How do you delete a Facebook Messenger message?

Sometimes we send messages on Facebook Messenger that we later regret. Maybe you shared something too personal, made a mistake, or sent a message to the wrong person. Whatever the reason, Facebook Messenger allows you to delete messages you’ve sent, even after they’ve been seen by the recipient.

Deleting a Facebook message only removes it from your view and the view of the recipient. It does not delete it from Facebook’s servers. Also, you can only delete messages you’ve sent – you cannot delete messages sent to you.

Here are the quick answers on how to delete a Facebook Messenger message:

• On desktop: Click on the message, select “Remove for You,” and confirm.
• On Android: Long press on the message, tap “Remove,” and confirm.
• On iPhone: Swipe left on the message, tap “Remove,” and confirm.

Below we will go into more detail on how to delete Facebook Messenger messages on both desktop and mobile. We will cover:

Deleting Facebook Messenger messages on desktop

To delete a Facebook Messenger message on desktop:

1. Go to www.messenger.com and log into your Facebook account, if you aren’t already logged in.
2. Locate and click on the message you want to delete in your conversation thread.
3. Click on the down arrow that appears in the upper right corner of the message.
4. Select “Remove for You” from the dropdown menu.
5. Click “Remove” to confirm that you want to delete the message.

The message will be immediately deleted from your inbox. The recipient will still be able to see it on their end, but it will show as “You removed this message” on their screen.

Here are some things to keep in mind when deleting Facebook Messenger messages on desktop:

• You can only delete messages you have sent. You cannot delete messages sent to you.
• Deleted messages can only be recovered if you have previously enabled “Secret Conversations” for that chat.
• The deletion occurs immediately after you confirm. There is no undo or trash folder.
• Recipient will receive a notification that you deleted the message.
• Messages can only be deleted for one week after sending.

Deleting group chat messages

The process for deleting messages you’ve sent in a group chat is the same:

1. Go to www.messenger.com and open the group conversation.
2. Click on the message you want to remove.
3. Select “Remove for You” from the dropdown menu.
4. Confirm deletion.

The message will be deleted from the group chat for you but remain visible for all other participants.

Deleting expired messages

Facebook Messenger has an option to send messages that automatically delete or “expire” after a set time period. If you want to manually delete an expired message you’ve sent before the time is up, just use the same steps:

1. Click on the expiring message.
2. Select “Remove for You.”
3. Confirm deletion.

This will immediately delete the disappearing message, regardless of the expiration period.

Deleting Facebook Messenger messages on mobile

You can also delete sent messages in the Facebook Messenger mobile app for both iOS and Android. Here’s how:

On Android

1. Open the Facebook Messenger app.
2. Locate and long press on the message you want to delete.
3. Tap “Remove” in the pop-up menu.
4. Tap “Remove” again to confirm.

The message will be immediately deleted from your message thread.

On iPhone

1. Open the Facebook Messenger app.
2. Locate and swipe left on the message you want to delete.
3. Tap “Remove” in the menu.
4. Tap “Remove” again to confirm.

The message will be immediately deleted.

Does deleting a message delete it for everyone?

No, when you delete a message you’ve sent on Facebook Messenger, it only removes it from your view of the conversation. The recipient can still see the message on their end.

When you delete a message, the recipient will see an indicator that the message was removed:

• On desktop, it will say “You removed this message.”
• On mobile, they will see a blank space where the message was.

So deleting a message does not remove it for the recipient, but it does delete the content so that you no longer have to see it in your message thread. The only way to delete a Facebook message for both sender and recipient is to delete the entire conversation thread.

Can you recover a deleted Facebook message?

In most cases, no – when you delete a Facebook message, it’s gone for good. There is no “trash” folder or archive where deleted messages are stored.

The one exception is if you had previously enabled Secret Conversations for that message thread. Secret Conversations add end-to-end encryption and expiring messages to your chats.

If Secret Conversations are turned on, you’ll have up to 10 minutes to unsend messages after deleting them. To unsend:

1. Tap the message you want to recover.
2. Tap “Remove” to unsend.

Outside of Secret Conversations, however, deletion is permanent. This is why it’s important to double check before removing any message.

Does Facebook store deleted messages?

Yes, Facebook keeps copies of all messages sent over Messenger, even after they are deleted by the sender. So the messages exist on Facebook’s servers, but users can no longer access them.

According to Facebook’s data policy:

We store data until it is no longer necessary to provide our services and Facebook Products, or until your account is deleted – whichever comes first.

So deleted Facebook messages may remain stored in Facebook’s database indefinitely. However, users cannot retrieve or view these messages after deletion.

Can you delete messages older than 1 week?

No, Facebook Messenger only allows users to delete messages up to 1 week old. After a message is older than 1 week, the delete option is no longer available.

So if you notice an embarrassing or unintended message older than 7 days, there is unfortunately no way to remove it. Your only option is to delete the entire conversation thread.

Here is a summary of Facebook’s time limit for deleting messages:

Message Age	Can Delete?
Less than 1 week old	Yes
More than 1 week old	No

How to delete an entire Facebook Messenger conversation

If you want to delete a whole conversation thread on Facebook Messenger instead of individual messages, here’s how to do it:

On desktop

1. Go to messenger.com and open the conversation.
2. Click the name of the person at the top of the chat window.
3. Select “Delete Conversation” from the dropdown menu.
4. Click “Delete” to confirm.

This will immediately delete the entire chat history from your inbox.

On Android

1. Open the Messenger app and swipe left on the conversation.
2. Tap the trash icon.
3. Tap “Delete” to confirm.

On iPhone

1. Open the conversation you want to delete.
2. Swipe left near the top of the screen.
3. Tap the “Delete” button.
4. Confirm deletion.

Deleting an entire thread permanently erases the messages from your inbox and the inbox of all participants. However, Facebook still retains copies of the data.

Keep in mind that group conversations function differently – deleting a group chat will only remove it for you, not for other participants.

Conclusion

While Facebook Messenger doesn’t allow deleting recipient’s copies of messages, you can still remove any messages you regret sending from your own inbox. Just be sure to act quickly within 1 week.

On desktop, delete by selecting “Remove for You” on the message. On mobile, long press or swipe left to delete.

Deleted Facebook messages cannot be recovered unless you had Secret Conversations enabled. Keep in mind Messenger messages are stored in Facebook’s database even after deletion.

To permanently erase a conversation from both your inbox and a recipient’s, you’ll need to delete the entire message thread. Just be careful, as this action cannot be reversed.