Read this article to find out if you can restore deleted chats or messages in Facebook, where to look for copies of your Facebook messages, and how to prevent loss of data in the future.
This article should be relevant no matter how you access Facebook – from a computer using a browser, from an Android or iOS device.
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What Does Facebook Say?
Unfortunately, there is no officially recommended method to restore Facebook chats or messages that have been deleted. When a message or chat is removed, they are removed from your account for good.
To confirm this point of view, here is a screenshot of a Facebook Help Center page the answer to this question.
Though retrieving deleted Facebook data is believed to be impossible (at least, that’s the official information), in this article we will try to find a way to restore your Facebook messages and chats.
Facebook Messenger
In Facebook, you exchange messages through Facebook Messenger only. Currently, it is available as a built-in tool within a Facebook account, a Web version, a PC version, as well as a mobile version for Android or iOS. Each version has its peculiarities, but all chats and messages get synchronized between the apps in the user’s account.
Find a Copy of the Deleted Message or Chat
Of course, you can’t retrieve the Facebook message or chat if you have deleted it already. However, Facebook Messenger has tons of functions and options, it can be used on various devices so there is always a chance that a copy of the chat or message you are interested in is still somewhere within the system.
Let’s consider the possible ways of restoring a copy of a chat or message:
Don’t give way to panic – find out if the message was actually removed irreversibly. Scroll up and down the chat window and have another look – you may have missed to see the message at first.
The point is that removing a Facebook message or chat by accident is not that simple. The social network will ask you to confirm the action,
And it doesn’t matter whether you are trying to remove a message from a smartphone or a computer.
Ask the recipient of the chat or message to send you a copy. If you removed a chat or message you are interested in, you can always ask the person (people) you were communicating with to send you a copy of your message, screenshot or a copy of the chat.
When you delete things from your Messenger, they are not removed from the Messenger of your conversation partner but are kept until they decide to remove them too. So you can ask the sender or recipient of the message to send you a copy.
Check the archived threads.
In Facebook, you can either remove chats or archive them.
Go to the archived threads. There is always a chance that the chat you are looking for is there. To do it:
- Select the gear-shaped icon of Messenger settings;
- And choose the Archived Threads. Remember, though, that the app archives entire chats, not only separate messages.
Make sure you have set up email notifications for messages.
In Facebook, you can have notifications sent to your email every time you receive a message. If you used this function in your account, you can try looking for the removed message or chat in the mail box you have connected to your Facebook account.
To find out if you have email notifications option enabled, go to Menu / Settings / Notifications / Email.
Make sure that along with other options, you have enabled the function to receive All notifications except the ones you unsubscribe from.
If this option is activated, you have good chances to find a copy of the message in your email.
By the way, you can learn the email address to which the Facebook account is connected by looking into Settings / General.
How to backup Facebook chats and messages?
If messaging in Facebook is very important for you, or you are using it for business, it would be a sound idea to back up your chats and avoid any problems with deleting them by accident.
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