Have you deleted a message on Facebook and regret your decision? Here's the closest thing you can do to recovering it.
You've probably deleted a Facebook message at least once in your life. Maybe you were annoyed at that person, or perhaps you wanted to organize your inbox.
But whatever the reason, the chat is gone from your app and computer forever once you delete it. So, what happens if you need that information back?
You can try various methods to retrieve these messages, or at least what was said in them. This article explains how to recover deleted Facebook messages.
How to See Deleted Messages on Facebook Archive
Your first place to go is the archived messages. If you can’t find the message you need in your chats, the reason could be because you deleted it. But you might have archived it instead, which is possible since the buttons on the app are one below the other.
Follow these steps to find archived messages on your computer.
- Navigate to the Facebook page and click on the Messenger icon in the top right.
- Pick See all in Messenger.
- Click the … icon next to Chats
- Pick Archived chats from the dropdown menu.
- Scroll down to see if you can find the message you need.
- Launch the Messenger app on your phone.
- In the search bar, type the name of the person in the missing chat.
- If you archived the message, it’ll show below. Tap to view it
If you want to find archived messages in the Messenger app, the only way you can do this is with the names of the other people in the chat. Follow the steps below to do this.
In both cases, you need to send a new message if you want to put the chat back in your main inbox.
If you can’t find the messages you're looking for using this method, you probably deleted them. But don't lose hope---you can still try a few other things.
How to Get Deleted Facebook Messages From the Other Recipients
When you delete a Facebook chat, it’s gone forever on your end. However, the person you were talking to probably still has a copy.
The easiest thing to do is to ask them for a screen shot of the conversation, or to resend it to you by copying and pasting.
Remember, though, that they don’t have to share all of the information with you, and can pick and choose what to download and send over.
How to Retrieve Deleted Facebook Messages From Your Email or Backup
As a final attempt, you can check two more places. If you know some of the content in the messages, search your email inbox. This method will only work if you have email notifications enabled on Facebook.
The last place to check is your most recent Facebook backup file. If you don’t know how to create that backup, you probably don't have one. In that case, you’ve exhausted your options.
