You checked your chat history but can’t find the message you’re looking for. You likely deleted it, but there are ways to retrieve the message. Here are a few solutions to find and retrieve deleted Facebook messages through your smartphone and your go-to Chromebook or laptop.
If you’re looking for a missing Facebook message but can’t locate the chat, you may have archived it. Since the buttons for Archive and Delete are one below the other, it’s possible you archived the message thread instead of deleting it. In this case, it’s possible to retrieve the message.
Here’s what you’ll do when using a laptop or PC:
You can view all the archived chats. When you find the one you need, click the three-dot icon beside the recipient’s name and select Unarchive.
You can also find archived messages through the Messenger app. Here’s what you’ll do:
You can now view the archived message on your smartphone.
If you can’t locate a message and didn’t archive the chat, consider reaching out to the recipient. While deleting a message removes it from your Messenger history, the person you were chatting with may still have the message.
This isn’t the most reliable way to source deleted messages. The recipient can selectively share messages that you deleted and may refuse to share them with you.
Android devices usually retain the cache data from apps on your phone. By tapping into this, you may be able to recover deleted chats. Here’s how to access the cache:
Not finding a message you need is frustrating. To keep this from happening to you again, back up your Facebook messages from time to time. The process is similar to downloading your Facebook data. Here are the steps to follow to back up your Facebook messages:
Follow the on-screen prompts and select Submit request at the end to download your Facebook messages. Doing this can let you access your messages even if you delete them from your Messenger.
If you’re like most people, you likely receive messages you don’t want to retain in your Messenger but would like to access in the future. Instead of deleting them, consider archiving them. This works similarly to Gmail’s archive function, where the messages remain accessible but aren’t in your primary inbox. You can use the archive function on your Facebook Messenger app and the Facebook website.
Maybe if we start telling people the brain is an app they will start using it!
