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How to recover deleted notifications on Android

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Android notifications can fill up rather quickly depending on how much of a social butterfly you are, and there might be occasions when you accidentally cleared the notifications without checking properly, only to realize that you have missed out on something important. If you've done this before and memories of swiping something important into non-existence by accident return, all hope is not lost! Let's find out how.

Prior to Android 11, things were a bit tricky in case you wanted to take a peek at old notifications. Stock Android 11 users, however, can recover and see recent notifications on their Android device without too much fuss.

Now that Android 12 is widely available for most smartphones and the different Android 12-based skins, it is an easy thing to retrieve your Android notifications in double quick time. Just in case you own a smartphone with an Android skin that doesn't natively support this feature, there are several other apps that could do this for you.

Jump to:

How to view your Notification History in stock Android 12

To ensure that you have access to all notifications on your device, even after you thought you deleted them, you will need to turn on the 'Notification History' feature. Once this is done, the tool will keep track of every single notification you received over the past 24 hours.

Even if you swipe away notifications from the drop-down tray by accident, you can still access them provided you have enabled this feature and check it within 24 hours. Let's first learn how to enable the 'Notification History' feature on stock Android devices running Android 12. 

  1. Launch the Settings menu on your Android smartphone that runs on stock Android 12.
  2. Scroll down to Notification & status bar from the menu and select More settings.
  3. Tap Notification history and ensure that the alert slider is enabled.
  4. Your smartphone will now keep a log of all notifications and it can be viewed for 24 hours.
Notification History Android 11
How to view old notifications on Android 12. / © NextPit

In case you had already enabled the 'Notification history' option, you will be able to view a detailed list of notifications your smartphone received over the past 24 hours. Once enabled, the list of notifications will remain blank for some time. The moment you receive several notifications, you can access this menu to tap a notification and it will take you directly to the corresponding app. 

How to view your Notification History in stock Android 11

First appearing in Android 11, you will find the following steps to be rather similar in many instances as in Android 12 above. To ensure that you have access to all notifications on your device —even after you thought you deleted them, you will need to turn on the 'Notification History feature'. Once this is done, the tool will keep a track of every notification you received in the past 24 hours. ´

Even if you swiped notifications from the drop-down tray by accident, you can still access them provided you have turned this feature on and check it within 24 hours. Let's first see how you can enable the 'Notification History' feature on stock Android devices that run on Android 11. 

  1. Open the Settings menu on your Android smartphone running stock Android 11.
  2. Scroll down to Apps & Notifications from the menu and select and tap Notifications.
  3. Tap Notification history and ensure that the Use notification history toggle is enabled.
  4. Your phone will now keep a log of all notifications and it can be viewed for 24 hours.
Notification History Android 11
How to view old notifications on Android 11. / © NextPit

In case you had already enabled the 'Use notification history' option, you will be able to see a detailed list of notifications your phone received over the past 24 hours. Once enabled, the list of notifications will remain blank for some time. Once you have received several notifications, you can access this menu to tap a notification and it will take you directly to the concerned app. 

How to see old notifications on ColorOS 11

Oppo smartphones that run Color OS 11 also lets users access deleted notifications. The steps here are similar to what we saw on stock Android. This also means the user will need to turn on the 'Notification history' feature to start logging data. To access the notification history on ColorOS 11, you need to follow these steps

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap Notification & Status bar.
  3. Then tap Manage notifications.
  4. Select More.
  5. Tap Notification History and ensure that the notification history toggle is enabled.

If your smartphone is running on Android 10 or older, getting access to deleted notification can be tricky.

App-based solutions

Notification History Log

The above solution works fine for stock Android users, but we were disappointed to find that it wouldn't work on phones that had a different UI setup, such as is the case with Samsung phones. Fortunately, there is a useful app that will work on all phones that allows you to effectively recover and manage your notification history.

Notification History Log by ZipoApps is a well-designed app that keeps a log of all notifications (up to a day old, but you can pay for a more comprehensive history), and after you activate the 'Advanced History' settings, it allows you to launch the app responsible for those notifications. You're able to blacklist certain apps and customize what gets recorded for recovery. All in all, it can be quite useful, even with the free version.

How to access notification history using Nova launcher

If your phone's UI deviates too far from Android stock, you might want to consider installing a new launcher instead. While we have a list of favorite launchers available for your Android phone, Nova Launcher is always a favorite and comes particularly recommended for this purpose.

Hats off to Karl Bell, who shared this tip for retrieving your notifications using Nova Launcher in the comments: From the Nova launcher widget itself, select Activities and then Settings. In the options presented under Settings, you should find the Notification Log.

Have you ever accidentally deleted your notification history? How did you try to recover it? Let us know in the comments.


This article was updated in June 2022 while preserving previously published comments.

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Edwin Kee

Edwin Kee
Freelance Editor and Forum Moderator

The love of writing and all things tech have proven to be the catalyst that has kept me going in this industry for the past decade. Here are to many more years ahead, at least until Android Vanilla Pudding is released!

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  • 1
    Minime22 Oct 7, 2022 Link to comment

    Well I read mine but very quickly I deleted its there anyway I can find


  • 49
    storm Jun 4, 2022 Link to comment

    If you're getting this volume of notification, you don't have them set up well. Most of them are noise to get you involved back with the app to see ads and not really important.

    You should turn off notifications in most every app. Really. You need to budget your attention and time to your ends and values, not the what the app makers want. Budget your time on social media if you use it at all. The FOMO is illusionary and works against your goals.

    Use Do Not Disturb. Only allow important contacts set with a star to break through.

    Notifications are mostly Noisification. Your time and attention is more important. Set your phone and apps up for your success, not the apps success.


  • haridsv 1
    haridsv Jun 21, 2021 Link to comment

    Misleading subject! I often don't even know which one I ended up dismissing because it just happened to scroll under the thumb due to the arrival of a new notification. Seeing the notification log won't be very helpful because there is no easy way to tell which of those I might have just dismissed. Besides, if the dismissed notification happened to be old, then it may not even exist in the log (the log only keeps the last 50).


  • mahran nadeem 9
    mahran nadeem Apr 6, 2021 Link to comment

    Have you tried this notification history log app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.CLogix.notification.history

    yamna00


    • Yammna Khawar 3
      Yammna Khawar Apr 6, 2021 Link to comment

      really helpful thanks

      mahran nadeem


  • 1
    Cornan Mar 29, 2020 Link to comment

    I'm already in developer mode on my Samsung Note 10+ and there is no "Settings" shortcut.

    All I want to do is view recent Public Safety Alerts, which seem to have been moved from the "Messages" app to the "Notifications". When I swept the notification to the right, I didn't expect the alert itself to become inaccessible.

    Need to see recent alerts on Note 10+ (Verizon)


    • 1
      STVENE GOKU Sep 13, 2020 Link to comment

      Did you figure it out?


  • marco sarli 39
    marco sarli
    • Admin
    Dec 2, 2019 Link to comment

    Interesting information


  • 1
    Unix Ronin Nov 30, 2019 Link to comment

    TeslaCoil Apps says that Nova Launcher has no such feature, because that would be collecting personal customer data, which they have pledged to never do. I do not find any notification-log feature myself under Nova Launcher settings.


    • 1
      The Ordinary Dad Aug 12, 2020 Link to comment

      long press empty space on your homescreen > widgets > long press activities (shortcut) > scroll down and press Settings (white icon) > scroll down to notification logs. Hope this helps.


  • TammiD 1
    TammiD May 4, 2019 Link to comment

    I have entered developer mode and tried all the steps above. I'm using a Sony Xperia X. I need to recover a notification from this morning to be able to file charges for breaking an order of protection for the safety of myself and my 2 year old son.


  • 1
    Ganadhish Mar 11, 2019 Link to comment

    I followed the steps as what you suggested but I cannot find notification log on my phone. I use Tecno Camon I. Android 7.0 and it has HiOS v3. 2.0


  • Bud McSmoke 1
    Bud McSmoke Feb 25, 2019 Link to comment

    Yo! What the hell is the Build Number?


  • 1
    user987966 Dec 18, 2018 Link to comment

    Thank you! :) Cool. I've just done the steps in the article like:
    1. set the developer mode
    2. at the widgets I did drag & drop the settings / notifications icon
    Now I can see the notification log history, BUT the problem is that
    I can only see the main title for a particular notification. For example:
    I can see that I had an instagram notification at 21:00, but I can't see what was that exactly? It only shows that "Instagram 21:00" but I can't check what was this notification is about... :( Was it a friend request from somebody or something else... If I tapped on the notification itself then it just opens up the instagram app (as the article said), but I can't see what was the notification about.
    I use a Samsung SIII Neo GT-I9301I (Android version = 4.4.2)
    Could you help me to explain how can I see what was my instagram notification is about exactly?


  • Yogi Man 1
    Yogi Man Jul 24, 2018 Link to comment

    The notifications log works on my Moto G5 but it only goes back a few hours to a day max. Any way to go farther back like a week without using a third party app?


  • 2
    Monu ag Jun 17, 2018 Link to comment

    Check my blog www.tricksspot.com for some great tech tricks. Do let me know in the comments your feedback or other queries


  • 1
    Hazel Black Feb 22, 2018 Link to comment

    I am using Huawei P 10 Lite I can't get my notifications back.. How do I do it?!


    • 2
      kai Jun 17, 2018 Link to comment

      HUawei P10 you may try this out androidcure.com/recover-lost-notifications-on-android-phones/ I found it on the web.. hope this help!


  • Jill Taylor 1
    Jill Taylor Jan 28, 2018 Link to comment

    I have an s7. There is no settings widget on my phone. Is there another way to view old notifications without the widget?


    • Karl Bell 1
      Karl Bell Jun 2, 2018 Link to comment

      Install Nova launcher. You can keep using Samsung's default launcher, like myself, but it comes with a useful widget. Follow the same steps as above but instead of just finding the "Settings" widget, you want to find the Nova launcher widget, there are 2. Select "Activities" and from there it will show up a large list. You'll then scroll down and find Settings, select it to drop down everything under settings and find Notification Log. Tested and works for myself.


  • Sri Gopal 1
    Sri Gopal Nov 17, 2017 Link to comment

    Even my phone keeps a log of all notifications (up to one day old, right iam using Sony Xperia XA dual it keeps all the notifications to one day old.


  • 31
    Deactivated Account Nov 4, 2017 Link to comment

    app shortcuts and settings shortcuts can also be accessed with Nova launcher via "activities" and easily used in conjunction with Zooper or Kwgt widgets..
    I have a settings s/c to security settings top right hand corner on my home screen, and another invisible shortcut for Nova screen lock next to the power button..


  • Mark G. 28
    Mark G. Nov 4, 2017 Link to comment

    This is what I find slightly annoying with phone manufacturers, I use the excellent Samsung S7 & Tab S2 both running Android 7, the extra features and UI/usability of Samsungs Touchwiz are brilliant and one of the reasons why I continue to buy Samsung... But if Android release a certain feature then it should be available across the different devices.
    I understand that there may be some features that Samsung feels don't enhance the overall quality and its subjective as to what is considered to be useful but surely there is a better way of doing things?

    Peace 🖖🏼


  • 3
    Kevin Maloney Nov 4, 2017 Link to comment

    For Samsung, there is a great app, Shortcutter, that allowed me to create a widget for the settings for Notification History. It also allows creation of new Quick Settings, such as screen timeout.


  • Dimitris Makridis 1
    Dimitris Makridis Jun 19, 2017 Link to comment

    It shows the notifications, but whan trying to press them, it goes to the application information. Pls help me.


  • Thomas Bunink 1
    Thomas Bunink Jun 17, 2017 Link to comment

    I have the widget. I can just use that, no problem. But unfortunately, no "Notifications". I'm using a Dutch version of Android 6.0, but there is no Dutch word for "Notifications" either


  • Joshua Knudson 1
    Joshua Knudson Apr 3, 2017 Link to comment

    For Samsung users (I have S7 edge) that don't have this widget, I found this app called "Notification History [4.3+] and it worked for me. When you open it, it will show current notifications and the dismissed notifications are grayed out. Tap on the notification that was dismissed and it shows a bunch of stuff that I don't understand, however, if you sift through it you can make out what the notification said by looking for android.text. I don't think there's a way to open the dismissed notification but you can at least see what the subject of it was.


  • Diana Stevens 1
    Diana Stevens Mar 22, 2017 Link to comment

    How about the Samsung Galaxy Note 5? Am I able to retrieve a voice mail that I accidentally deleted? Someone left a message threatening my life. I was getting ready to take it to the police. But accidentally, I deleted it while listening to it again. I have t-mobile. Can I get it back? Does anyone know how? I would appreciate your help with this.


  • Mark G. 28
    Mark G. Mar 20, 2017 Link to comment

    There is no settings widget on the Samsung S7. I believe it used to be on the Samsung S3.

    Deactivated Account


    • 24
      Deactivated Account Mar 20, 2017 Link to comment

      yes thats right - they removed it for some reason in the newer devices. Ill dig around and see if I can find an alternative solution for Samsung devices (unless you know of one?)

      Guillaume Perez (Mugwump)Mark G.


      • 1
        Guillaume Perez (Mugwump) Oct 6, 2017 Link to comment

        So, have you ever found a workaround, Georg? I could really use it.


  • 9
    golaok Dec 15, 2016 Link to comment

    Nice sharing. I want to know if I need to root my phone before recovering lost notifications on Android? I tried some android file recovery tools, most of them need to root.


    • 24
      Deactivated Account Mar 19, 2017 Link to comment

      no, you dont need to root your phone to do this


  • 2
    Rachel Phillips Sep 20, 2016 Link to comment

    Perfecto


  • Cody Dracon 1
    Cody Dracon Jun 1, 2016 Link to comment

    I have version 5.1.1 but I doesn't have the settings when long pressing to pull up widgets.


  • Tom Anjing 2
    Tom Anjing Apr 24, 2016 Link to comment

    This is all absolutely useless on the note 3. All of it.

    thenextKathryn Lambkin


    • Kathryn Lambkin 1
      Kathryn Lambkin Apr 25, 2016 Link to comment

      I'll second that!


  • 1
    HINDI PATHSHALA Apr 18, 2016 Link to comment

    hindi me padhe ye article hindi pathshala se


  • Ralph Case 1
    Ralph Case Mar 27, 2016 Link to comment

    It seems these steps take me to the source of the notification, but not to the notification. How can I see the notification?


  • 8
    Deactivated Account Mar 16, 2016 Link to comment

    You can use an recovery tool to restore them, I think it is very useful! Have a look at this, http://goo.gl/o52tkZ
    which tells you to recover many kinds of files on the phone.


  • 3
    DaveyChildMusic Feb 25, 2016 Link to comment

    Sorry, but this does not work for Android 6.0 there is no notifications log on the settings shortcut menu.

    Greg1100PhilipWeAreAllApesKathryn Lambkin


    • Qaisar Sulaiman 1
      Qaisar Sulaiman Mar 26, 2016 Link to comment

      Same here.


    • Greg1100 24
      Greg1100 Mar 23, 2017 Link to comment

      This tip worked on my S3 with Nougat 7.1.1, but not on Note 4 with Marshmallow 6.0.1.


  • 1
    NotiBox Feb 23, 2016 Link to comment

    I'd rather suggest my app - Notibox app - try out and see, it works better.


  • 8
    Deactivated Account Feb 1, 2016 Link to comment

    I found a good recovery tool, http://goo.gl/TzKNYp , give it a try!


  • 2
    Gautham Jan 23, 2016 Link to comment

    I think this can be helpful for those who are looking for how to recover lost notifications on Android but i found one article about how to recover lost notifications on Android :www.alltech2buzz. com


  • 2
    Gautham Jan 23, 2016 Link to comment

    I think this can be helpful for those who are looking for how to recover lost notifications on Android


  • 8
    Deactivated Account Jan 20, 2016 Link to comment

    well, thanks for your share! And i also find a good recovery tool, http://goo.gl/TzKNYp , give it a try!


  • 1
    shawn M Jan 15, 2016 Link to comment

    Hi what is your wallpaper, I like it can you share it? thanks.


  • 3
    Donaldson Kurbah Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

    Good tip..thanks:)


  • BruinGuy 20
    BruinGuy Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

    Why do we get tips that are only available on a small minority of phones? Doesn't AndroidPit vet these tips?


  • 3
    Kobi Gottesman Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

    For those who doesn't have the log, or it is unavailable from any kind of reason: this app will not help for notifictions already dismissed, but you can install it today and you will not regret it, PAST NOTIFICATIONS by Tossy.
    It can filter notifications by time or by app, material design, great app.

    Joel Roxx


  • 10
    Kunal Narang Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

    Thanks. Great piece of information!


  • Mark G. 28
    Mark G. Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

    Settings widget is not available on my S5 running Android 5.02....
    Is this the only way to recover notifications?


  • Alpha Bravo 2
    Alpha Bravo Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

    I have the Settings shortcut but no Notification log (on 5.0.2)

    Kobi Gottesman


  • 2
    Diego Jul 21, 2015 Link to comment

    I can't find the Settings widget shortcut on Android 5.0.2 Samsung S6, do you know where how I can reproduce your suggestion for Andriod 5?

    Tonya Sailors


  • 2
    Karl Biggs Jun 17, 2015 Link to comment

    I am running Android 5.0.1 like some others and I too don't have this Notification Log you mentioned. My available Settings Shortcuts are Location, Lock Screen, S Beam and Sound & Notifications but this last option has nothing about a Notification Log in it.

    jennifer peace


  • Georgian Stanescu 11
    Georgian Stanescu Jun 6, 2015 Link to comment

    I can't seam to find it on my Galaxy Note 3. I have Android 4.4


  • 11
    Mark R. Jun 4, 2015 Link to comment

    HTC One running Lollipop has it under shortcuts, good tip!


  • 8
    Carson McManaway Jun 4, 2015 Link to comment

    I'm using Lollipop 5.0.1 on a Verizon Galaxy S4 & I don't have the widget

    Lindsey Krauss


  • 1
    Ralf Schumacher Jun 4, 2015 Link to comment

    Just as Taofeeq Adekunle already wrote above, at least with Lollipop 5.1.1, you can create the shortcut and then see which app notified you. Tapping on an app only invokes the same app info that can also be found under "Apps" in the settings, but you cannot retrieve the actual contents of the notification. Well, at least it can help to find the wormhole (e-mail app, messenger app, etc.) where to start exploring...


    • 1
      First Last Jun 7, 2015 Link to comment

      Yes, it was what it said in that notification that I wanted to know, now I can't find it... :(


  • 1
    Chris Hoelter Jun 4, 2015 Link to comment

    I found the shortcut, but I can't go back far enough to view what I am looking for. It is only showing about 30 notifications. Is there any way to view further than what is shown?


  • 2
    Bevara Rajeev Jun 4, 2015 Link to comment

    Even I have the settings shortcut but cannot find notification log as a choice. Phone : LG G3 running lollipop 🍭. Anyways thanks for the tip.


  • 1
    Desiree Della Rocca Apr 15, 2015 Link to comment

    I have the settings shortcut but notifications is not a choice. LG G2 running Lollipop


  • Steve Rand 4
    Steve Rand Feb 18, 2014 Link to comment

    Nice tip! I had no idea that the settings shortcut widget even did these things.. I thought it was just the settings app for some reason.
    It is present as a widget in my Nova Launcher widget drawer, or can be added to the home screen directly by holding the screen in a free area and choosing "shortcuts" instead of widgets or apps.


  • 2
    Vaclav Panenka Feb 18, 2014 Link to comment

    I found this "widget" as Shorcut, not as Widget. Thanks. Great.


  • 3
    noor kabara Jan 4, 2014 Link to comment

    Thanks a million for this post. i fallow the instructions and it worked for me. i mistakenly unchecked my message notification in my app info. it stop showing msg notification. i have "checked" it back. thanks.


  • 2
    James Miller Jan 1, 2014 Link to comment

    I would say most of the articles I read here are not accurate. the widget they talk about here is not in most 4.3 phones.


  • Cat Snapp 1
    Cat Snapp Dec 31, 2013 Link to comment

    Note 3 user. No widget here either


    • 1
      Danya Feb 2, 2014 Link to comment

      No settings widget on my Note 3 too!


    • 1
      First Last Jun 7, 2015 Link to comment

      Yes I ran into the same problem with my Galaxy Alpha, you can find widgets but then activities no. One important step is missing from the description above, YOU NEED TO HAVE A CUSTOM LAUNCHER like Nova Launcher or Apex launcher. I downloaded Nova. Then you have to press the home screen for a few seconds, Widgets will appear, click it, then then you can see things like Nova action, Activities and other things, click and drag the activities, it brings it to your home page, drop it and then activities will appear, scroll down to settings, to the left of the screen it says numbers like how much activities there are their, there should lots of setting like a few 100s, mine was 307, click that, then search for Notifications, and you'll find it at N. And there you have it, you can see the past 50 notifications. The problem with this is it shows the app from when the notification came and the time not the description of that particular notification, from which is what I was looking for. :(
      Anyway hope this helps you and everyone.


      • 3
        Kobi Gottesman Jan 4, 2016 Link to comment

        Thanks for the walkthrough... ☺ However, I did all that and got the "Unfortunately, Settings has stopped" message. I have Galaxy S4, lollipop 5.0.1.


  • Mayur H. 4
    Mayur H. Dec 30, 2013 Link to comment

    can't get to.widget in.my xperia Z


  • 2
    jim conti Dec 30, 2013 Link to comment

    I have 4.3 but cant find the widget


    • 1
      Ala'a Abdullah Dec 30, 2013 Link to comment

      Same here..


    • Sterling Keys 12
      Sterling Keys Dec 30, 2013 Link to comment

      I'll check it out on some other devices and see what I can find. We did this on a Samsung Galaxy S3 and Nexus 7 (2013).


  • 2
    Taofeeq Adekunle Dec 29, 2013 Link to comment

    nice one, but you can only see it deleted notification but you can not check body of messages.

    First LastRalf Schumacher


  • Kris Carlon 35
    Kris Carlon Dec 29, 2013 Link to comment

    Nice tip Sterling! I get on one of my swipe-to-dismiss benders in notifications and before you know it I've cleared the baby with the bathwater. Good to know.


    • 1
      Phyllis Coppolino Nov 15, 2014 Link to comment

      On my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S III, version 4.3 I can get to the list of notifications, following your instructions, but the ones that have been viewed or deleted are gray and when I press on them I am taken to the App Info screen where I can't press on anything to see the actual notification that I accidently deleted. What else can I do?

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