Can I access a text message from an old phone which I can't turn on. broken on/off switch?

[AC Question]

Can I access a text message from an old phone which I cant turn on.. broken on/off switch

The phone in question is an HTC One C

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: Can I access a text message from an old phone which I cant turn on.. broken on/off switch

Welcome to Android Central! I'm afraid not. I believe SMS messages are stored in an SQLite database, not as discrete files, so even if you could somehow access the phone's storage, you wouldn't be able to extract that information.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like it's technically possible, but quite involved, and would require rooting the phone (which won't be possible since you can't turn it on). See this link: https://cmanios.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/read-sms-directly-from-sqlite-database-in-android/