How long do texts stay on your phone?

The text messages are stored in both locations. Some phone companies also keep records of sent text messages. They sit on the company's server for anywhere from three days to three months, depending on the company's policy. Verizon holds texts for up to five days and Virgin Mobile keeps them for 90 days.
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Do text messages stay on your phone forever?

When you receive and send text messages, they're sent through -- and saved by -- your service provider's data network. Data is then maintained on the phone. Deleting these messages clears them from the visible display, but a small piece of data is still stored temporarily in the device's system memory.
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How far back do text messages go?

Most newer Android devices will let you view all your text messages but older models may limit you to viewing just the last 30 days' worth of messages. What is this? In some instances, you can delete messages as old as 3 months. In some other carriers, you can go beyond 6 months.
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Are text messages stored on your phone?

All text messages are saved on Android phones by default. Therefore, if you only have a SIM card, you cannot see the text messages saved on the phone. If you want to save them on the SIM card, you have to manually move them to the SIM card one by one yourself.
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How long does a text stay on iPhone?

By default, the iPhone keeps all messages forever (or until you manually delete them). If you prefer, tap "30 Days" or '1 Year." If you do, the iPhone will automatically discard your messages after the selected time period.
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How can I retrieve text messages from years ago?

Restore Texts from a Wireless Backup

If you are currently using a wireless backup service, check when the last backup was made. If the most recent backup was made before you accidentally deleted the texts, you can restore that backup to your phone and the text messages will be restored to your phone as well.
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Can you pull up old texts on iPhone?

You can retrieve deleted text messages on your iPhone by restoring it with an iCloud backup. If you save backups to your computer, you can use iTunes or Finder to recover your iPhone's texts. If all else fails, reach out to your cellular carrier — they may restore deleted messages for you.
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Where do deleted texts go?

The Android operating system stores text messages in the phone's memory, so if they're deleted, there's no way to retrieve them. You can, however, install a text message backup application from the Android market that allows you to restore any deleted text messages.
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Where are my old messages stored?

Part 1: Android text message folder location

In general, Android SMS are stored in a database in the data folder located in the internal memory of the Android phone.
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Where is my text message history?

How to Get Text Message History From Phone
  • Look for the menu icon on your cell phone screen. ...
  • Go into the menu section of your cell phone. ...
  • Look for the icon and word "Messaging" within your menu. ...
  • Look for the words "Inbox" and "Outbox" or "Sent" and "Received" in your Messaging section.
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Can old text messages be recovered?

Even when you 'permanently' clear messages, you're simply getting the phone to stop listing it in the deleted items folder. You can't recover such texts on the phone itself, but there are plenty of commercially available software packages you can buy that allow your PC to read data directly from a SIM card.
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Can police look up old text messages?

Keeping Your Data Secure

So, can police recover deleted pictures, texts, and files from a phone? The answer is yes—by using special tools, they can find data that hasn't been overwritten yet. However, by using encryption methods, you can ensure your data is kept private, even after deletion.
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Do text messages automatically delete?

Make Sure "Delete Old Messages" is Off

If you do not already know, there is actually an option in the Messages app on your Android phone that lets you delete your old messages automatically. If this option is enabled, that is why your messages are being removed from your phone without your consent.
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Are text messages stored on phone or SIM card?

Text messages are stored on your phone, not on your Sim. Therefore, if someone puts your Sim card into their phone, they will not see any text messages that you have received on your phone, unless you have manually moved your SMS's to your Sim.
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How long are Imessages stored?

More of a revelation was the fact that Apple stores the information for 30 days. Choosing how to send messages is tricky and has caused Apple problems in the past, especially when a user switches from iPhone to Android.
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Are text messages stored in the cloud?

How Can I Backup My Messages? The easiest way to make backups of text messages is to use Android's integration of Google Drive, which will let you automatically save any texts to the cloud. However, you can also use third-party services like IDrive to save your data to the cloud.
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How do you permanently delete text messages?

To delete a thread, press and hold on the thread you wish to delete from the main messaging menu. A checkmark will appear on top of the photo icon for your texting thread, and another action bar will appear at the top of the display. Next, tap the trash can icon and confirm by tapping 'Delete. '
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How do I permanently delete text messages from my iPhone?

Open up a conversation. Tap and hold on any message within. Tap on "More" when the pop-up options appear. Tap on "Delete All" in the top left, then "Delete Conversation" to confirm.
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Can phone companies retrieve deleted text messages?

So, while you may feel that you have every right to access copies of text messages from your phone, your cell phone provider has an obligation to protect the privacy of the other participant in the conversation. Therefore, in order to retrieve text messages from your cell phone carrier, you must obtain a court order.
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Where are iPhone texts stored?

Tap the "Messages" icon from the home screen of your iPhone to access your stored text messages. The application will display all text messages sent and received in chronological order. Tap a text message to display the entire text message thread.
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Can you view text messages on iCloud?

You can view text messages on iCloud that you've received or sent to anyone on any synced device, at any time. As long as you have syncing turned on for each of your Apple devices, they will all be viewable in the Messages app, whether you're using an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac.
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Why can't I see old messages on my iPhone?

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to check if there is enough storage to load all your messages on the new iPhone. Check if your WiFi connection is stable since iMessage will be sent by WiFi, or you can go to Settings to Reset Network Settings. Go to Settings > Messages > Toggle off iMessage then turn back on.
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Why are my old text messages gone?

Text messages can disappear from your Android device when you delete them accidentally, restart the device the wrong way, use outdated firmware, activate the delete option for old messages, or upgrade errors and software bugs.
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Does Imessage delete After years?

In “Settings,” tap “Messages.” In “Messages,” scroll down and tap “Keep Messages.” By default, Messages is set to keep your SMS text messages and iMessages forever. Tap either “30 Days” or “1 Year” depending on how long you'd like to keep your old messages.
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How long do text messages stay on your Android phone?

Tap Settings, Messages, then scroll down and tap Keep Messages (under the Message History heading). Go ahead and decide how long you'd like to keep old text messages before they're deleted: for 30 days, a whole year, or forever and ever. In case you're wondering, no—there aren't any custom settings.
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