Can I recover older texts and attachments after “Keep Messages” was set to 30 days?
My iPhone was set to keep messages for 30 days. I have now changed it to Forever. Messages in iCloud is enabled, and my synced iPad shows the same missing history.
I already checked Recently Deleted, and the missing conversation isn’t there. I’m trying to recover texts, photos, and a video from around November 2025 that I need for court.
iCloud shows approximately 70,000 messages. Is there any way to determine whether the missing messages or attachments are still stored there? Could an older backup contain them if Messages in iCloud was enabled?
Please suggest options beyond Recently Deleted and checking my iPad, since I have already tried both.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: Recover Texts