iPhone iMessages iRestore Preface

I have an iPhone and am getting my own phone number. I have been warned that a factory reset will take place when installing the SIM card/phone number. I do not have a Mac computer, nor access to one (all of my friends/family use Windows). I want to be able to view my iMessages chat history (at least the text and timestamp, but images, stickers, reactions etc would be nice) after getting the new number. Turning on "Backup iMessages to iCloud" requires setting up 2FA (adding a phone number, which I don't have yet). I am signed into the iPhone with an Apple ID (my_email_handle@gmail.com). The device is not jailbroken.



Question

How can I view my iPhone iMessages chat history after a factory reset (without a Mac computer to first backup the history)?
That's not possible. You should borrow someone's mac to make a backup and restore it after you factory reset it. Or simply fo to an apple store.

That said, I don't really see why adding a SIM card to an iPhone would reset it. Could you source that ?