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Factory resets

Can deleted messages after a factory reset be recovered?

The short answer

Not from the phone itself. A modern reset destroys the encryption keys, so the old data cannot be read by anyone. Your messages may still exist in a backup made before the reset, on a synced Mac, iPad or tablet, or on the other person’s phone.

180 daysiCloud keeps backups after iCloud Backup is turned off or stops being used
30 to 40 daysdeleted iMessages stay in Recently Deleted (iOS 16 or later)
Person in a white jumper holding a smartphone, asking whether deleted messages after a factory reset can still be recovered
The phone’s own copy is gone after a reset. Copies elsewhere may not be.
Your situation

Was the phone reset, or were messages deleted?

Where copies may survive

  • An iCloud Backup made before the reset. Apple keeps it for 180 days after backups stop.
  • Messages in iCloud, until they are deleted on any synced device.
  • A computer backup from Finder, iTunes or Smart Switch.
  • A Mac, iPad or tablet that received the same messages. Keep it offline.
  • The other person’s phone, through police or a court order.

There may still be time

On iOS 16 and later, deleted messages stay in Recently Deleted for 30 to 40 days. Deleted messages can also remain in the phone’s databases for a while, with no guarantee.

If they are evidence: have the phone imaged before anything is restored, so the record of what was deleted and when is preserved.

Right now

Protect what is left

Do

  • Keep any synced Mac, iPad or tablet offline.
  • Write down when the reset happened and who had the phone.
  • List the accounts and computers it backed up to.

Do not

  • Set the phone up again yet. New syncing can change what your accounts hold.
  • Delete old backups to free up space.
  • Let a phone shop “fix” it.
Questions

Factory reset questions

Does a factory reset delete my iCloud backups?

Erasing the phone does not by itself delete backups stored in iCloud. Apple keeps backups for 180 days after iCloud Backup is turned off or stops being used.

Can a phone shop or recovery app get them back?

Not from a reset phone. Anyone claiming they can is describing data from a backup or another device, and a court will want to know which.

Is it different on Android?

Phones launched with Android 10 or later must use file-based encryption, so a reset is final for the phone’s own data. Some much older models are the exception.

Sources

Checked against each source in October 2026 by Viktor Burcevski, Wildfire Data Recovery. General information, not legal advice.

Need the messages as evidence?

See where copies survive and who can reach them, or talk to us before anything else changes.

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