Introduction
Text messaging is a convenient way of communicating, but sometimes you may need to delete them from your iPhone. It may be because of privacy concerns or simply to declutter your messages. Whatever the reason may be, it’s essential to know how to delete messages on your iPhone correctly. In this article, we will guide you on how to delete text messages on iPhone for both sides.
How to delete text messages on iPhone for both sides
Deleting messages on your iPhone may seem like a simple task, but to ensure that the messages are deleted for both sides, you need to follow a few steps:
1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
2. Select the message thread that you want to delete.
3. In the message thread, tap and hold the message that you want to delete. You will see a pop-up menu appear.
4. Tap on “more” from the pop-up menu.
5. You will now see a circle on the left side of each message. Tap on the circle next to each message that you want to delete.
6. Once you have selected all the messages that you want to delete, tap on the trash can icon in the bottom left corner.
7. You will see a confirmation message to delete the selected messages. Tap on “Delete Message” to confirm.
8. This will delete the selected messages from your iPhone for both sides.
It’s important to note that deleting messages on your iPhone for both sides is only applicable for iMessages. If you’re sending a regular text message to someone who isn’t using an iPhone, the messages will not be deleted for both sides.
Conclusion
Deleting messages on your iPhone is a straightforward process, but to ensure that they’re deleted for both sides, you need to follow the steps mentioned above. Keep in mind that deleting messages on your iPhone for both sides is only possible for iMessages. Regular text messages sent to non-Apple devices will not be deleted for both sides. By following these steps, you can keep your messages clean and decluttered, and maintain your privacy.
Step 1: Tap And Hold
If you want to delete a specific text message on your iPhone, just go to your messages and tap and hold the message you want to get rid of. A menu will appear, giving you a few options to choose from.
Step 2: Select The Delete Option
Once you have tapped and held the message that you want to delete, a menu with multiple options will appear. From the options available, select the “more” option. This will bring up a screen with a circle next to each message in the conversation.
Tap on each circle of the message that you want to delete. You will see a checkmark appear next to each selected message. Once you have selected all the text messages that you want to delete, tap on the trash can icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.
After tapping on the trash can, a confirmation screen will appear asking you if you want to delete the selected messages. Confirm by tapping on the “Delete Message” option. That’s it! The selected text messages will be deleted from your iPhone.
Caveats To Keep In Mind
Deleting text messages is a great way to declutter your iPhone. However, there are some things to keep in mind when deleting messages on your iPhone.
First, deleting a message from your iPhone will also delete it from the other person’s phone if it is a two-way conversation. So, if you want to keep the message on the other person’s phone, you may want to take a screenshot before deleting it from your own phone.
In addition, deleting a message does not guarantee that it is gone forever. If someone has taken a screenshot of the message or saved it in some other way, it can still be retrieved. So, make sure that you only delete messages that you are comfortable with never seeing again.
Finally, deleting text messages is permanent. There is no way to retrieve a deleted message once it has been removed. So, make sure that you really want to delete a message before you go ahead and do it.
Conclusion
Deleting text messages on your iPhone is a straightforward process. Just tap and hold the message you want to delete and select the “more” option to get started. Remember to keep in mind the caveats discussed above when deleting messages to avoid any potential problems in the future.
Step 2: Choose More Option
After selecting the text message(s) you want to delete, you need to choose the “More” option to display additional options for the message. Upon choosing this option, you will see a list of actions you can take with the message(s).
First on the list are the “Forward” and “Copy” options. These allow you to share the message(s) with others or save them to your clipboard for future reference. However, for our purposes, we want to delete the message(s) permanently, so we’ll ignore these options.
Next, you’ll see the “Delete” option. This is what we’re looking for! Select this option to delete the message(s) from your device. A confirmation box will appear asking if you want to delete the message(s). Select “Delete Message” to confirm and permanently delete the message(s).
It’s worth noting that the “Delete” option only deletes the selected message(s) from your device. The recipient(s) will still have a copy of the message(s) unless they also choose to delete them. If you want to ensure that the message(s) are deleted from both your device and the recipient(s)’s device, you will need to ask them to delete the message(s) as well.
It’s also important to keep in mind that deleting a message(s) is permanent. Once the message(s) are deleted, you will not be able to retrieve them. So, make sure you really want to delete the message(s) before confirming!
Step 3: Check Box and Tap Trash Icon
After you have chosen the messages you want to remove, tick the circle on the left side of the message. You can tick more than one message if you would like to delete a group of messages. Once you are done with selecting messages, tap on the trash can icon located on the bottom right corner of your screen.
Upon tapping the trash can icon, a prompt will appear on your screen asking, “Delete X Messages?” where X denotes the number of messages that you have selected to delete. To confirm the deletion process, tap on the “Delete” button which is located on the left side of the prompt. Alternatively, you can tap the “Cancel” button if you have changed your mind and do not want to delete the messages.
Once you have tapped on “Delete,” you will see that the messages are moving to the “Recently Deleted” folder. Do not worry, if you change your mind and want to get the messages back, you can easily restore them by following the instructions on the next subtopic.
It is important to note that once the messages are securely deleted, they cannot be recovered. Therefore, it is crucial to double-check the messages you selected before tapping on the “Delete” button.
If you are not able to see the trash can icon, you may also swipe left on a message to delete it. By swiping, you will see three options: “More,” “Reply,” and “Trash.” Tap on the trash icon to delete the message, and if you wish to delete more messages, you can tick the boxes next to the messages and repeat the process described above.
Also, if you have iCloud enabled on your iPhone and the messages you want to delete are on all of your devices, the deletion process will happen on all of them. In case you want to delete messages from just one device, you will have to do it manually by following the steps that we just described.
Step 4: Confirm Deletion
Once you have selected the messages you want to delete, the next step is to confirm your action. To do so, simply tap the “Delete Message” option that appears on the screen. This will prompt a warning message asking you to confirm your deletion, which will require another tap of the “Delete Message” option.
It is important to note that once you have confirmed your deletion, the message will be permanently removed from your iPhone and cannot be retrieved. Therefore, make sure you have selected the correct messages before proceeding with the confirmation process.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that when you are deleting messages from a conversation thread, both sides of the conversation will be deleted. This means that if you are deleting a message from a conversation with someone else, they will no longer see that message on their end as well.
If you accidentally delete a message or a conversation, there is no way to recover it unless you have a backup of your phone. This is why it is recommended to backup your iPhone regularly to avoid losing important data.
In conclusion, deleting text messages on your iPhone is a quick and easy process that can be done in just a few simple steps. Whether you want to free up space on your device or just clear out some clutter, the built-in messaging app makes it easy to delete unwanted messages. Just be sure to double-check your selections before confirming the deletion, as it is a permanent action with no way to undo it.