Question Where do images & texts go... when they're deleted from Google Messages? 🤔

[winmod21]

I thought I searched and asked about this previously, but I guess I still don't understand where they go.
Because there's no Message Trash to view them in or empty. And deleted images don't appear in either the Gallery or Files trash bins.
They obviously don't get deleted @ the cellular carrier's mega-data storage facilities, as the Feds & police depts always get records of every deleted text and /or image.
So where do deleted texts & images go in mobile phones trackers? And is there any way to access them, once deleted?

 

[VidJunky]

For most SMS apps, not messaging services in app form like WhatsApp Signal or Telegram, messages are unrecoverable by users. I say most because some regular SMS apps like Next SMS offer built in backup services, but for Google Messages the only option for recovery is if there was a backup created. Same for attachments.

Here is a similar question as yours posted at Google Support.

As for attachments specifically, the pics show up in your Messages (media) folder that is viewable by both the Gallery app and Google Photos app but you're correct when deleted they do not appear in the trash of either of these apps because they were not controlled by the app only viewable through them. I equate it to deleting something off of an SD card on your PC. You can use Windows' File Explorer to navigate to and view items but when deleted they don't show in the PC's trash because they were never "on" the PC. These images were never "in" the Gallery or Google Photos, so... As for where do the files go, I would imagine they just sit there unrecoverable until they are overwritten.

I found this similar question at Google Support.

Are they recoverable by other means? I don't know for certain, I've been lucky enough to not have had to go down that road. I will say there are a number of apps and services advertised online that claim to be able to recover deleted data, media. Do any of them actually work, I'm not paying to find out, but I doubt they would work in this case only because I'd like to think that Google is doing some encrypting. A recovery program might find the data and be able to point to all of the bits of that data but won't be able to construct anything recognizable from it due to the encryption. And if not Google, then your device also encrypts data, with the same result.

This what Gemini says about Google Messages using encryption.

Yes, Google Messages can be encrypted using end-to-end encryption, but only when using RCS (Rich Communication Services) and when both users in the conversation are using Google Messages with RCS chats enabled. When end-to-end encryption is active, messages and their attachments are encrypted, meaning only the sender and receiver can read them.

Your post sounded like you were just asking the question and not like you were actually trying to recover something. Was there more?

 

[winmod21]

For most SMS apps, not messaging services in app form like WhatsApp Signal or Telegram, messages are unrecoverable by users. I say most because some regular SMS apps like Next SMS offer built in backup services, but for Google Messages the only option for recovery is if there was a backup created. Same for attachments.

Here is a similar question as yours posted at Google Support.

As for attachments specifically, the pics show up in your Messages (media) folder that is viewable by both the Gallery app and Google Photos app but you're correct when deleted they do not appear in the trash of either of these apps because they were not controlled by the app only viewable through them. I equate it to deleting something off of an SD card on your PC. You can use Windows' File Explorer to navigate to and view items but when deleted they don't show in the PC's trash because they were never "on" the PC. These images were never "in" the Gallery or Google Photos, so... As for where do the files go, I would imagine they just sit there unrecoverable until they are overwritten.

I found this similar question at Google Support.

Are they recoverable by other means? I don't know for certain, I've been lucky enough to not have had to go down that road. I will say there are a number of apps and services advertised online that claim to be able to recover deleted data, media. Do any of them actually work, I'm not paying to find out, but I doubt they would work in this case only because I'd like to think that Google is doing some encrypting. A recovery program might find the data and be able to point to all of the bits of that data but won't be able to construct anything recognizable from it due to the encryption. And if not Google, then your device also encrypts data, with the same result.

This what Gemini says about Google Messages using encryption.

Yes, Google Messages can be encrypted using end-to-end encryption, but only when using RCS (Rich Communication Services) and when both users in the conversation are using Google Messages with RCS chats enabled. When end-to-end encryption is active, messages and their attachments are encrypted, meaning only the sender and receiver can read them.

Your post sounded like you were just asking the question and not like you were actually trying to recover something. Was there more?

Right, mostly I was just curious as to where they go. Somewhat so, due to noticing that seemingly, within practically every true crime podcast that I've ever listened to, the feds & police are always able to completely retrieve any and all deleted texts, whether it be text data or images/media, from any and all phones, no matter when the texts or images were deleted. As well as all other electronic devices like PC's & tablets. Including every single search you've ever made!
So if they're not stored on the phones, the gov authorities must obviously get them—via warrants—from the carrier's data centers, where apparently, customers text data is never deleted or over-written!

That's interesting how the SMS or RCS data is viewable, but not actually in the phone, unless it's d-loaded, or in the Gallery app &c. Thanks very much for sharing that info, and checking for similar queries, VidJunky! I appreciate your kindness in doing so.

On a semi-related note, if you've viewed many of the true crime tv shows (e.g. Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours &c), or listened to true crime podcasts, it's remarkable, to me at least, that most people still don't realize that perhaps 75%, (my guess-timate, or more?), of all crimes, are solved by cellular phone tracker data – whether it be by cell tower ping data, or the retrieval of any and all texts or media data that has ever been deleted from any phone tracker! Yet people still take and keep their phones trackers with them – whilst they're perpetrating crimes &c. Perhaps they might not have been criminals, if they weren't so dumb.

"Secrets are harder to maintain these days." – Keith Morrison. In fact, some say there's no such thing as secrets, anymore.

 

[VidJunky]

Ture, I mean look at Fani Willis, they got location data on her from 3 years ago. Can't remember if they got text messages on her too but they had them both down to within blocks of where they were, or maybe a little closer. I'm sure there is no limit to the footprint we leave in this digital age. I wouldn't call myself a true crime junkie but I've followed a few podcasts on the subject.

The real travesty in all of this is that they (whoever they might be) can get every detail but if you accidently delete something, bye bye forever.

 

[SmithyControls]

Yeah, it's confusing. When you delete texts or images on your phone, it feels like they just vanish. But they don’t always truly disappear right away. Most phones remove them from view, but the data can still sit in storage until it's overwritten. That's why law enforcement or forensic tools can sometimes recover them. Unfortunately, for regular users, there's usually no built-in “trash” for messages, and unless you’ve backed them up (like to iCloud, Google Drive, etc.), they’re hard to retrieve once gone.

 

[winmod21]

Ture, I mean look at Fani Willis, they got location data on her from 3 years ago. Can't remember if they got text messages on her too but they had them both down to within blocks of where they were, or maybe a little closer. I'm sure there is no limit to the footprint we leave in this digital age. I wouldn't call myself a true crime junkie but I've followed a few podcasts on the subject.

The real travesty in all of this is that they (whoever they might be) can get every detail but if you accidently delete something, bye bye forever.

Yeah, it's confusing. When you delete texts or images on your phone, it feels like they just vanish. But they don’t always truly disappear right away. Most phones remove them from view, but the data can still sit in storage until it's overwritten. That's why law enforcement or forensic tools can sometimes recover them. Unfortunately, for regular users, there's usually no built-in “trash” for messages, and unless you’ve backed them up (like to iCloud, Google Drive, etc.), they’re hard to retrieve once gone.

Makes sense. Thanks for replies