How do I clear my Facebook messages?

Quick Answer

There are a few different ways to clear your Facebook messages:

• Delete individual messages by selecting the message and clicking the “Delete” option.
• Delete full conversations by going to your messages page, selecting a conversation, clicking the down arrow at the top right, and choosing “Delete Conversation.”
• Use the “Clear Messages” option under Settings to delete all of your messages at once.

Clearing your messages regularly can help keep your inbox organized and make important messages easier to find.

Deleting Individual Facebook Messages

One of the easiest ways to clear out your Facebook messages is to delete individual messages that you no longer need or want. Here are the steps:

1. Go to your Facebook Messages page by clicking on the messenger icon in the top right of Facebook.
2. Open the message thread that contains the message you want to delete.
3. Hover over the message and click the “X” icon that appears in the top right corner.
4. Click “Delete” to confirm you want to delete the message.

The message will be immediately removed from the thread. This deletes the message for you, but a copy stays in the inbox of the person you were messaging with.

You can use this method to selectively clear out old or irrelevant messages without deleting your full conversation history. It gives you more control over managing your inbox.

Deleting messages on mobile

The process for deleting individual Facebook messages in the mobile app is very similar:

1. Open the Facebook app and tap on the Messenger tab.
2. Open the conversation with the message you want to delete.
3. Swipe left on the message to reveal a Delete button.
4. Tap Delete to confirm and remove the message.

Again, the message will be deleted from your view of the conversation but remain visible to the recipient.

Deleting Full Facebook Conversations

If you want to clear an entire conversation thread from your Facebook messages, you can delete the full conversation:

1. Go to your Facebook Messages page.
2. Click on the conversation you want to delete to open the message thread.
3. Click on the name or photo of the person you had the conversation with at the top of the message window.
4. Click on the down arrow that appears.
5. Select “Delete Conversation” from the dropdown menu.
6. Click “Delete” to confirm you want to delete the entire thread.

This will completely erase the conversation from your inbox. As with deleting single messages, the conversation will still be visible in the inbox of anyone you were messaging with.

Deleting conversations on mobile

You can also delete full conversations right from the Facebook mobile app:

1. Open the Messenger tab and tap on the conversation you want to delete.
2. Tap on the name or profile picture of the contact at the top of the screen.
3. Tap Delete Chat.
4. Confirm that you want to delete the entire conversation.

The conversation will be removed from your messages right away with this method.

Clearing All Facebook Messages

If you want to completely wipe your messages clean, you can use Facebook’s “Clear Messages” option to delete all conversations at once:

1. Click on the down arrow at the top right of Facebook and select “Settings & Privacy.”
2. Go to the “Your Facebook Information” section and choose “Manage Future Activity.”
3. Select “Messages” from the menu.
4. Click on “Clear Messages.”
5. Confirm that you want to delete all your conversations by clicking “Clear.”

This will delete your entire message history across all your Facebook contacts. The conversations will still exist in the inboxes of your messaging partners.

Clearing all messages on mobile

Here is how to delete all your Facebook messages at once on mobile:

1. Open the Facebook app and tap the hamburger menu icon in the top right corner.
2. Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings.
3. Scroll down and tap Your Facebook Information.
4. Tap Manage Future Activity.
5. Select Messages > Clear Messages.
6. Confirm that you want to delete all messages by tapping Clear.

This will wipe your inbox clean in just a few taps!

Other Ways to Organize Facebook Messages

In addition to deleting messages, there are a few other tricks you can use to keep your Facebook inbox organized:

• Archive Threads – Long conversations can be archived to declutter your inbox while still preserving the history.
• Mute Threads – Mute spammy or unimportant threads so you only get notified about messages you care about.
• Star Important Messages – Mark key messages as starred so they stand out and are easy to find.
• Search Messages – Use the Facebook message search to quickly find past conversations.

Taking advantage of features like these can help you manage your inbox without needing to permanently delete messages.

Does Deleting Facebook Messages Also Delete Them for Other People?

Importantly, deleting Facebook messages from your inbox does not delete them from the inboxes of the people you were conversing with.

When you delete a message or conversation using any of the steps above, it only erases it from your view of the thread. The messages remain visible to all the other conversation participants.

So deleting Facebook messages is really just a way to clear out your own inbox – it does not remove them from the platform or other users’ inboxes. The messages continue to exist, you just can’t see them anymore.

This is worth noting so you don’t expect deleting your messages to make them disappear for good. Your messaging partners will still have a record of your conversations even after you delete them.

Permanently Deleting Facebook Messages for Both Parties

If you do actually want to permanently erase a Facebook message or conversation so no one can retrieve it, that requires coordinated action from both you and the other person:

1. You both need to individually delete the message/conversation from your own inboxes using the steps outlined earlier.
2. This removes the messages from view and marks them for permanent deletion. They can still be recovered at this stage.
3. Over the following weeks, Facebook’s system processes and wipes the marked messages for good.
4. After about a month, the messages are permanently scrubbed from Facebook’s servers and cannot be recovered by either party.

So permanent deletion requires the other person to also delete the messages from their inbox. Coordinating like this renders the messages irrecoverable for both of you.

Conclusion

Keeping your Facebook messages clean and organized can make it much easier to find important conversations and keep up with incoming messages. Simply deleting unnecessary messages or full conversations is an easy way to quickly clear out your inbox.

Remember that deleting Facebook messages only erases them from your account – the messages still exist for other participants. For full removal, both parties need to delete the threads. Use the steps outlined here to tidy up your messages and keep your inbox under control!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do deleted Facebook messages stay on the server?

Deleted Facebook messages hang around on Facebook’s servers for about 30 days before being permanently deleted. During this time they can still be recovered. After 30 days they are completely scrubbed.

Can you recover a deleted Facebook message?

Yes, deleted Facebook messages can be recovered using the “View Deleted Messages” option under your Facebook Activity Log. This allows you to restore deleted messages within about a month of deletion. After that time, they are permanently gone.

Do deleted Facebook messages delete for both people?

No. When you delete a Facebook message or conversation it only removes it from your inbox. It stays visible in the inbox of the recipient. For full deletion, both people need to remove the messages.

Does clearing messages delete Facebook Messenger conversations?

Yes, using the “Clear Messages” option will delete all of your conversations on Facebook Messenger in addition to your regular Facebook messages. It erases your full inbox.

Can you delete messages in a group conversation on Facebook?

Yes, you can delete your own messages in a Facebook group conversation. However, this only removes them from your view of the thread. Other group members will still see the messages.

The Growth of Facebook Messenger Over Time

Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world. Here is an overview of how the user base has grown over time:

Year	Active Users
2011	100 million
2013	200 million
2014	500 million
2015	700 million
2016	1 billion
2018	1.3 billion
2020	2.6 billion

As shown in the table, Facebook Messenger has experienced rapid user growth over the past decade, reaching over 2.6 billion active users worldwide in 2020. It has become one of the most used messaging apps globally.

The growth is driven by a few key factors:

• Facebook’s large user base – Many Facebook users adopt Messenger for convenience
• Cross-platform availability – Messenger works across iOS, Android, desktop etc
• Useful messaging features – Chat, photo/video sharing, group messaging and more
• Marketing and integration with business pages

Facebook continues adding capabilities to Messenger to attract and engage users. Given Facebook’s dominance, Messenger is likely to remain highly popular for online messaging in the foreseeable future.

Daily Active Users in Facebook’s Top Countries

Facebook has hundreds of millions of users across its top markets. Here’s a breakdown of the platform’s daily active users (DAUs) in its top three countries as of Q4 2020:

Country	DAUs (Millions)
India	311
United States & Canada	246
Indonesia	170

India is Facebook’s largest market with over 300 million daily users. The US and Canada combined have nearly 250 million DAUs. Indonesia also has a very high Facebook engagement at 170 million users.

Facebook remains the dominant social media platform in its top markets, demonstrating the huge popularity of its messaging services like Facebook Messenger. Many users rely on Messenger as their primary messaging app due to Facebook’s broad reach.

Comparing Facebook Messenger to WhatsApp

Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are two of the most widely used messaging platforms globally. They have some notable similarities and differences:

Feature	Facebook Messenger	WhatsApp
User base	2.6 billion	2 billion
End-to-end encryption	Partial	Full
Features	Chat, video calls, stories, payments	Chat, video calls, stories, payments
Cross-platform use	Yes	Yes

Key similarities include large global user bases, common messaging features, and availability across iOS/Android devices. Facebook Messenger tends to have less of a focus on privacy – WhatsApp uses full end-to-end encryption. But overall the apps offer comparable experiences. Since both are owned by Facebook, there is frequent feature parity.

Messenger Adoption by Age Group in the US

Here is a breakdown of Facebook Messenger usage rates by age group among internet users in the United States as of February 2022:

Age	Usage Rate
18-29	72%
30-49	64%
50-64	48%
65+	27%

Key takeaways:

• Adoption is highest among younger users, with 72% of 18-29 year olds on Messenger
• Usage declines steadily in higher age brackets
• Just 27% of seniors 65+ use Facebook Messenger

So while Messenger enjoys broad popularity, its user base skews young. This is likely due to younger generations being more immersed in social/mobile technology.

Conclusion

Facebook Messenger is one of the top messaging apps worldwide, providing a convenient way for Facebook users to connect. It offers an array of messaging features and is deeply integrated with Facebook’s services.

Messenger has experienced explosive growth over the past decade, though its popularity is highest among younger demographic groups. With Facebook’s resources, Messenger will likely continue enhancing features to maintain its status as a leading online messaging platform.