Missing Messages on iPhone 13 (iOS 24 Beta)

_itsjustmy_

Hey there,
Okay, so I’m reaching out for help regarding a issue I’ve encountered on my iPhone 13. Recently (literally about 24 hours ago), right about 30,000 text messages were unexpectedly deleted across five different conversations. These messages were extremely important to me, and I have not been able to locate or recover them.
I’ve already checked the “Recently Deleted” section in the Messages app, but the conversations are not appearing there. Additionally, my device has never been backed up to iCloud or a computer, so I’m unable to restore from a previous backup.
For context, my phone is currently running the most up-to-date beta version of iOS 24. Because of this, I’m unsure whether this issue may be related to a software glitch or bug.
I would really appreciate any guidance on possible recovery options or next steps I can take to try to retrieve these messages. If there are any tools, processes, or additional troubleshooting steps you recommend, I’m more than willing to try them.

anna-halchenko

Hey there. I don’t think your messages were actually deleted. Most likely, this is an indexing issue after the update. Sometimes it resolves on its own if you just wait a bit. It’s been almost a week since your update, are the messages still missing?

If yes, try going to Settings > Apps > Messages, enable Screen Unknown Senders, then open Text Message Filter and turn it on. After that, check if your messages appear again in the conversations.
If that doesn’t help, you can try scanning your iPhone with a data recovery tool, as shown in Method 5 of this guide on how to recover deleted messages on iPhone (link). Just keep in mind that results can vary because of iOS limitations.

In general, it’s better not to rush into installing beta versions of iOS. Apple themselves warn that beta software may contain errors or inaccuracies and may not function as well as commercially released software. They also recommend backing up your device beforehand and installing betas only on non-primary devices. Any bugs, glitches, or errors should be reported through Feedback Assistant so they can review and fix them in future updates.