Facebook Messenger is used by over a billion people to stay connected with friends and family. Over time, your message inbox can fill up with conversations, some of which you may delete to clear out old chats. However, you may later wish to view or recover some of those deleted conversations for sentimental reasons or to access important information.
Fortunately, there are several methods you can try to view or recover previously deleted Facebook Messenger conversations. This guide will walk you through all the options.
Table of Contents
Check Archived Messages
If you have archived a conversation instead of deleting it, you can easily recover that chat:
- Open the Messenger app and tap your profile picture
- Tap Archived Chats
- Find the conversation and tap to unarchive it
This will move the archived conversation back to your main inbox.
Search Messenger App Cache (Android Only)
If you use an Android device, deleted conversations may still be stored temporarily in the Messenger app cache:
- Go to your Android Settings > Apps
- Select Facebook Messenger
- Tap Storage & Cache
- Tap Clear Cache to delete the existing cache
- Do not tap Clear Data, as this will sign you out of the app
- Reopen Messenger – any recently deleted conversations may briefly reappear
You’ll need to be quick to view and screenshot any restored conversations.
Download Your Facebook Data
Facebook allows you to download an archive of your account data, including your Messenger history:
- On Facebook.com, click the down arrow at top right
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click Your Facebook Information on the left sidebar
- Click View next to Download Your Information
- Select messages and media, then click Create File
When the file is ready, download it and unzip the archive. Your Messenger data will be in there, potentially including deleted conversations if the archive was created prior to deleting them.
Ask the Recipient for Copies
If you deleted an important conversation, ask the person you were chatting with if they still have copies of the messages. They may be able to screenshot or forward you messages you deleted from your own inbox.
Just explain that you accidentally deleted the conversation and ask if they can send you any copies from their account.
Use Third-Party Recovery Apps (iOS Only)
If you use an iPhone and deleted conversations very recently, a third-party iOS data recovery app may be able to retrieve them by scanning your device’s storage for Messenger data.
However, this will only work if the conversations were very recently deleted. Some apps to try:
Scan your device storage with one of these apps and see if you can find lost Messenger conversations.
Contact Facebook Support
As a last resort, you can contact Facebook support and request that they attempt to recover deleted conversations from your account. Be aware that they may not be able to recover data that was permanently deleted.
To contact Facebook support:
- Go to Facebook.com and click on the Question Mark icon
- Choose Help Centre from the menu
- Type “recover deleted messages” into the search bar
- Click the relevant article and follow prompts to contact support
Explain your situation and politely request that they attempt to recover your deleted Messenger conversations. There is no guarantee, but it’s worth a try!
Prevent Future Data Loss
To avoid losing Messenger conversations again in the future, be sure to regularly back up your Messenger data and enable some helpful settings:
Frequently Download Your Facebook Data
As shown above, you can download an archive of your Facebook activity through the Settings menu. Get into the habit of downloading this data every few months to have backups of all your Messenger chats.
Turn On Chat Backups (iOS Only)
If you use an iPhone, you can configure automatic backups of your Messenger conversations to iCloud:
- Open the Messenger app
- Tap your profile picture
- Tap Settings & Privacy
- Tap Chat Backup
- Turn on Backup to iCloud
With this enabled, your chats will sync to iCloud automatically so you can restore them if needed.
Use Disappearing Messages Cautiously
Messenger has an optional disappearing messages feature where new messages will automatically delete after a set duration. Only turn this on for conversations where you’re okay with messages being permanently deleted.
Otherwise, leave it turned off to keep full chat history.
Recovering deleted Facebook Messenger conversations is not always possible. But hopefully the methods above give you a fighting chance at rescuing lost chats or avoiding permanent data loss in the future.
Be sure to regularly backup your Messenger data and avoid features like disappearing messages for conversations you want to keep. With a few precautionary steps, you can reduce the risk of losing your chat history.
