If your iPhone keeps deleting old text messages automatically, you’re not alone. Many iPhone users suddenly notice their messages disappearing after a month — and the reason is a built-in iOS setting that deletes messages after 30 days to save storage.
The good news? You can easily stop your iPhone from deleting text messages after 30 days by adjusting one simple setting. This step-by-step guide explains everything you need to know — including how to keep messages forever, how to restore deleted messages, and how to manage storage without losing important conversations.
Why Your iPhone Deletes Messages After 30 Days
Your iPhone has a feature called Message History that determines how long text messages are stored. The options are:
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30 Days
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1 Year
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Forever
If your iPhone is set to 30 Days, it will automatically remove any texts older than that — including photos, videos, voice notes, and attachments inside your conversations.
To prevent this, you simply need to change the Message History setting.
How to Stop Your iPhone from Deleting Messages After 30 Days
Follow these steps on any iPhone (including iPhone 13, 14, 15, and older models).
Step 1: Open the Settings App
Unlock your iPhone and tap the Settings app from the home screen.
Step 2: Go to Messages
Scroll down and tap Messages.
This section controls all iMessage and SMS functions.
Step 3: Open Keep Messages Settings
Inside the Messages settings, scroll until you find:
➡️ Keep Messages
Tap it.
Step 4: Change Message Storage Duration
You will see three options:
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30 Days
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1 Year
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Forever
To stop your iPhone from deleting messages automatically, choose:
✅ Forever
This ensures your iPhone keeps all text messages unless you delete them manually.
Step 5: Confirm Your Choice
Once you tap “Forever,” your iPhone may ask:
“Do you want to keep older messages?”
Tap Keep Messages to confirm.
Now your iPhone will no longer remove messages after 30 days.
What Happens When You Change This Setting?
When you switch to Forever:
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Your iPhone stops deleting old texts.
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All new messages will be stored permanently.
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Old messages (if still present) will remain safe.
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Photos, videos, and attachments inside messages will also be kept.
If your old messages already disappeared, you may need message recovery steps (covered below).
How to Restore Messages That Were Already Deleted
If your iPhone has already deleted messages older than 30 days, they may still be recoverable.
Try these methods:
1. Restore Messages from iCloud Backup
If you had iCloud Backup enabled before messages were deleted, you might get them back.
Steps:
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Go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone.
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Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
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Set up your iPhone again.
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Choose Restore from iCloud Backup.
You must select a backup created before the messages disappeared.
2. Restore via iTunes/Finder Backup (Mac or PC)
If you previously backed up your iPhone using a computer:
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Connect your iPhone to your Mac/PC.
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Open Finder (macOS) or iTunes (Windows).
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Select Restore Backup.
Your old texts will return if they were saved in the backup.
3. Check Recently Deleted Messages (iOS 16+)
Newer iPhones have a “Recently Deleted” folder in Messages.
Steps:
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Open Messages.
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Tap Edit in the top-left corner.
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Tap Show Recently Deleted.
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Restore messages if available.
How to Prevent Storage Issues While Keeping Messages Forever
Choosing Forever means your message database can grow over time.
Here’s how to manage storage without losing important chats:
1. Delete Only Large Attachments
Go to:
Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Messages
Here you can delete:
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Large photos
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Videos
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GIFs
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Voice notes
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Documents
without deleting entire conversations.
2. Delete Old Conversations Manually
Swipe left on any message thread → Delete
This lets you remove specific chats while keeping others forever.
3. Use iCloud Messages
Turn on iCloud sync:
Settings → Your Name → iCloud → Messages → ON
This keeps your messages in iCloud, freeing local storage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Why does my iPhone delete texts after 30 days?
Because the Message History setting is set to “30 Days.”
2. If I change “Keep Messages” to Forever, will deleted messages come back?
No — only new messages will be saved unless recovered from a backup.
3. Does switching to “Forever” use more storage?
Yes, but you can delete large attachments individually to manage space.
4. Will this affect iMessage and SMS both?
Yes — the setting covers all message types.
Conclusion
If your iPhone has been deleting messages automatically, the fix is simple. Just change:
➡️ Settings → Messages → Keep Messages → Forever
This stops your iPhone from deleting texts after 30 days and ensures your messages stay safe unless you manually remove them.
By adjusting storage settings and using iCloud, you can keep years of conversations without running out of space — and without losing important memories.
