Everyone faces the situation where they want to find a bunch of texts they sent sometime ago but are unable to find it because scrolling takes up too much time. In this blog, we will solve this problem of yours and give you step by step solution to ‘How to find old iPhone messages?’ Since a large number of messages are being stored on your iPhone, it becomes difficult to do message indexing. You are unable to search for specific words and it ends up taking a lot of your time.

We are here with quick and easy ways on ‘How to find old iPhone messages?’ We will mention the ways in which you can find old text messages on iPhone by date, search iPhone text history with or without scrolling. In addition to these, we will also tell you how to find the messages that were deleted. You can adopt the one which is suitable to you.

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How to find old iPhone messages?

The four ways to find old iPhone messages are as follows:

1. PhoneRescue for iOS

PhoneRescue for iOS is a great way to search your old texts which were deleted. It is a professional iOS data recovery tool which is very popular and has got great feedback from its users. You can also find those messages that were received several years ago. It can also recover when you have lost your iPhone by looking up messages from iTunes/iCloud backup. It can also help you if there is no backup. So, let’s see the ways in which it can help:

  • If there is backup on iTunes or iCloud then you can easily look for your text history. The silver lining is that it can work even without backup.
  • It has the feature of finding old texts on iPhone by date or by name.
  • You can recover old messages to the Messages app or view them on your PC/Laptop.

Steps to find and view old messages –

  • Firstly, install PhoneRescue for iOS on your iPhone and launch it.
  • If you want to recover old messages to iPhone directly then connect your iPhone to PC. Now choose from the three options given, for instance, we are selecting Recover from Backup. Then click on the Right arrow to proceed.
  • Tap on Messages to recover.
  • You will see all the messages in a list, including messages and attachments. Select the option of Sort by date and you will see the list getting sorted from old to newer date. Now click on the messages you wish to restore and select To Device or To Computer button.
how to find old iphone messages

2. Find old texts by Scrolling

There is a easy way to go to the start of text messages on iPhone just by scrolling which is as follows:

  • Firstly, open your Messages app and then enter the words or conversation you have to view in old messages.
  • Tap on location of time which can be seen on top-left corner of the screen. Or you can tap on network which can be seen on top-right corner of the screen.
  • This way you can easily view the old texts from the start of the conversation.
how to find old iphone messages

3. Finding old texts via Spotlight Search

  • You can swipe down the Home screen and bring up Spotlight Search by your finger.
  • Click on the Search bar and type the phone number or keywords. Then preview the list of results that appear.
  • In order to locate the messages you are looking for, you have to select one date or conversation.
how to find old iphone messages

4. Search in Messages App

  • On your iPhone open the Messages app. Then in order to expose the search box, swipe it down with your finger.
  • Lastly, type the phone number or keywords in the search box. The list will appear of results and it will keep updating as you type.

Conclusion

These four ways will help you in finding your old messages and restore the deleted ones on iPhone. The first method of PhoneRescue for iOS can also be used for  extracting and recovering photos, contacts, notes, ringtones, and other up to 31 file types from iOS devices. We hope that you will find any one of the above helpful and you will succeed in ‘How to find old iPhone messages?’

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