How-To

How Long Does an iPhone Keep Text Messages — and Can Deleted iMessages Be Recovered for Court?

Reviewed by Jacob Reed, founder of Verity · Published Oct 26, 2026

A phone with a dark screen on a cream linen bedspread beside a closed book and a glass of water on a wooden nightstand

Short answer

An iPhone keeps texts forever unless Keep Messages is set to 30 Days or 1 Year, which deletes older conversations automatically. Deleted messages stay in Recently Deleted for up to 30 days. An iMessage can be unsent within 2 minutes. Apple can't read iMessages, so the record is on the phones and their backups. Check Keep Messages today.

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One setting decides most of this: Keep Messages. After that, what removes a text is someone deleting it, unsending it in time, or emptying Recently Deleted. Here is what each one does, and where copies can still exist.

How long does an iPhone keep messages?

Keep Messages: Forever

The usual setting. Messages stay on the iPhone until someone deletes them.

Keep Messages: 30 Days or 1 Year

Apple warns that with either choice, conversations and all their attachments are removed automatically once they are older than that, on an ongoing basis. A phone set to 30 days holds only the last month.

Recently Deleted

A deleted message or conversation waits in Recently Deleted for up to 30 days, and can be put back from there. It can also be removed from the folder early, and then it is gone from the phone.

Messages in iCloud

When it is on, the same messages are on every device signed in to that Apple Account. Deleting on one deletes on all of them, and recovering on one recovers on all.

With Messages in iCloud on, the messages also live in iCloud, but deleting syncs there too, so iCloud is not a separate copy. An iCloud backup made before the deletion can be, as long as it hasn't been replaced by a newer one; see iCloud sync versus iCloud backup.

What happens when an iPhone message is unsent or deleted?

Undo Send

An iMessage can be unsent for up to 2 minutes after sending. It is removed from the other phone, and a note that a message was unsent appears in both conversations. If the other person’s device runs an older system, the original stays on it.

Edit

An iMessage can be edited up to five times within 15 minutes. It is marked Edited, and both people can tap that to see the earlier versions.

Green-bubble texts (SMS, MMS, RCS)

Can’t be unsent or edited. They travel through the phone carrier, not Apple, so the carrier’s records may show that they were sent, though carriers rarely keep the words.

Deleting a message or conversation

Removes it from this phone (and every device with Messages in iCloud) into Recently Deleted. The other person’s phone is not touched.

Unsending and editing need iOS 16 or later on both sides. For carrier texts, see what phone carriers keep.

Can deleted iPhone messages be recovered?

For 30 days, yes: from Recently Deleted, on the phone. After that, Apple's guidelines say it does not keep deleted content once it is cleared from its servers. Where a deleted message can still exist:

The other person's iPhone, unless the sender unsent it within 2 minutes. Deleting on your phone doesn't touch theirs. Your lawyer can ask them to preserve it (how discovery works).
An older iCloud or computer backup. Restoring one replaces what is on the phone, so anything newer can be lost. Copy what is on the phone first and ask your lawyer before restoring.
An old iPhone, iPad or Mac that was signed in to the same account and hasn't synced since; see old devices after a separation.
Screenshots and notification previews made before the message was removed.

Switching Keep Messages to 30 days, or deleting messages yourself, once a case is likely can be treated as destroying evidence; see deleting texts during a custody case.

How do you save iPhone texts for court?

1.Set Keep Messages to Forever

Settings > Apps > Messages (on older iPhones, Settings > Messages), scroll to Message History, tap Keep Messages and choose Forever. If it says 30 Days or 1 Year, older messages are being removed now.

2.Check Recently Deleted

In Messages, tap the menu button at the top of the conversation list, then Recently Deleted. Recover anything that belongs to the case before its 30 days run out. Don’t empty the folder.

3.Make a copy off the phone

An iPhone can’t export a conversation by itself. On a Mac with Messages in iCloud, the whole history is in the chat.db file; on Windows, a tool such as iMazing can save one conversation as a CSV or PDF. Keep the copy in two places.

4.Screenshot what a copy won’t show well

Capture “unsent a message” notes and edited messages with their earlier versions open, with the date showing.

5.Keep a dated log and ask about the other phone

Write down what an unsent or deleted message said if you read it first. Then ask your lawyer about asking the other side to preserve their phone and their iCloud backup.

The full steps for each route are in exporting iMessage for court. No computer? See saving an iPhone conversation without a computer.

Can a lawyer get iMessages from Apple?

No. Apple's Legal Process Guidelines say iMessage communications are end-to-end encrypted, that Apple has no way to decrypt them in transit, and that it has no iMessage communication logs, only logs of whether a number can receive iMessages. iCloud content, including Messages and iPhone backups, is provided only on a search warrant issued on probable cause, or with the customer's consent. With Advanced Data Protection turned on, Apple can't read those backups either. In family court, the messages come from the phones, computers and backups of the people in the conversation.

Can Verity read iPhone messages?

Yes. Drop in a Mac's chat.db (with its chat.db-wal file, if there is one), an iPhone backup's sms.db, or a CSV from a tool such as iMazing, and Verity lists the conversations and reads the one you pick in your browser without uploading it. It shows every message numbered in date order, with read times where the phone recorded them, and flags patterns such as threats, gaslighting and message flooding. Screenshots work too, with times marked approximate.

Common questions

Does an iPhone delete old text messages on its own?

Only if Keep Messages is set to 30 Days or 1 Year. Apple says conversations older than that are then removed automatically, attachments included. Forever keeps everything.

How long are deleted iPhone messages recoverable?

Up to 30 days, from the Recently Deleted folder in Messages, unless someone removed them from that folder first. After that, a copy may still be in an older iCloud or computer backup, or on the other person’s phone.

If they unsend an iMessage, is it gone from my phone?

Yes, if both phones run iOS 16 or later: it is removed from your phone and a note says a message was unsent. Unsending works only within 2 minutes, and not for green-bubble texts.

Can a lawyer subpoena Apple for iMessages?

Apple says iMessages are end-to-end encrypted and it has no way to read them in transit, and keeps no iMessage communication logs. Its guidelines say iCloud content, such as Messages and device backups, is provided only on a search warrant or with the customer’s consent. In a custody or divorce case, the messages come from the phones and backups of the people in the conversation.

Other apps work differently: see how long WhatsApp keeps messages, how long Messenger keeps messages and recovering deleted texts.

Apple pages cited

Read on October 26, 2026. Apple changes these features; check before you rely on them.

This is general information, not legal advice. Verity is not a law firm and is not affiliated with Apple. Ask your attorney what your case needs. If you are in danger, call 911; the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.

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