Missing Text Messages on iPhone [Reasons & Solutions]

Important text messages missed from iPhone for no reason, what should I do? Relax, this post will help you to retrieve the disappeared text messages on your iPhone!

Tip: Missing text messages on iPhone make you agonize? You can use iPhone Data Recovery to retrieve these disappeared text messages and iMessages without backup effortlessly.

There are a few different ways to get back missing text messages on your iPhone.

Messages app works as a daily medium for connecting work and family and friends, keeping many important text messages and conversations on iPhone. But sometimes, you find that your messages will suddenly disappear or the screen shows that there is a new message but you can't see it in the app.

Why do your text messages miss on iPhone inexplicably? Here are some common reasons:

• Your iPhone's memory is full.
• Messages were mistakenly deleted to clear the memory.
• There was a bug in updating iOS or resetting your iPhone that caused messages to disappear.
• Messages and iMessages are not syncing to iCloud, so some iPhone text messages are missing.
• The configuration of how long the Messages app keeps old messages has been changed.

But don't worry, you still have a chance to restore these missing iPhone messages. This post will list out the ways on how to recover missing messages on iPhone. By troubleshooting each problem one by one, you can find the most appropriate solution.

10 ways to fix missing text messages on iPhone

Method 1. Restart your iPhone

In most cases, restarting iPhone solves many problems such as iPhone lagging, unresponsiveness, software glitches, etc. Sometimes, too many things running in the background may cause your text messages to miss on iPhone temporarily, that's when restarting your device tries.

For iPhone X and later models, press and hold any volume button and the side button until the shutdown prompt appears, drag the slider to turn off the iPhone, and then long press the side button until the Apple logo appears to restart the iPhone.

If you want to reopen the Messages app but accidentally deleted it, you can read how to restore the Message icon on iPhone.

Method 2. Check the Recently Deleted in the Messages app

If you lost the message because you accidentally deleted it, with iOS 16, your missing messages will be saved in the Recently Deleted/Show Recently Deleted of the Messages app for up to 30 days.

Open the Messages app, tap Edit / Filters > Show Recently Deleted / Recently Deleted, and then find your missing message in the list. Choose Recover > Recover Messages to restore the disappeared text messages to your iPhone.

Method 3. Try iPhone Data Recovery

If you don't want to spend energy and time to try these methods one by one, you can use a professional software to find missing text messages on iPhone called iPhone Data Recovery, which can deeply scan your device's internal storage and explore the existing and deleted text messages and iMessages in iPhone. It not only allows you to preview the message content directly, but also can recover disappeared text messages to iPhone without backup.

This software is compatible with the latest iPhone 15 and iOS 17 models. And you can use it to restore deleted or missing data, including photos, videos, text messages, iMessages, notes and so on.

Here's how to recover iPhone missing messages using iPhone Data Recovery:

1. Unlock your iPhone and plug it into your computer using a data cable.

2. Launch the software and locate the "Recover from iOS Device" option, then click "Start Scan" to begin analyzing the device's memory.

3. Preview iPhone missing text messages. In the data category, navigate to Message & Contacts and select "Messages" and "Message Attachments." Then in the right panel, you can preview the number and contents of all text messages searched from your iPhone, including your missing messages.

4. Recover the missing text messages from iPhone. Check the items you want and click "Recover" in the lower right corner, then select a suitable destination to save these text messages.

Read more: How to restore data without backup

Method 4. Enable Airplane Mode

One of the reasons why iPhone text messages miss may be your network problem. When there is no network or the network is unstable, you cannot receive iMessages normally. So, slide the screen to open the Control Center, then light up the Airplane Mode icon and wait for a while, and then turn off the Airplane Mode. Next, go to the Messages app to check if the missing text messages have reappeared.

Method 5: Check SMS filtering and blocking settings

Another way to fix text messages missing from iPhone is to check the message filtering and blocking settings. If you block or filter certain phone numbers, the text messages from them will not will not show up.

Unblock the sender and you can receive their text messages normally. Or in the Messages app, tap "Filters" in the upper left corner of the conversation list and select "Unknown Senders" to view the missed messages.

Method 6. Reactive iMessage

If you don't have iMessage enabled, your iPhone doesn't support sending and receiving MMS. To enable iMessage to avoid missing text messages on an iPhone, go to Settings > Messages and toggle the "iMessage" option on.

Method 7. Sync messages to iCloud

If you have enabled Messages in iCloud, you may need to re-sync iCloud to load the text messages. Navigate to Settings > iCloud and turn off the "Messages" option. Then switch the Messages option back on, wait for the Messages app to re-sync your iCloud saved text messages, and then check if the disappeared text messages reappear on your iPhone.

Note:

• Your text messages will also miss on iPhone because the iCloud memory is full, so make sure you have enough space in your iCloud to sync text messages and iMessages.

Method 8. Retrieve missing iPhone text messages from backup

With an available iCloud backup or iTunes backup archive, you can also recover the missing iPhone messages through the backup, but this method will erase all the existing data and settings on your iPhone.

To restore disappeared text messages from iCloud backup:

• Make sure you've created a backup. On the Settings app, tap [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups to view the list of available backups.
• Head to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone and choose "Erase All Content and Settings" to factory reset your iPhone.
• While following the instructions to set up your iPhone from scratch, when you reach the Apps & Data step, select "Restore from iCloud Backup."

To get missing messages back on iPhone from iTunes backup:

• Make sure iTunes is updated to the latest version and connect your iPhone to computer.
• Run iTunes and click on the "device" icon in the upper left corner.
• Select the "Restore Backup" option under the Summary tab and pick the correct backup.

If you want to recover your photos after resetting, you can check out How to recover photos after resetting iPhone.

Method 9: Reset All Settings on iPhone

If your iPhone lock screen has a new message notification, but the Messages app doesn't have new message, there may be some bugs in the iPhone or the Messages app. You can check it out by restoring all settings of the iPhone.

Resetting all settings will not wipe the data or media on iPhone, but only restore the settings (including network settings, keyboard dictionary, location settings, privacy settings and Apple Pay cards) to the default state. Navigate to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings and enter your passcode to start.

Method 10. Keep messages forever

To solve the problem of iPhone messages missing, you can check the length of time you keep the history of text messages. If yours is configured on iPhone to retain messages only for 30 days or one year, the old text messages will disappear when the period expires.

Changing the message retention period to permanent can prevent iPhone text messages from being lost. On the Settings app, tap "Messages" and select the "Keep Messages" option, then check the "Forever" option.

Conclusion

The above are 10 ways to solve the problem of text messages missing on the iPhone. If you don't know the specific reason why the iPhone text messages missed, you can try one after another. At the same time, remember to back up your text messages and iMessages in case the text messages disappear or are deleted in the future, you can get them back too!

FAQs

1. Why do my text messages miss from my iPhone?

There are many reasons why text messages miss on iPhone. Common reasons include: you accidentally deleted the text messages; you did not save the text messages permanently on your iPhone; a glitch occurred while updating your iOS device; the messages and iMessage sync function was not enabled, etc. But don't worry, you can still fix this problem and get your disappeared text messages back.

2. What to do when missing messages on iPhone?

You can start by checking the Recently Deleted folder in the Messages app to see if it has saved your disappeared text messages. Or with a backup, you can easily restore your lost text messages via backup. You can also get back your missing text messages on iPhone by using a message restore tool such as iPhone Data Recovery.

3. How to avoid text messages missing on iPhone inexplicably?

To avoid iPhone text messages missing, you can:

• Open Settings app and choose "Messages. "
• Locate "Keep Messages."
• Check the "Forever" option.