Text messages hang around after you delete them because of how the iPhone deletes data. When you delete some kinds of items from the iPhone, they aren't removed. Instead, they're marked for deletion by the operating system and hidden so they appear to be gone, but they're still on the phone.
Another reason to cause deleted texts to hang around is that your Google Drive backup has been enabled. When your messages are synced with Google backup and you don't disable this syncing before deleting the messages, they reappear on your device.
To permanently remove a message, tap Edit (or Filters) in the top-left corner, tap Show Recently Deleted (or Recently Deleted), select the messages or conversations you want to remove, tap Delete, then follow the onscreen instructions.
In a message conversation, touch and hold the message bubble or attachment that you want to delete. Tap More. Tap Delete , then tap Delete Message. If you want to delete all messages in the thread tap Delete All, in the upper-left corner.
The "Delete" button on the Android phone allows selective deletion from the tablets and cellphone. The process is quite simple. All you have to do is go to the Messages app and long press on the specific message or the thread you want to erase and click on the "Delete" button.
You can restore messages you deleted for up to 30 days. In the Messages conversation list, do one of the following: Tap Edit in the top-left corner, then tap Show Recently Deleted. Tap Filters in the top-left corner, then tap Recently Deleted.
Choose "Reset". Tap on "Factory data reset". You can see a list of data types that will be removed, make sure you have backed up files. Tap on "RESET" to erase all of the text messages and other files from your Android phone.
When you set up iCloud for Messages, your messages are stored in the cloud instead of locally on your device. You can see them on any device that's set up for iCloud and Messages, including your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.
Disabling and deleting Messages in iCloud will remove all your conversations from your iCloud account. As a result, your text conversations will no longer sync across your devices.
Even if you remove a text message from your phone, it may not be gone. That's because it could be stored on your phone company's servers. Normal text messages go from your phone to your phone company to the recipient. In most cases, that means the phone company retains a copy of messages.
Steps to fix:
Select "Show Recently Deleted" Find the person / thread you want to delete, Select that person and hit "delete". Go back to your Messages and you should be able to delete now.
When you delete a text message in Samsung's Messages app, it is stored in the Recycle bin for 30 days. Once those 30 days are up, the Recycle bin permanently deletes the message. Follow these steps to recover deleted messages from the Recycle bin within that time period.
You can choose to automatically delete your iMessages from your device after 30 days or a year, or to keep them on your device forever. For your convenience, iMessages are backed up in iCloud and encrypted if you have enabled either iCloud Backup or Messages in iCloud.
You can only recover the messages and conversations you've deleted within the last 30 to 40 days. If you delete a message before you update to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or later, you can't recover that message.
Once you send an iMessage from your iPhone, you have 15 minutes to unsend it. Unsending your message will delete it from your phone and from any device you sent it to. In its place, you and the recipient will see a message saying that a message was removed.
1. Retrieve Deleted Text Messages With iPhone Data Recovery Tool. The easiest and most effective way to restore deleted messages on an iPhone is to use a professional iOS data recovery tool iFindit. It can help you retrieve deleted messages directly from your iOS devices without iTunes or iCloud backup.
So the messages on your iPhone, no matter they are text messages, SMS messages, MMS messages, iMessages, all are included in the iCloud backup. But there is one thing you should notice – when you use the Messages in iCloud feature (works for iOS 11.4 and later) messages are automatically stored in iCloud service.
If you have multiple Apple devices there is a definite advantage to have it on for some or all of those devices. When Messages in iCloud is off your Messages app data is stored in the iCloud backup.
Make Sure "Delete Old Messages" is Off
Open your Messages app and head into the Settings menu. Turn the toggle for Delete old messages to the off position.
Apple saves your text messages in its iPhone backups—whether they're saved locally on your PC or they're part of an iCloud backup—which you should have. That's good! Unfortunately, the file containing your messages doesn't appear separately within the backup. However, you can access them through the filesystem.