How to Delete Text Messages on iPhone

Being able to delete text messages on your iPhone is important for managing storage space and keeping your messages organized. Here are some tips on how to delete text messages on iPhone or entire conversations from your phone. Phonsee for iPhone will show you how else you can use your phone!

Delete Individual Text Messages

To delete a single text message on your iPhone:

1. Open the Messages app and go to the conversation with the message you want to delete.
2. Tap and hold on to the message bubble you want to get rid of. This will highlight the message.
3. Tap Delete in the menu that pops up.
4. Confirm that you want to delete the message by tapping Delete Message again.

The message will be removed from the conversation. Keep in mind that if you delete a message bubble on your end, it will still show up on the recipient’s end unless they also delete it.

Delete a Whole Conversation

If you want to delete an entire text conversation with a contact, it’s just as easy:

1. Open the Messages app and tap the conversation you want to delete to open it.
2. Tap the contact name at the top of the message window.
3. Scroll down and tap Delete Conversation.
4. Confirm that you want to delete the whole conversation by tapping Delete Conversation again.

This will remove the entire conversation and all messages from your iPhone. As before, the messages will still be present on the other person’s phone unless they also delete them.

Delete Messages Using Time Filters

The Messages app also lets you mass delete messages on iPhone based on age filters. Here’s how:

1. In the Messages app, tap the Edit button in the top left.
2. Tap Select, then choose one of the time filters – 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, or All time.
3. This will highlight all messages from the last week, month, year, or entire history based on your filter.
4. Tap the trash can icon to delete all the selected messages. Confirm by tapping Delete again.

It’s a quick way to clean up old messages you may no longer need, clogging up your inbox.

Recover Deleted Text Messages

So you deleted a message by accident, and now you regret it, or maybe you want to track an iPhone without them knowing? Not to worry, you may still be able to recover it and read everything written there:

• For recently deleted messages, you can shake your iPhone to trigger the Undo popup, which lets you restore the last deletion.
• Alternatively, deleted messages get stored in Recently Deleted for up to 30 days. Go here to recover them.
• As a last resort, you may be able to recover data from a backup using iTunes or iCloud. But there is no guarantee with this method.

Act quickly if you need to retrieve deleted messages, as they get permanently erased after 30 days!

Can You Recover Deleted Texts from Someone Else’s Phone?

Can you delete iMessages? Yes! However, what about their recovery? If you have deleted a message you sent to someone else, it will still be on their phone unless they also remove it. But can you reach into their phone and delete it remotely?

Unfortunately, there is no way to selectively delete a message from another person’s phone without having direct access to the device.

Once you hit send, the message is out of your control, so you’ll need to ask the recipient to delete it themselves. For privacy reasons, this control remains firmly on the receiving end.

The only exception is iMessages, which allows senders to delete a message everywhere through the Delete Everywhere feature, as long as it’s enabled quickly after sending.

Permanently Deleting Texts from iCloud Storage

Even after you found out how to delete messages on iPhone and remove messages from your iPhone, they may continue to be stored in your iCloud backup:

• Open Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups
• Select your device backup > Edit and deselect Messages.
• Tap Done and then Back Up Now to update the backup without messages.
• You can then delete the old backup and free up that storage space.

Just be aware this will remove messages from all historical backups as well, so only do it if you’re sure.

Avoiding Message Deletion Remorse

Here are a few quick tips to avoid regret over deleting texts after finding out how to delete text messages on iPhone:

• Screenshot or record important messages you may want to look back on before deleting.
• Think carefully before selecting deletion filters to not erase anything important.
• If a text conversation has sentimental value, keep it archived somewhere else before removing it from your iPhone.
• Enable iMessage Delete Everywhere ASAP if you have regrets about sending a text to nuke it before it’s too late.

Deleting text messages on your iPhone is easy and can free up space. But proceed with some caution in case you ever need to retrieve something later on. Following these best practices will keep deletion remorse at bay!