Smartphone data recovery: how to retrieve deleted messages and photos

Modern smartphones include built-in safety features to recover accidentally deleted data, such as text messages and photos.

On iPhones, deleted messages and photos are moved to a ‘Recently Deleted’ folder within the Messages and Photos apps, respectively. Deleted messages can typically be recovered within a 30 to 40-day window. For photos, the recovery period is approximately 30 days.

Android users utilizing Google Photos can access a ‘Trash’ folder, which generally retains deleted files for about 60 days. If these temporary folders have been emptied, recovery may still be possible through active cloud backups, though the chances of retrieval decrease as new data is written to the device.