[Answered] Where are Text Messages Stored on Android

Part 1: Where Are Text Messages Stored on Android?

Where did my text messages go Android? The Android text messages folder location is in the internal memory of the Android phone and the locations on different Android OS are a little different. You can find where are text messages stored on Android file system as below.

• Android 4.3 or older:

  /data/data/com.android.providers/telephony/database/mmssms.db

• Android 4.4 or later:

  /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/database/mmssms.db

  

• Android 7.0 and above:

  /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

  

This is where are messages stored on Android but all those files are in unreadable format and can only be accessed on a rooted phone.

Part 2. Where Does Android Store Pictures from Text Messages?

MMS messages and pictures are stored in a database in your data folder located on your phone’s internal memory as well. But you can manually save the pictures and audios in your MMS to your Gallery app.

• Press on the image on the messages thread view.
• Select a save option such as Save attachment, Save to SD card, Download Attachment, etc.
• This will download to "Download" folder on SD Card and the gallery will should see it.

Part 3. How to Save Messages from Android Phone to Computer (without Root)?

As we mentioned above, the messages are stored on the devices internal memory under app/data which requires root access. So how you can access and save messages on Android phone? Don’t worry! Tenorshare UltData for Android is able to serve as Android files extractor to help you export and save messages from Android to computer without rooting.

• Connect your Android phone to the computer. Launch the Tenorshare UltData for Android and select the feature "Recover Lost Data".

  

• Enable USB Debuggingthat can be done by following the on-screen instructions.

  

• When your device is connected, select the message and then click "Start" to scan your device.

  

• After scanning, you can view all the messages displayed by list and select the messages you want to save and click Recover to save messages in .TXT, .XML, .XLS files.

  

Part 4. Where are Deleted Text Messages Stored on Android?

Where are deleted SMS stored on Android? When you delete the text messages, they are not removed completely from the phone. They are still on the phone's memory but the allocation of those is removed from the File Allocation Table, and the memory that it occupied, gets freed up to be used by other files.

So, the deleted messages still stay in the storage, but their listings get removed, and space gets free to be used by other files. However, there isn’t a recycle bin on Android for your recover deleted files directly.

To Find deleted text messages on Android, you need a professional Android data recovery software like Tenorshare UltData for Android we mentioned above. With it, you can easily access and save deleted and existing messages on Android phone without rooting.

Bonus Tip: How to backup Text Messages on Android

There are many different ways to backup text messages on Android device. SMS Backup+ can be of great help for backing up text messages on Android.

• Login to your Google Account on your PC. Then, go to Settings

  

• Now go to Forwarding and POP/IMPAP and enable IMAP

  
• Install the SMS Backup+ App from Google Play store.

• Open the app, and connect it to your Google Account. When asked, select your Google/Gmail account, and connect. When it will ask for allow access, then tap "Allow".

  

• You can now backup the text messages to your Gmail account. Just tap "Backup," and it will be done

  

Once done you can see the log within the app as you can see above on the right screen.Now, go to your Gmail account.Now, in the search bar, type label:smsand hit Enter. You will see the backed up text messages there listed.

Conclusion

Now, you have a clear idea about where are texts stored on Android? And, with Tenorshare UltData for Android, we need not worry as to where are text messages stored on Android phone as no matter where they are, you can recover them effortlessly when deleted or lost.