Although the iPhone is a wonderful device and offers plenty of features to save and keep your data, there are still cases where users get their data lost for various reasons on their iPhones. If you are an iPhone user for some time, you have likely had at least one data loss case in your iPhone usage period.
Data loss is sometimes inevitable and it occurs regardless of how much extra protection steps you take for your data. Things become more difficult when you have lost your messages as messages is something that users do not usually backup to their computers.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to recover the deleted messages on your iPhone 11 and other iPhone models. Here we take a look at those recovery methods for you.
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Restore Lost Data on iPhone 11 via iTunes Backup
If you ever ask someone how to protect the data of your iPhone, their first answer will most likely be to use the iTunes app. iTunes is a life-saver for many people as it lets you easily backup and restore contents on your iPhone.
If you had backed up your device to iTunes before you lost your messages, you can use the app to restore the backup which will then restore your data on your iPhone. Bear in mind, though, restoring a backup restores all the data of the backup and not just your messages.
So if you want to restore your messages specifically, you cannot do it using the iTunes app. In that case, you are better off using the third method shown in this guide.
Step 1. Connect your iPhone 11 to your computer and open the iTunes app.
Step 2. Your device should appear in the app. Click on your device icon in the app, click on the tab that says Summary, and then find and click on the button that says Restore Backup.
Restore an iPhone backup using iTunes
Step 3. On the following screen, you will get a dropdown menu letting you choose the backup you want to restore on your iPhone. Select the backup to be restored and hit the Restore button.
Select and restore an iPhone backup
Wait while the app restores your data on your iPhone. When it is done, you will see that all of your lost messages are now back on your iPhone.
Restore Lost Data on iPhone 11 via iCloud
Although iTunes backups are good and these can easily be restored on an iPhone, restoring these backups requires you to have a computer. What if you want to create and restore backups on the go? You have iCloud backups.
An iCloud backup is basically the same as your iTunes backup except for the fact that it is stored in your iCloud account. Since the backup is stored on the Internet, you only need an Internet connection on your iPhone for you to be able to restore the backup. Unlike iTunes, there is no need of a computer and USB cables.
Once again, restoring a backup from iCloud also restores all the contents of the backup. In addition to your messages, your backup will restore your photos, videos, and so on, on your iPhone.
Step 1. On your iPhone 11, open the Settings app and tap on General. Then, tap on the option that says Reset.
Step 2. On the following screen, tap on the option that says Erase All Content and Settings. It will fully erase your device.
Reset the iPhone
Step 3. Begin setting up your iPhone from scratch. When you get to the apps & data screen, select the option that says Restore from iCloud Backup.
Restore the iPhone from iCloud
Step 4. Follow the on-screen instructions to restore your iCloud backup.
Since your entire backup is downloaded from the Internet, the procedure will take a good time to finish. But once it is done, you will have all of your data stored on your iPhone including your lost messages.
The Easiest & Safest Method to Recover Data (Even Without Backup)
If you have noticed, both the above methods require you to have backups for you to recover your messages and other data. What if you never created a backup for your iPhone? Those methods will be useless for you then.
With that said, not all hope is lost. There are a few apps that let you recover your data even when you do not have any of your backups available with you. These apps use their intelligent algorithms to find the deleted data and to help you recover it on your device.
PhoneRescue is one of these apps and it helps you recover data from your iPhone 11 without the need for any backups, although it helps recover data from your iTunes and iCloud backups as well.
The following is how it works should you want to give it a shot.
Step 1. Head over to the PhoneRescue site and download and install the app on your computer. Launch the app and connect your iPhone 11 to your computer.
Plug-in the iPhone and open the app
Step 2. Click on Recover from iOS Device in the app and it will help you recover data from your iPhone.
Recover files from an iOS device
Step 3. The following screen lets you choose what data types you would like to recover. Checkmark all that apply and then click on the OK button.
File types to be recovered from the iPhone
Step 4. Select the data you want to recover from the list and then click on either recover to device or recover to computer button.
Recover files to device or computer
Your data will be recovered to your chosen location.
Conclusion
Recovering lost messages on an iPhone has not been an easy thing for the users as there is really no option on the device to do so. With third-party apps like PhoneRescue, it is now totally possible to recover any kind of data including messages on iOS devices.