You've probably been there before, the moment when you deleted a text message only to realize shortly after that you really needed it and so you want to recover deleted text messages on Android.

If you need to recover more things on your smartphone, we have some ways for you to recover deleted photos on any Android device. In this way you will be able to have everything you have accidentally deleted again without any problem.

Once the message is gone, how can you get it back? Where do you start to check when your Android device doesn't have a recycle bin? Well don't despair. We have this article for you that will show you how to recover deleted text messages on your Android mobile and what you can do to prevent this from happening again.

Recovering Deleted Text Messages on Android

Before you start to panic, there are ways to recover your messages on your smart device. Unlike recovering deleted text messages on an iPhone, it can be almost impossible to recover them on Android.

In many cases, deleting a message, whether it's SMS or MMS, doesn't completely remove it from your mobile device's system, at least not right away. That is why your device will mark it as an inactive file, making it invisible and replaceable, so that other new files that come immediately after deleting the text message will overwrite or replace it.

It's like writing something on paper, then erasing it and writing something back there, in the same place. Which means once you find out you deleted a text message and want it back, stop using your mobile device to increase your chances of getting it back. If you don't, it will probably be deleted forever after a short while.

However, as we mentioned before, it is almost impossible to recover the text messages that you deleted from your Android device. This is because the system handles text message data in a different way.

Unlike your computer, which has a recycle bin that holds all deleted files for some time before you can delete them. Your Android mobile does not have one, nor can you undo the deletion process to restore deleted text messages on Android once you confirm the deletion action.

Is it possible to recover deleted texts?

For starters, there is no guarantee that you will recover your deleted text messages on Android as the data may be permanently deleted. It is also not an easy task to try to restore them from the location in which they were placed for deletion. This is because the system will not use the normal means to communicate with them.

Just like hiding deleted files on a computer hard drive awaiting recovery or replacement, your Android phone does the same. Keep everything you delete, including text messages, long enough before space is needed to save more data.

Once you delete the message, your Android device changes the space it occupied as “unused” and only overwrites deleted messages when it creates new data as you continue to use your smartphone.

In this way, it is almost impossible to detect if there is a specific duration or period of time that elapses before deleted messages are overwritten. However, the best thing you can do is immediately turn off mobile data or WiFi on your mobile or tablet. And not use them to create new data, this measure includes taking new photos, creating new files, sending other messages, among others.

Your best option in this case is to put your device in Airplane mode and quickly find an SMS recovery app that can help you recover deleted messages on Android before they are overwritten.

Recover Deleted Text Messages on Android

If you realize that you have deleted an important text, you should put your smartphone in Airplane mode. Also, you should make sure you don't record audio, use the camera, or try to create new data that could overwrite your text messages.

Ask the sender or recipient

This is the first low-cost method you can use immediately after realizing you deleted an important text message. If the person still has the message on their smart device, ask them to screenshot it or to forward it to you again. If you are unsuccessful, try these other possible solutions.

Use an SMS recovery application

This is not a safe method as it may not work for many users. There are a variety of sites that offer recovery software for Android devices, but they have big problems. Some of these recovery apps require you to pay something to recover your text messages, even if they offer a free trial.

This way, you may end up paying a higher price just to retrieve a text message, assuming the app developer is trustworthy and the app actually works.

Also, an SMS recovery app may require root access to your devices. This is a risky process as it gives access to any file on your smartphone. By default, the folder containing your texts is hidden in a protected system folder on Android. This means that you cannot navigate to that folder without rooting, even if you install a normal file explorer app.

This way, without rooting your device, text recovery apps might not work. Instead, you may end up with a blank screen or your mobile device may display a security warning if you root your smartphone.

Similarly, you may find software that asks you to use the USB mass storage protocol for recovery, which isn't available on newer devices.

Wipe and restore your Android device

This procedure will only work if you have made a full backup of your Android device before deleting text messages. If you haven't already backed up your text messages, you can start to do so. You just have to go to your Google Drive account, select the Settings – Google Backup option and then select the SMS messages option in the new menu that appears.

If you already had Google Drive on your device, you've probably already been backing up your text messages. However, you should restore such deleted text immediately as Google Drive updates its backup every 12-24 hours.

The challenge of using Google Drive to restore your deleted text messages on Android is that it's a file. For this reason, it will update the full text history to the previous setting in one go. There is no way to restore just individual text.

Protect Your Deleted Text Messages on Android

Whether you have backed up all your data or not, it is not that difficult to recover deleted messages thanks to text recovery software data. So now you know what to do in case you delete a text message by mistake or your mobile device is damaged.

However, the tips we gave you above should help you pretty well. But in the future, make sure to take screenshots, keep backups in the cloud or in your Google Drive account. All this to preserve your messages in those moments in which you need them more than ever.