Delete a single text message from a conversation

Open the Messages app and find the conversation containing the message you want to remove. Press and hold on the specific message — not on the contact name, but on the actual text bubble itself. A menu will appear with several options.

Tap More (the three dots). You can now select additional messages if you want to delete more than one at once by tapping them — each selected message will show a checkmark. Once you have chosen all the messages you want to remove, tap the trash icon in the bottom right corner, then confirm by tapping Delete.

The message disappears from the conversation thread when ready. The other person still has the message on their phone — deleting it on your device does not remove it from theirs.

Key Takeaways

  • Press and hold the text message itself (not the conversation), then tap More and the trash icon to delete individual messages.
  • You can select multiple messages at once before deleting them all together.
  • Deleting a message from your phone does not delete it from the recipient's phone.
  • To remove an entire conversation instead of single messages, swipe left on the conversation name in your message list and tap Delete.
  • Once deleted, a message cannot be recovered from your iPhone unless you restore from a backup.

Delete an entire text conversation

If you want to remove a whole conversation rather than individual messages, go to your Messages app and look at the list of conversations. Swipe your finger from right to left across the conversation you want to delete. A red Delete button will appear on the right side.

Tap the Delete button and the entire conversation vanishes. This removes all messages in that thread from your phone at once. Like deleting individual messages, this does not affect what the other person has on their device.

Recover a deleted message from a backup

If you deleted a message by mistake and want it back, your only option is to restore your iPhone from a backup that was made before you deleted it. This is a significant step because it will restore your entire phone to that earlier point in time — any photos, messages, or app data created after that backup will be lost.

To restore from backup, go to Settings, tap your name at the top, select iCloud, then tap iCloud Backup. You can see when your last backup was made. To actually restore, you would need to erase your iPhone and set it up again, choosing to restore from that backup during setup. Because this affects your whole phone, most people only do this if they deleted something very important.

Why you might not see a delete option

If you press and hold a message and the menu does not show a delete option, you may be in a group conversation with iMessage turned off, or the message might be from a time when your phone was set to keep messages permanently. Check your Messages settings by going to Settings, scrolling to Messages, and looking at the "Keep Messages" option — if it is set to Forever, older messages may not be deletable.

Another reason is that some messages sent through services other than iMessage (like SMS or MMS from certain carriers) have different rules about deletion. Try the same press-and-hold method — it usually works — but if the option does not appear, the message may be locked by your carrier's system rather than by Apple.

The difference between deleting and unsending

Deleting a message removes it from your conversation view, but the other person still sees it on their phone. Unsending is different — it attempts to remove the message from both phones, but only works with iMessage (the blue message bubbles), not with regular text messages (green bubbles).

To unsend a message, press and hold it and tap Undo Send. This option only appears on iMessages sent within the last few minutes. Once you unsend, the recipient sees a notice that you unsent a message, but the message itself disappears from their conversation. With regular text messages, you cannot unsend — you can only delete it from your own phone.

What happens to deleted messages in group chats

In a group iMessage conversation, deleting a message removes it from your view only. Everyone else in the group still sees it. If you want to remove a message from a group chat so that nobody sees it, you need to unsend it instead — press and hold, tap More, select all the messages you want to unsend, then tap Undo Send.

Unsending in a group shows everyone that you unsent something, but the actual message content disappears from their screens. This is different from a one-on-one conversation, where unsending is quieter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a text message after the other person has read it?

Yes, you can delete any message from your phone at any time. However, deleting it does not remove it from the recipient's phone — they will still see it in their conversation. If you want to remove it from their view too, you need to unsend it instead, but unsending only works with iMessage, not regular text messages.

What is the difference between delete and undo send?

Delete removes the message from your phone only. Undo Send removes it from both your phone and the recipient's phone (if it is an iMessage), but only works within a few minutes of sending. Undo Send also notifies the other person that you unsent something.

If I delete a conversation, can I get the messages back?

Only if you restore your entire iPhone from a backup made before you deleted the conversation. This will restore your whole phone to that earlier date, so any newer photos, messages, or data will be lost. If you just need one message back, check if the other person still has it and ask them to send it to you again.

Why can't I delete a message in a group chat?

You can delete it from your view, but the other people in the group will still see it. If you want to remove it from everyone's view, use Undo Send instead. Undo Send works in group iMessages but not in group text message conversations.

Do deleted messages take up storage space on my iPhone?

No. Once you delete a message, it no longer uses storage on your phone. However, if you restore from a backup that contained those messages, they will come back and use storage again.