Recover Text Messages After Factory Reset iPhone

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By Anna Sherry

2025-05-15 / iPhone Recovery

A factory reset returns the iPhone to factory settings and wipes out all the data and apps. If you have accidentally factory reset your iPhone, it is frustrating to know that all your data, including text messages, has been deleted. However, are the text messages deleted permanently?

Absolutely not! You are still in a strong position to recover text messages after factory reset iPhone. This guide presents all the proven ways to retrieve text messages with or without backup. So, let's jump right to it!

Part 1: Can You Recover Text Messages After a Factory Reset iPhone?

From the intro, you must have guessed that it is possible to recover text messages, but what if we tell you that you have a 99% chance of recovery?

Basically, when you factory reset your iPhone, your messages and other data appear deleted, but they are still intact in the internal storage until overwritten by new data. So, if you act fast and use an iPhone data recovery tool, you can pull out the deleted text messages.

Alternatively, your previously made iCloud or iTunes backups can also do the recovery job for you. If you had luckily created an iCloud/iTunes backup before factory reset, you can restore the backup to retrieve all the data, including the text messages.

Part 2: How to Recover iPhone Data After Factory Reset Without Backup

The best and quickest way to recover text messages after factory reset iPhone without backup is by using an iPhone data recovery tool.

UltData iPhone Data Recovery is a specialized software solution to extract the deleted/lost data from an iPhone without a backup. It can recover messages and 35+ data types, including photos, videos, contacts, etc. It runs a deep scan first and then lets you preview and recover the lost data.

Why you should use UltData iPhone Data Recovery is evident from its main features:

  • Recover iPhone data after factory reset without backup.
  • Click-based interface, deep scanning, and preview-based recovery.
  • Recover data from other data loss scenarios, such as accidental deletion, system crash, physical damage, iOS upgrade bug, etc.
  • Recover data of apps, including WhatsApp, WeChat, Instagram, LINE, etc.
  • Restore selective data from iCloud and iTunes backup.
  • Compatible with a wide range of iPhone models, including the latest iPhone 16 series.

Follow the steps below to learn how to recover text messages after factory reset iPhone without backup:

  • Install and launch UltData iPhone Data Recovery on your Mac/Windows system. Tap "iPhone/iPad Data Recovery" from the main screen.
  •  selecting iphone/ipad data recovery
  • Connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable.
  • 
 connecting iphone to computer via usb cable
  • Pick "Messages" and other data types to scan and click "Scan". Wait for the scan to complete.
  • selecting the data types to scan
  • After the scan, you can preview and select the lost messages and other data. Lastly, hit the "Recover" button to save them to your computer.
  • preview-based recovery

That's all! So, a 4-step process lets you scan, preview, and recover iPhone data after factory reset without backup.

Part 3: How to Recover Text Messages After Factory Reset iPhone with Backup

Another effective way to recover text messages after factory reset iPhone is by restoring the backup. iPhone users can create a phone backup in iCloud or iTunes/Finder, which includes backing up messages. So, let's now see how to restore the backup and retrieve lost text messages:

Method 1: Recover Text Messages from iCloud Backup

iCloud provides an online platform for creating an iPhone backup. It creates the entire phone backup, including the messages. You can create iCloud backup manually or set it for automated backups.

If you have an iCloud backup to restore, follow the steps below on how to retrieve messages after factory reset iPhone with iCloud backup:

  • After the factory reset, begin the initial setup of your iPhone. When you get to the "Transfer Your Apps & Data" screen, click "From iCloud Backup."
  • Log in with your Apple ID and choose the backup that contains your messages. The iPhone will then restore all data, including your text messages.
  • iphone backup restore from icloud
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Note:

This method restores the entire backup, not just selective messages.

Method 2: Recover Text Messages from iTunes/Finder Backup

iTunes/Finder creates a local backup of your iPhone on your PC. It also creates the entire phone backup, including all your text messages.

To recover an iTunes/Finder backup, you need to connect your iPhone to the computer and initiate the restoration process. However, this will also restore an entire backup, not just text messages.

Follow the steps below on how to recover text messages after factory reset iPhone using iTunes/Finder:

  • Launch iTunes/Finder on your computer and also connect your iPhone to the computer with a USB cable.
  • Select iPhone from the left panel and tap "Restore Backup".
  •  restoring backup from itunes
  • Pick the right backup file, enter the password, and tap "Restore". Wait for iTunes/Finder to complete the restoration of data to your iPhone.
  •  selecting the backup to restore

This way, you can recover the iTunes/Finder backup and get back the lost data.

Bonus Tips: How to Prevent from Losing Text Messages After Factory Reset

The best way to prevent losing text messages after a factory reset is to create a backup of messages beforehand. You can use iCloud or iTunes/Finder for this purpose, but they create and restore an entire phone backup, not just messages.

The better approach is to use Tensorshare UltData to create a backup. It allows you to explicitly create a backup of text messages on your PC and easily restore them after a factory reset. The steps to create a text messages backup with Tenorshare UltData include:

  • Launch Tenorshare UltData, select "iPhone Data" from the left panel, and click "Data backup". Also, connect your iPhone to the computer.
  • selecting iphone data backup
  • Select messages and other data types you want to backup and click "Scan".
  • picking data types to backup
  • After the scan, you can preview the backup and then click "Save to PC" to save the backup.
  • preview and save to pc

Later on, you can use Tenorshare UltData again to restore the backup after a factory reset.

Wrapping Up

Doing a factory reset sometimes becomes essential, but sometimes it is unintentional. No matter what has led to a factory reset, you can recover text messages after factory reset iPhone effortlessly. You can use UltData iPhone Data Recovery to recover messages without backup or restore them through iCloud or iTunes/Finder backup. However, the latter approach restores the entire backup, but just the messages. Therefore, we will recommend using UltData iPhone Data Recovery, as its deep scan and preview-based recovery lets you recover only the text messages.

FAQs about Recovering Text Messages After Factory Reset on iPhone

Q1: How long do I have before deleted messages are overwritten?

You can recover deleted text messages on an iPhone for up to 30 days after deletion through the "Recently Deleted" folder. After this period, the messages are permanently deleted and ready to be overwritten by new messages.

Q2: Does Apple offer official tools to recover text messages after reset?

No, Apple does not offer official tools to recover text messages separately. After a reset, you can create and restore an iCloud or iTunes/Finder backup, but it creates the complete phone backup, not just the text messages.

Q3: What is the success rate of third-party recovery tools?

The success rate of third-party recovery tools depends on how they perform data recovery. A tool that performs deep scanning of the storage has a high success rate. For example, UltData iPhone data recovery offers a 99% success rate due to its exceptional deep scanning technology.

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