My phone deleted (basically) all text messages. How can I recover them?

[Anathem]

Okay, so quick story. I've had my Droid Turbo for close to 2 years now (around the time it came out). Everything has been going well until a couple hours ago. I was driving and I needed to use Google Maps for GPS, but the app kept crashing. This wasn't too unusual, so I turned my phone off and on. When I did, the app worked fine and I was able to get to where I needed to be.

However, when I checked my texts afterwards, everything had been deleted, save a couple of one or two responses I sent to maybe 9 people last year (it was very random). I initially assumed that my texts would come back after a certain amount of time, or if I restart my phone, but no such luck. I'm trying to look up ways to recover my data, but all the programs I see want money and advertise it as a way to restore things when one "accidentally deletes" text messages. This wasn't the case for me -- my phone just went crazy and deleted them. I would like my texts back, as I've been transferring them from phones since ~2010, and now it feels like a major part of my history has been deleted.

All my apps, pictures, and everything else are fine.

Thank you all for your help,
Chuck

 

[Bitterman]

Are you using the stock txt app or Verizon Messages? If Verizon Messages I think they're backed up.

 

[Anathem]

I use the app that came on the phone, which is Message+. However, the messages are also deleted on the other text app (which I believe is Verizon Messages).

 

[Stalonage]

I use the app that came on the phone, which is Message+. However, the messages are also deleted on the other text app (which I believe is Verizon Messages).

Message + is Verizons messaging service. Which also has a back up feature. You can access it online to see if your messages were backed up before they were deleted. You can also sync in the app and see if you can try to get them back

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Anathem]

Would you happen to know where to go online to access this feature? I can't seem to find anywhere. I see there is an SMS Backup app, but that would be to back up texts that are not already deleted/corrupted.

 

[berserker]

Use the Verizon Cloud app which is probably already installed on your phone.

 

[Anathem]

I just checked, and there are no files backed up, despite the last successful backup apparently being around 3:30 this morning.

Edit: so I checked the settings as well, and it was set to only back up contacts.. Is there a plan B?

 

[doogald]

Going forward, use the app SMS Backup+, which backs up SMS messages (and call logs, if you wish) to a label on your gmail account as you send and receive them. If you ever lose them again, then you'll be able to restore them from this point forward.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...id=com.zegoggles.smssync&hl=en&token=1DLkzv2Q

If you can't get the messages from Verizon Wireless messages online ( https://web.vma.vzw.com/vma/web2/Message.do?s=1NiyQhzUj5TCCvu5 I think), then I can't think of any way to get back the messages, no.

 

[Anathem]

Going forward, use the app SMS Backup+, which backs up SMS messages (and call logs, if you wish) to a label on your gmail account as you send and receive them. If you ever lose them again, then you'll be able to restore them from this point forward.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...id=com.zegoggles.smssync&hl=en&token=aa3FpKz9

If you can't get the messages from Verizon Wireless messages online ( https://web.vma.vzw.com/vma/web2/Message.do?s=1NiyQhzUj5TCCvu5 I think), then I can't think of any way to get back the messages, no.

Thanks for the feedback, but since I don't see this issue being my fault at all, wouldn't there be any way to contact Verizon or Motorola directly and have them find me the lost messages in a similar way the advertised apps do, but for free?

 

[doogald]

Thanks for the feedback, but since I don't see this issue being my fault at all, wouldn't there be any way to contact Verizon or Motorola directly and have them find me the lost messages in a similar way the advertised apps do, but for free?

Since you were using messages+ you can try contacting Verizon. I can't see what Google would be able to do.

 

[Anathem]

Thanks again for all your help. Unfortunately, even my local Verizon store was unable to help (though the employees at mine seemed to be about as intelligent as a watercress sandwich). I doubt I'll be buying from Motorola again if I have to worry about files deleting themselves, although I will make a habit to back them up more frequently.

 

[Black8288]

Message

 

[jriley9922]

you can go to text.vzw.com

login to your verizon account and view your threaded text conversations. it stores every text from the past 90 days.
even if you deleted it from your phone/message+, it's all stored in there. You can download it into a .csv file as well if needed.

whether or not you can "import" the threads back into your phone... i have not tried that.
but my droid turbo did the phantom 'all text delete' once and I found this method to at least get some saved information i had in text