How to Fix iPhone Messages Disappeared – Restore iPhone Messages after Disappeared/Deleted:
iPhone Messages include text messages and multimedia messages. The iPhone system does not delete any text or multimedia message without user’s consent. These messages are deleted if the iPhone user has setup Message History Validity to 1 Day or 30 Days.
If you did’t do anything then the only possibility of iPhone Message Disappeared is that there is an error. If this is happened with your iPhone then you have reached the right place. Here we will show you how to fix iPhone Messages disappeared and Restore it with some simple techniques.
Causes of iPhone Messages Disappeared
Apple iOS is the default operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod devices. It has many extraordinary features that don’t exist on other smart phones. But iPhone also has some drawbacks which are called iPhone Errors. There is no specific cause for iPhone Messages to get disappeared, but we have done a survey. Most iPhone users claim that they saw their iPhone Messages got disappeared in three situations mentioned below:
- After Restart: Your iPhone was working fine, but some apps are responding late or system is slowed down. So you simply restart your iPhone to fix this issue. Such issues often get solved by a restart, but you come to know that iPhone Messages are disappeared after restarting your iPhone. This happens rarely, but it’s happened with many. So a restart can lead your iPhone messages to disappear.
- After Updating iOS: Every iPhone user wants to keep their iPhone iOS up to date. It is a good thing, however, it creates trouble when iPhone Messages disappear after iOS is updated to a newer version.
- Message History: There is a setting option in iPhone Messages called “Message History.” You can set it as 1 Day or 30 Days or Forever. If you have selected 1 Day, your iPhone Messages will be Deleted after one day. The same way, your iPhone Messages will disappear every month if you have set the Message History for 30 Days.
How to Fix iPhone Messages Disappeared
iPhone Messages remain on iPhone as long as the user does not delete them. These messages include many important messages from banks, friends and relatives. When the iPhone Messages disappear, it puts the user into trouble. If you have faced this issue, don’t worry, we are here to help you. We will show you some simple techniques to get your iPhone Messages back with much less efforts.
01. Close Messages App and Launch it Again
It may happen that the messages are stored on your iPhone but they are not appearing. This is one of the easiest way to fix iPhone Text Messages disappear from Inbox. You should try this technique to get your iPhone Messages back in appearance.
- Hold the Home button on iPhone to view Recent Apps (Running in Background).
- If you have iPhone X or Newer, Swipe up and Hold the Screen to see Running Apps.
- Find the Messages App from Running Apps Slides.
- Swipe Messages App to close it.
- Put your iPhone aside for a few minutes.
- Unlock your iPhone and find Messages App.
- Tap on Messages App to launch it again.
- Check if the disappeared messages are back.
02. Force Restart iPhone
Apple Inc. provides Force Restart feature in iPhone for some critical circumstances. Usually iPhone users don’t need to force restart their device. But some iPhone errors are fixed easily by force restart, the “iPhone Messages Disappeared” is also such typical error. That is why we suggest you to force restart your iPhone to fix iPhone disappeared messages issue.
How to Force Restart iPhone
Force Restart iPhone is different for older iPhone models and new iPhones. Here we provide model wise Force Restart Procedure for every iPhone as under:
Force Restart iPhone 8, iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max:
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
- Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
- Finally, press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.
Force Restart iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus:
- Press and Hold the Power/Lock button along with Volume Down button.
- Keep holding both the buttons till you see your iPhone is Restarting and Apple Logo is appearing on screen.
- Release both the Power/Lock and Volume Down buttons.
Force Restart iPhone 4s, 5, 5c, 5s, SE, 6, 6s:
- Touch & Hold the Home button, then Press & Hold the Sleep/Wake button.
- Keep holding both the buttons till your iPhone Restarts and showing Apple Logo on screen.
- Release both the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons.
After Apple Logo appears on your iPhone screen, you should wait for a few moments. Your iPhone will start normally and soon the wallpaper, network and other stuff will load on the device. Now you need to unlock your iPhone and see the Messages App to check if the disappeared messages are back or not.
03. Turn OFF iMessage and MMS from iPhone Settings
Every iPhone comes with iMessage feature. This iMessage feature allows the iPhone user to send and receive messages among various apple devices. So you can exchange messages from iPhone to iPad, iPod and Mac with help of iMessage. It may happen that only text messages disappeared from iPhone. When your iPhone Messages get disappeared, you should turn off iMessage and MMS options for some minutes. It may help you to fix iPhone Messages disappeared problem.
How to Turn Off iMessage and MMS in iPhone Settings:
01. On your iPhone Home Screen, tap on Settings icon.
02. Navigate to “Messages” tab and click on it.
03. Now you will see iMessage at top, tap on it to Turn OFF.
04. Find MMS Toggle under SMS/MMS section.
05. Tap on MMS Toggle to Turn it OFF.
You should wait for some minutes after turning off both the iMessage and MMS options. Don’t do anything for a few minutes and then go to iPhone Settings>Messages and turn them ON again. First turn ON iMessage and then MMS feature. Thereafter you should check your Messages App. We hope that your iPhone Messages Disappeared issue is solved and the Messages are appearing on your iPhone screen.
04. Restore Backup from iTunes
If you have backed up your iPhone data to iTunes in past few days then this method will definitely work for you. You can fix iPhone Messages Disappeared issue by restoring iPhone backup from iTunes. You must have a Mac PC, MacBook or other computer to connect your iPhone and restore backup from iTunes to get your all messages disappeared from iPhone.
Steps to Restore iPhone Messages from iTunes:
01. On your Mac, launch iTunes. Make sure the iTunes App is the latest version.
02. Connect your iPhone to Mac PC with Original iPhone Cable (USB).
03. Tap on the iPhone icon shown at top in iTunes App.
04. Click on “Summary” in the left sidebar.
05. Go to Backups section and select “This Computer.”
06. Click on “Restore Backup” and select the latest backup file from computer.
07. Wait till the iTunes restore the backup on your iPhone.
08. See Messages App to see if your all messages are available now.
Warning: When you Restore iPhone Data from iTunes, it will be overwritten on your iPhone storage. It means the iPhone data/messages will be replaced by the iTunes backup data/messages. As a result, you may lose some of your new messages that you have sent/received after Old Messages are disappeared. In addition, you cannot restore iPhone backup from iTunes if there’s an issue of iOS changed. For example: you took your iPhone backup to iTunes when it had iOS 11.3, but you have just updated it to iOS 12. Now the iTunes may not allow you to restore iPhone with new iOS from an old backup file.
05. Restore Backup from iCloud
This method is useful for you only if you continuously backup iPhone data to your iCloud Account. It means All the options are ON under iCloud Settings on your iPhone. Only then this method will work to fix iPhone Messages Disappeared. You can easily restore your disappeared messages from iCloud backup and get them back into Messages App.
The procedure to restore backup from iCloud to iPhone is divided into three parts as follows:
[Part-I] Update iPhone to Latest iOS Version
01. Make sure your iPhone has a high speed internet connection.
02. Tap on Settings icon to open your iPhone Settings.
03. Select “General” tab to go to general settings.
04. Click on “Software Update” to check for updates.
05. Finally choose “Install/Update Now” to proceed.
06. Wait till the new iOS version is downloaded.
07. Install the New iOS on your iPhone.
[Part-II] Reset iPhone – Erase All Content and Settings
It is necessary to reset your iPhone before you restore its backup from iTunes. Please make sure you have the latest backup file in iCloud Account.
01. Open iPhone Settings and go to “General” option.
02. Navigate to “Reset” tab and select it.
03. Tap on “Erase All Content and Settings.”
04. Confirm the action to Reset your iPhone.
05. Wait till the Reset Process gets over.
[Part-III] Restore Backup from iCloud
After completion of iPhone Reset, you need to set up your iPhone. You will get three options as Set Up as New iPhone, Restore from iCloud Backup and Restore from iTunes Backup.
- Make sure your iPhone is connected to a working WiFi Internet.
- Select “Restore from iCloud Backup” option to begin.
- Sign In to your iCloud Account with your Apple ID and Password.
- Select the Latest Backup File from your iCloud Account.
- Wait for some minutes for restore process to get over.
- Check Messages App after restore to see all disappeared messages.
Warning: You can restore backup from iCloud only if your iCloud Sync is continuously ON on your iPhone. For example: In your iPhone settings, iCloud is OFF (Contacts, Messages or All) for last one month. So you don’t have backup of that period and it will be lost when you restore backup on iPhone from iCloud. Please do NOT take a backup now or you may lose all old data. You should better skip this method if your iPhone has iCloud OFF for some or all options.
06. Restore iPhone Messages with Third Party App
There are two options where the iPhone user can backup the iPhone data i.e. 1) iTunes and 2) iCloud. In case you have iPhone backup at iTunes/iCloud, but you want to restore messages only and not other data. You have to use a third party app to perform such typical task. There are many apps that let you recover your iPhone text messages disappeared with more features. Such apps are EaseUS MobiSaver, iMyfone D-Back, FoneDog Toolkit – iOS Data Recovery, dr.fone – iPhone Data Recovery, PhoneRescue for iOS and some others.
With help of one of these apps, you can solve the issue of iPhone Messages Disappeared in a few minutes. The best benefit of using a third party app is that it allows you to retrieve selected data on your iPhone without deleting existing data. If you wish to recover only messages then select only that option before processing. However, you will have to pay for buying the app and using it on your Mac to connect your iPhone and retrieve disappeared messages.
How to Prevent iPhone Messages Disappear/Loss in Future
We have learned about how to fix iPhone messages disappeared and restore them with various tools. Now I will tell you how you can save your iPhone messages and prevent any data loss in future. Kindly go through the important instructions given below:
- Go to iPhone Settings>Messages>Message History and Set it as keep messages “Forever.” This setting will prevent the iPhone to delete your messages automatically.
- Go to iPhone Settings>Your Name>iCloud and Turn ON Messages, Contacts and all options. This setting will keep syncing your messages and data to your iCloud Account so that you can restore backup when/if your iPhone Messages get disappeared in future.
- Take backup of iPhone Messages and other data to iTunes on weekly basis. So iTunes will save your data as backup and you can restore it from iTunes at anytime.
Final Words:
All the information mentioned above about How to Fix iPhone Messages Disappeared is true and fair. The methods we have shared are working to get back or recover disappeared messages on iPhone. For more queries regarding iPhone Messages Disappeared, kindly contact Apple Helpline Number at 1-800-MY-APPLE (800-692-7753) or visit Apple Support Website at support.apple.com.
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