3 Ways to View iMessage History

Last Updated on January 13, 2023 by Ian McEwan



view imessage history

Too many iMessages to go through? Delete an important iMessage by accident? Or your device has been jailbroken, for which your iMessages have all gone away? Even unfortunately your iPhone is lost? .....There are many cases will remind you of viewing iMessage History. However, how to find old iMessages easily or without having time flown backwards?

Above all, a magic tool will be used: iPhone Data Viewer(iOS Data Recovery, Compatible with iOS 11). (Click to free download today)(Click to free download today)

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View Existing and Deleted iMessages from iPhone/iTunes Backup and iCloud Backup.

Solution 1: View Existing and Deleted iMessage Directly from iPhone

  • Step 1 Launch iOS Data Recovery, then click "Recover from iOS Device"→ Press "Start"→ Select "Message". Click "Next" to continue.
  • connect iOS device to computer via usb cable
  • Step 2 Connect your iPhone to the computer and click "Scan."
  • recover from ios device
  • Step 3 Both your deleted and existing iMessages will be scanned. When the scanning process is completed, you are able to view all your iMessages on the next screen. Just select what you want to save and click "Recover" to save them to your computer.

Solution 2: View iMessage History from iTunes Backup

  • Step 1 On the main window, select in sequence "Recover from iTunes Backup"→ "Start" → "Message"→ "Next".
  • Step 2 Select an iTunes backup file and click "Scan".
  • recover from itunes select backup file
  • Step 3 As soon as the scanning process is completed, all your iMessages can be seen in the backup file. Just select the ones you need and click "Recover" to save them.

Learn more about How to Extract iPhone Data from iTunes Backup

Solution 3: View iMessage History from iCloud Backup

  • Step 1 At this moment, select "Recover from iCloud Backup" → "Next"→"Message" and click "Next" to continue.
  • Step 2 After entering your iCloud account, you are supposed to select the relevant iCloud backup file. Click "Download" to go on. Don’t worry, your personal information will never be leaked out.
  • recover from icloud download backup file
  • Step 3 Finally, the backup of your iMessages will be downloaded. Once it’s completed, all of your iMessages can be seen on the screen. Just select the iMessages you want and click "Recover" to save them.

Further Reading:How to Retrieve Messages from iCloud Backup

A Slight Digression: Why iMessage on iPhone X is awesome.

Besides iOS Data Recovery, dr.fone - Recover can be helpful as well. First of all, please download(Click to free download today) (Click to free download today) dr.fone tookit on your PC and get it installed.

Next, its three solutions will be briefly introduced.

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View iMessages Directly from iPhone, iTunes Backup, iCloud Backup efficiently.

Tip 1: View iMessage Directly from iPhone With dr.fone

  • Step 1 After having connected your device, find and click“Recover”from dr.fone interface, then click “Start Scan” in the lower right corner.
  • Recover Contact from iPhone Device
  • Step 2 When the scan is finished, all the results will be clearly presented as following screen.

Tip 2: View iMessage History from iTunes Backup With dr.fone

  • Step 1 Find and click “Recover from iTunes Backup File” to switch to the recovery mode. Then select the iMessage backup you need and click “Start Scan” to continue.
  • Step 2 Then, you can read the iMessage history by clicking “Messages”.
  • Scanning iTunes Backup

If you haven't backup to iTunes before, here is the tutorial to Backup iPhone to iTunes on Windows and Mac.

Tip 3 :View iMessage History from iCloud Backup With dr.fone

  • Step 1 Click “Recover from iCloud Backup File” button and sign in your iCloud account.
  • Sign in iCloud
  • Step 2 Then, a list of all your backup files will appear. Click “Download” to save the file onto your computer.
  • However, the backup file is unreadable by any other program but dr.fone.

  • Step 3 Finally, click “Messages” and “Message Attachments” to view your iMessages.

Learn more about :How to Restore from iCloud - 3 Ways to Restore iPhone/iPad from iCloud