How do i get rid of text messages

Q: When you delete a text message where does it go?

Even when you permanently clear messages, youre simply getting the phone to stop listing it in the deleted items folder. You cant recover such texts on the phone itself, but there are plenty of commercially available software packages you can buy that allow your PC to read data directly from a SIM card.

You're not going to save a lot of space on an iPhone by deleting messages — even a lot of plain text messages take up an inconsequential amount of space — but you might want to delete messages for privacy reasons or just because it keeps your Messages app better organized. (And texts with images actually can take up a fair bit of room.)

Table of Contents Show

How to delete a conversation on an iPhone
How to delete one or more messages in a conversation
How to automatically delete old messages
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5 ways to conserve battery life on your iPhone, and get the most out of a single charge
How to stop your iPhone from tracking your location, and manage each app's location-tracking
How do I erase unwanted text messages?
How do you remove text messages from iPhone?
When you delete a text message where does it go?
Can text messages be removed?

Whatever the reason, you can delete entire conversations or just specific messages. And you can even configure your phone to delete messages automatically after a certain period of time.

When we say messages, note that we mean all the messages in the Messages app — which includes both iMessages, exchanged among iPhones, and ordinary SMS text messages, which are exchanged with non-iPhone devices. You can always tell which are which: your iMessages appear in blue text bubbles, while your SMS texts appear in green bubbles.

How to delete a conversation on an iPhone

It's easy to eliminate an entire conversation with just a swipe.

1. Open the Messages app.

2. Scroll through your messages until you find the conversation that you want to remove.

3. Swipe to the left until you see "Delete."

message 1

Swipe left to delete an entire conversation in the Messages app.Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. Tap "Delete" and then tap "Delete" again in the confirmation window that appears at the bottom of the screen.

How to delete one or more messages in a conversation

If you don't want to eliminate the entire conversation, you can delete messages singly or in a bunch.

1. Open the Messages app.

2. Scroll through your messages until you find the conversation you want to delete messages from, and tap on it.

3. Find the message you want to delete, and then tap and hold it for about three seconds.

message 2

Tap and hold on an individual message to get additional options.Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. Tap "More…" in the pop-up window and then do one of the following:

If this is the only message you want to delete, tap the trash icon at the bottom left of the screen, and then tap "Delete Message" in the confirmation window.
If you want to delete more than one message, check all the messages you want to remove by tapping the empty bubbles to the left of the message, then tap the trash icon, and then tap "Delete Messages" in the confirmation window.

message 3

You can permanently remove any number of messages from a conversation.Dave Johnson/Business Insider

You can remove all the messages at once by tapping "Delete All" and then tapping the "Delete Conversation" confirmation. This is the same as swiping left on an entire conversation as explained above.

How to automatically delete old messages

If you don't feel the need to hold onto messages forever, you can configure your iPhone to do the deleting on your behalf.

1. Open the Settings app and tap "Messages."

2. Tap "Keep Messages."

3. By default, the iPhone keeps all messages forever (or until you manually delete them). If you prefer, tap "30 Days" or '1 Year." If you do, the iPhone will automatically discard your messages after the selected time period.

message 4

If you don't want to keep your messages forever, Settings can automatically remove them after a month or a year.Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to check your data usage on an iPhone, and manage each app's data
All the ways you can transfer photos from one iPhone to another, without using a computer
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Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

How do I erase unwanted text messages?

Delete individual text messages Tap the conversation. Touch and hold the message you want to delete. Optional: To delete multiple messages, touch and hold the first message, then tap more messages. Tap Delete to confirm.

How do you remove text messages from iPhone?

Apple iPhone - Delete Messages.

From a Home screen, tap the. Messages icon. ..

To delete a single conversation, swipe left on the conversation that you want to delete. To delete more than one conversation: Tap. Edit. (prior to selecting a conversation). Tap. Select Messages. . ... .

Tap the. Trashcan icon. ..

Tap. Delete. ..

When you delete a text message where does it go?

Even when you 'permanently' clear messages, you're simply getting the phone to stop listing it in the deleted items folder. You can't recover such texts on the phone itself, but there are plenty of commercially available software packages you can buy that allow your PC to read data directly from a SIM card.