If you have accidentally deleted your activity log in an app or on your device, don’t panic! Depending on the app and device you’re using, there are a few different ways you may be able to recover or restore your deleted activity log.
In this article, we’ll walk through the various methods you can try to retrieve your lost activity data on both iOS and Android devices. We’ll also provide some tips on how to prevent accidental deletion in the future.
Recovering Deleted Activity Logs on iOS Devices
If you use an iPhone or iPad and accidentally deleted an activity log in Apple’s Health app or a third-party activity tracking app, here are some things to try:
Check Recently Deleted Album
The Health app has a “Recently Deleted” album that stores any deleted data for up to 30 days. To access it:
- Open the Health app
- Tap the “Browse” tab
- Scroll down and tap “Recently Deleted”
You may be able to recover your deleted activity logs there.
Restore from iCloud Backup
If you have iCloud backups enabled, you can restore your device to a previous backup point before the log was deleted. Just be aware this will also revert other data like your settings and app info to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
To restore from an iCloud backup:
- Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud
- Tap “Restore [device name]”
- Choose the desired backup point
- Tap “Restore” to confirm
Once your device is restored, your activity log from the backup date should be present in the Health app again.
Contact App Developer
If the deleted data was in a third-party app rather than the native Health app, you can try contacting the app developer directly. Many apps have mechanisms to recover lost data if you can provide specific information like the approximate date range.
The developer may be able to advise you on specific steps or directly retrieve and restore your lost activity logs from their own server backups.
Recovering Deleted Activity Logs on Android
If you use an Android phone or tablet, here are some options for retrieving accidentally deleted activity logs:
Restore From Google Backup
Like iCloud for iOS, Android has built-in cloud backups to Google Drive that you may be able to restore. This can retrieve a previous version of an app’s data from before the activity log was deleted.
To restore an Android backup:
- Go to Settings > System > Backup
- Tap “Backup Data” and wait for the backup process to complete
- Once complete, tap “Restore Data” and select the desired backup
- Tap “Restore” to confirm – this will restore your phone to the state at the time of the backup
Use App Data Recovery Tool
There are also third-party Android apps designed specifically to recover lost app data and activity logs. For example:
- Dr.Fone – Android Data Recovery
- EaseUS MobiSaver for Android
- DiskDigger photo recovery
These tools scan your device for residual traces of the deleted data and attempt to reconstruct it. Performance varies between apps.
Contact App Developer
As with iOS, you can try reaching out to the developer of the Android app where your activity log was deleted. They may have their own data backup capabilities to restore your lost activities.
Provide as many details as possible, like your account info, approximate timeframe of the lost data, and steps leading to the deletion. This will assist the developer in pinpointing and recovering your data.
Preventing Accidental Activity Log Deletion
To avoid having to go through the recovery process for a deleted activity log in the future, here are some tips:
Enable Automatic Backups
As we’ve seen above, backups are your first line of defense against data loss. Enable automatic backups so you always have a recent point to restore from if needed.
– For iOS, turn on iCloud backups under your iCloud settings.
– For Android, enable Google Drive backups under System > Backup settings.
Export Your Data Periodically
Don’t rely solely on cloud backups. Take matters into your own hands by manually exporting your activity data from time to time.
Most fitness apps and devices have an option to export your activity history to a file. AirDrop or email this to yourself so you have an offline copy.
Avoid Bulk Deletion
When you do need to delete activities, be cautious about bulk deletion. Only delete a specific range or batch that you want to remove, rather than wiping your entire history.
Confirm Deletions
When deleting activities within apps, carefully check for and read any confirmation prompts. Make sure you don’t accidentally confirm a deletion.
Protect Your Device
Use device locking, passcodes, and/or biometric authentication to prevent other people from accessing and tampering with your activity app.
Recovering Deleted Activities from Fitbit
If you use a Fitbit for activity tracking, there are a couple additional options to try recovering deleted data:
Sync With Fitbit App
Syncing your Fitbit tracker to the Fitbit mobile app after a deletion may bring back missing activities that are still stored in the tracker’s internal memory.
Contact Fitbit Support
Reach out to Fitbit’s customer support for help. Provide your account details and the timeframe of the lost data.
Fitbit may be able to locate backup copies of your activities from before the deletion.
Recovering Deleted Activities from Garmin
For Garmin users, here’s what to do if your activity history was accidentally deleted:
Sync With Garmin Connect
As with Fitbit, start by syncing your Garmin device with the Garmin Connect app after the deletion. Recently recorded activities stored only on the device may be restored this way.
Check Garmin Connect Backup
Log in to Garmin Connect on your computer. Under the cog icon > Settings > User Settings, see if there is a recent backup available to restore that contains your lost activities.
Contact Garmin Support
Explain the situation to Garmin’s support team. Provide your Garmin account details and time frame of lost data. Garmin may have additional backups they can use to restore your activities.
Recovering Deleted Activities from Apple Watch
If activities synced from your Apple Watch to the Health app were deleted, here are your options:
Restore Health App Backup
Follow the steps outlined earlier for restoring the Health app from an iCloud backup. This can retrieve a version of the app with your now-deleted Apple Watch activities intact.
Restore Apple Watch
You can also directly restore your Apple Watch from a backup to retrieve deleted activity logs:
- Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone
- Go to My Watch tab > All Watches
- Tap your watch > Unpair Apple Watch
- Tap “Restore from Backup” and choose backup
- Follow prompts to restore
Activities synced before the deletion will be restored.
Specialized Data Recovery Services
For extreme cases where you’ve exhausted the above options without success, you may need to enlist the help of professional data recovery services. Companies like DriveSavers and Ontrack can attempt to recover data directly from the storage drives of damaged phones or fitness trackers.
This typically costs hundreds of dollars and is not guaranteed to work – but can be a last resort for retrieving truly critical lost data.
Key Takeaways
- Check app and cloud backups to find a version of your data from before the deletion
- Sync devices to restore locally stored activity logs
- Contact app or device customer support for help recovering backups
- Enable automatic backups and export data regularly as precautions
- Professional data recovery is an expensive, last-ditch option
With the above tips, you should be able to get your accidentally deleted activity logs back through an app restore or cloud backup in most cases. Act quickly after any accidental deletion to increase your chances of recovery. And implement proactive backups to avoid ever having this issue again!