How to retrieve deleted voicemail on an iPhone

With the release of iOS 18, Apple iPhone users in India can finally experience the voicemail feature. While you could use this feature earlier by changing the region, iOS 18 makes it easier for anyone to access this feature. Voicemail was introduced in the late 1970s as a way for two people to communicate even when they weren’t present.

In addition to voicemail, Apple has also introduced a new feature called Live Voicemail, which offers real-time transcription of the call. After prompting callers to leave a voice message, the message is then displayed on the user’s iPhone alongside a live text transcription.

How to recover deleted voicemails on iPhones

There is no denying that voicemail is helpful, especially at times when you cannot answer a call and thus it is only common for you to accidentally delete your voicemail.

While it can be frustrating, Apple makes it easier to recover or retrieve your deleted voicemail. When you delete a voicemail on your iPhones, it is not immediately deleted and instead moved to a “Deleted Messages” folder.

ALSO READ: How to setup voicemail on an iPhone

If you have deleted a voicemail and would like to recover it back, here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Go to the Phone app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Tap the Voicemail tab in the bottom right corner.

Step 3: Tap on ‘Deleted Messages’ at the bottom of your voicemail queue.

Step 4: The above step will allow you to view voicemails you’ve deleted and are still stored on your iPhone.

Step 5: Click on the voicemail that you wish to retrieve or recover.

Step 6: Tap the ‘Undelete’ button below the selected voicemail. The undelete option is represented by a red trash can with a slash icon.

Step 7: Now, tap the Voicemail in the top left corner to return to the main Voicemail screen. You should see the voicemail you just retrieved from deleted voicemails.

Other methods to retrieve a deleted voicemail on your iPhone

If your deleted voicemail doesn’t appear in the Deleted Messages folder then it could either be permanently deleted or is beyond the recovery period. Here are some additional ways to retrieve your deleted voicemail:

Check your iCloud backup

If you regularly backup your iPhone to iCloud then your voicemail will be part of your iCloud backup. You can restore your iCloud backup to restore the voicemail but do note that restoring an iCloud backup will overwrite your current data.

Contact your carrier

Some carriers tend to store your voicemail data on their servers for a limited time. You can contact your carrier’s customer support for assistance to retrieve your deleted voicemail.

ALSO READ: How to set up voicemail on Android phones

Since telecom operators store the voicemail data for a limited period, you will have to provide details such as approximate deletion date to regain access to your deleted voicemail.

Apple makes it intuitive to recover your deleted voicemail, and while accidentally deleting a voicemail doesn’t mean the end of the world, you can always recover or retrieve your deleted messages with ease. However, you must remember that deleted messages are stored for a specific period and with the live transcription feature available with iOS 18, you can save the text version of important messages for later.