How to Erase Text Messages From the iPhone Hard Drive

Open "Messages" from the Home screen and then select "Edit" from the top left. Press the "-" icon next to the message thread you want to remove and then press "Delete" to confirm. When you're finished, press "Done." To remove a specific message without deleting an entire thread, select the appropriate phone number or contact from the list, and then press and hold the message you want to delete. Touch "More," select the trashcan at the bottom left and then press "Delete Message" to confirm.

You can also delete multiple texts at a time from within a single thread. Follow the same process you would to remove a single message, but before you touch the trashcan, scroll up or down through the thread and touch the circle next to each message you want to remove. Touch the trashcan and then press "Delete n Messages," "n" representing the number of texts to remove.