How to Search Old Text Messages on iPhone with 4 Different Methods

“I have a conversation that likely has tens of thousands of messages sent over the past year. Now, I just want to find texts 6 months ago in August. How can I scroll through those messages without spending too much time?”

Since a large number of messages are kept on our iPhone, it can be a serious challenge to do messages indexing, search for specific text messages or find hidden iPhone messages that were received several months or even years ago. Then, is there any quick way can complete the job?

The answer is yes. In the following, we will share 4 time-saving yet labor-saving methods. You will learn how to find old text messages on iPhone by date, search iPhone text history with or without scrolling, and also, you can get back messages that were deleted. Read the methods to get the way that is suitable for you.

How to Quickly Find Old Deleted Text Messages on iPhone [Recommended]

How do I retrieve old text messages? PhoneRescue for iOS – iPhone Data Recovery can help you search iPhone text history and find old messages on iPhone that were deleted. As a professional iOS data recovery tool, it has helped a huge number of iPhone users find out old messages successfully, even the messages received several years ago. If you have lost your iPhone, it allows you to look up messages from iTunes/iCloud backup. If you haven’t backed up, it can also solve the problems. Check how can it help you:

Key Features:

• You can quickly find all your old messages in just 1 click from iTunes backup, iCloud backup, or even without backup.
• You can retrieve deleted messages on your iPhone.
• Support to recover 20+ types of iPhone files, like photos, messages, contacts, or only any piece of essential files
• 100% securely recover your data with the highest success rate
• It allows you to search old text messages or iMessage on iPhone by date or by name.
• You can get back the deleted old messages or iMessage to the Messages app or view texts on computer.

Free get PhoneRescue for iOS and save your essential data now!

How to Find and View Old Deleted Messages on iPhone:

Step 1. Get PhoneRescue for iOS installed and launch it > Connect your iPhone to the computer if you need to recover old messages to iPhone directly > Here we take Recover from Backup as an example, then click Right Arrow to proceed.

Step 2. Select Messages to recover.

Step 3. Then all old text messages will be listed here, including messages and attachments. Choose Sort by date and texts will be listed from old-time to newer date. Select the messages you want to retrieve and click To Device or To Computer button.

Further Reading: Recover Deleted Text Messages from iCloud Backup >

[Video] How to Find Old or Deleted Text Messages on iPhone

How to Find Old Messages with Scrolling

If you need to go to beginning of text messages on iPhone, here is the easy way to do with just scrolling:

1. Open the Messages app and enter the text conversation that you want to view the old messages.

2. Touch the location of time (top-left corner of the screen) or network (top-right corner of the screen).

3. Then you can quickly view the old messages from the beginning of the conversation.

How to Find Old Messages on iPhone without Scrolling

Look Up via Spotlight Search

1. Swipe down on the Home screen with your finger to bring up Spotlight Search.

2. Tap the search bar and enter the keywords or phone number > Preview the results list.

3. Choose one date or conversation to locate the Messages you are searching for.

How to Find Old Messages on iPhone without Scrolling in Messages App

1. Open the Messages app and enter All Messages > Swipe down with your finger to expose the search box.

2. Enter the keywords or phone number in the search box and the results list will automatically update as you type.

How Far Back Can Text Messages be Retrieved on iPhone?

As we mentioned above, you can easily scroll to the first message on iMessage only if the conversation history is kept on your iPhone. It means that you can retrieve text messages on iPhone even 4 years ago or longer. However, if the old text messages you want to search for are not on the iPhone, you can try to use PhoneRescue for iOS to retrieve old deleted messages/iMessage without resetting. Therefore, it’s easier to see older messages on iPhone, even from years ago.

Further Reading: How to Fix iMessages Not Syncing Between Mac and iPhone >

Is there a Way to Search iPhone Text Messages by Date without Scrolling?

You can easily search iPhone text messages by date with a scroll to the beginning of the conversation. Then, is there a way to see the first message on iPhone without scrolling?

Also, you can go to PhoneRescue for iOS and scan iPhone messages. Next, you can click sort by date to quickly find iPhone messages/iMessage by date without scrolling. What’s more, PhoneReascue for iOS allows you to retrieve deleted messages without backup, or extract iPhone backup with ease. You can choose old backup files from the list, which helps you see messages from years ago.

The Bottom Line

That’s all about how to find old text messages on iphone. And, PhoneResuce for iOS helps you to search old messages and recover deleted text messages with ease. Besides, it also supports extracting and recovering photos, contacts, notes, ringtones, and other up to 31 file types from iOS devices. Just give PhoneRescue for iOS a try now.