Start with what's most likely to work. On iOS 16 or later, deleted texts stay in the Messages app's Recently Deleted list for up to 30 days. If they're gone from there, your best chance is a computer backup made before you deleted them. OpenExtract (free) opens that backup, and it can also scan a backup for deleted messages iOS still had on file. No tool can promise to bring back every deleted message.
Don't count on any app pulling a deleted text straight off the phone. Once iOS clears a message, treat it as gone. What survives is whatever was still in a backup, and that can include deleted messages iOS hadn't cleared yet. So the question is always: which backup, made when?
On iOS 16 or later, open Messages and go to the conversation list. On iOS 26 and later, tap the Filter button at the top, then Recently Deleted. On iOS 16 to 18, tap Filters at the top left, then Recently Deleted, or tap Edit, then Show Recently Deleted. Messages stay there for up to 30 days, and you can recover them right there.
Apple's apps keep one backup per device on a computer and replace it the next time you back up. Before you back up again, copy the existing backup folder somewhere safe, or the older copy will be overwritten.
Install OpenExtract, choose to open a backup you already have, and pick its folder. If the messages were deleted after that backup was made, they're simply there in Messages, like any other conversation.
On the backup's home page, under Tools, click Recover deleted messages, then Look for deleted messages. The scan looks for two things: messages that were in iOS's Recently Deleted list when the backup was made (iOS 16 and later), shown in their original conversation, and leftover messages from conversations that were deleted, grouped by the other person.
Use the button at the top of the results to save everything it found as a PDF, a web page (HTML) or a spreadsheet (CSV). If the scan finds nothing, that usually means there was nothing left to find in that backup.
We'd rather you know this before you start.
Can I recover deleted texts without a backup? Only from Recently Deleted on the phone, within its 30 days. OpenExtract needs a backup on your computer, but one you make now can still hold leftover messages from deleted conversations that iOS hasn't cleared yet, so it's worth a scan.
Can it recover from iCloud? No. It reads backups saved on a computer.
Does scanning change the backup? No. The scan only reads it. Nothing is written back.
Will it find deleted photos? No. The deleted-message scan looks for text messages only.
Why did the scan find nothing? Usually because iOS had already cleared those messages before the backup was made. An older backup, if you have one, is the next place to look.
Is it really free? Yes. OpenExtract is open source under the MIT license, with no paid tier, no account and no strings attached. The code is on GitHub.
OpenExtract never writes to your backup, so looking costs nothing.