How to Retrieve AT&T Sent Text Messages
By Herman Cruz
AT&T provides a variety of mobile devices including smart phones, PDAs and flip phones. Most of AT&T's cell phones posses texting capabilities that enable you to send and receive SMS and MMS text messages. Text messages that you receive on your AT&T mobile device are stored in the "Inbox" folder, and every text message that you reply to or send is stored in the "Sent" folder. You can swiftly retrieve text messages you have sent using AT&T by going to your device's Messages menu.
Step 1
Access your AT&T cell phone home screen by pressing the "Home" or "Menu" button, depending on your device.
Step 2
Select the "Messages" option, generally displayed with an envelope icon. You'll be redirected to the Messages menu screen that displays the "Inbox," "Sent," "Drafts" and "Deleted" folders.
Step 3
Choose the "Sent" folder. This folder will display all the messages you have sent with your AT&T device. Select the message you are interested in retrieving and the text will be displayed.
Step 4
Go back to the Messages menu screen by selecting the back arrow or the "Folders" option, depending on your device. Do this if the text message you are looking for is not in the Sent folder. You may have deleted it. Select the "Deleted" folder displayed in the Messages menu screen. Scroll through the list of deleted text messages until you find the sent text message you are looking for. Select the sent text message you want to retrieve and you'll be able to view the text. Now you can move this text message from the Deleted folder to the Sent folder by selecting the "Move" or "Edit" option and then selecting the "Sent" folder as the folder where you want to move it.
References
Tips
- Messages you delete from the Deleted folder can no longer be retrieved and AT&T doesn't provide records of sent text messages to its customers. However, if you need these texts due to a compelling situation such as a legal case, you can hire an attorney and call AT&T to ask for these texts. Ultimately, AT&T may refuse to release these records even with an attorney requesting them.
Writer Bio
Based in Orange County, Calif., Herman Cruz has been writing since 2007. His articles have been published in various content platforms and he also has written for Internet entrepreneurs who need assistance with writing sales letters and articles for their businesses. Cruz is pursuing his Bachelor of Arts in integrated composition, improvisation and technology at the University of California in Irvine.