Tell me more ×
Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for enthusiasts and power users of the Android operating system. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 9 down vote favorite

I deleted an entire SMS thread by mistake from my HTC Wildfire. Is there any way I can retrieve that thread ?

share|improve this question
See also: android.stackexchange.com/questions/11742/… – Izzy Aug 16 '12 at 12:54

3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

If you use My Backup Pro and have regularly scheduled backups, you can retrieve your SMS messages, provided you've set them to be backed up.

Also see SMS Backup - it allows a user to backup the SMS directly into GMail, so you always have a backup away from your device - no harm even if your device is misplaced / stolen / not working and you need to refer to an SMS in a hurry.

share|improve this answer
1  
I use SMS Backup as well. +1 for that App – Juri Jan 30 '11 at 17:31
Since I was downvoted, I'll just add that you should use SMS Backup+ (that's a plus there): appbrain.com/app/sms-backup/com.zegoggles.smssync and delete my answer – Bryan Denny♦ Jan 31 '11 at 17:31
up vote 3 down vote

Unless the messaging app you are using has a specific backup function or a trash folder there's no easy way, however, it may be possible for a data recovery professional (its not cheap) to recover them if the area in the memory hasnt been over written yet. Flash memory does not have data reminance like a magnetic drive. One overwrite and the data is essentially gone. I have also read that some android phone store sms messages on the sim card (I have a cdma phone so I have never seen it) and if so you may be able to recover them from the sim with a sim reader. Ultimately its not likely you are going to recover them and any attempts will be costly or hard.

share|improve this answer
Not quite true about Flash memory, I've recovered deleted photos from SD cards a lot of times for people, though it's not from data permanence, more that the software only wipes the file record, doesn't bother deleting the actual data from the card. Still, doesn't change your answer as I don't think any of the popular SMS apps store your messages on the SD by default, most store them in the internal system memory where this isn't practical.but rarely store more than about 50, so most smart phones ignore that and store internally. – GAThrawn Jan 31 '11 at 13:56
You are correct. The phone doesn't delete the actual data, as you point out, but for all intents and purposes, once it deletes the file record, the storage space holding the data in question is free to be over-written, at which point the original data will be lost. I was typing that answer on my Droid so I didn't go into as much detail as I could have but I thought I covered that when I said "it may be possible ... if the area in the memory hasnt been over written yet". Now I can see that was not completely clear. Thanks for the clarification. – Matt Jan 31 '11 at 14:02
up vote 1 down vote

There is no way to recover them using the default Messaging application.

I don't know any application which would be able to recover already deleted messages. I mean this technically this is not possible.

However there are messaging replacement applications with backup functionality.

share|improve this answer
Is there any app to do that ?? – user2564 Jan 30 '11 at 8:31

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.