retrieve lost or deleted data directly from any iOS device within steps. Get PhoneRescue for iOS to explore more > All in all, these above four tips could solve the lost-old-iMessges issue. If you still couldn’t retrieve them successfully, please leave your messages in the comment party.