Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 1 billion monthly active users. It allows you to easily communicate with friends and family through text, audio, video and photo messages.
However, Messenger also allows users to delete messages after they have been sent. This can be concerning if you suspect the person you are talking to has deleted messages without telling you. So how can you actually tell if someone has deleted messages on Messenger?
There are a few techniques and signs you can watch out for to determine if messages have been removed from your Messenger conversations. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover:
- How message deletion works on Messenger
- Ways to tell if messages were deleted
- Recovering deleted Messenger messages
- Preventing message deletion
Read on to learn the insights you need to know if someone has stealthily deleted messages on Messenger.
How Message Deletion Works on Messenger
To understand how to identify deleted messages, it helps to first know how Messenger handles message deletion.
When a message is deleted in Messenger, it is removed from the sender’s inbox and the recipient’s inbox. Unlike some other messaging apps, when you delete a Messenger message, it is deleted for both parties.
The content of the message is removed, but a placeholder indicating a message was deleted remains behind. It will say something like “This message has been deleted” or “Message unavailable.”
So if you go back and look through your Messenger history, you will see a marker showing something was erased, but you won’t be able to see the contents anymore.
Deleted messages are also removed from Messenger’s servers. This makes it nearly impossible to recover the deleted messages through Messenger itself. We’ll cover some methods for potentially recovering deleted content later on.
Knowing this deletion process will help you spot when messages have been removed from your conversations. Now let’s look at some telltale signs that messages were likely deleted.
Ways to Tell if Messages Were Deleted on Messenger
Here are some of the top ways you can identify if someone has deleted messages they sent you on Messenger:
1. You see a break in the conversation
One of the biggest signs of message deletion is when you notice an abrupt break in the natural flow of your Messenger conversation.
You and your friend have been messaging back and forth. All of a sudden, you see a big time gap between messages that disrupts the cadence of the conversation.
This unexplained gap likely means messages were deleted from the thread. The other person sent messages that they later removed, leaving behind only the awkward time gap.
The gap doesn’t have to be huge to raise suspicion. Even a 10 minute disruption between rapid-fire messages can signal deleted content.
2. The conversation seems to skip or jump
Similarly, if the conversation seems to oddly jump or skip between topics, that can indicate deleted messages.
You may see a disjointed series of messages that don’t logically lead from one to the next. It seems like ideas or responses are missing.
What most likely happened is that messages connecting the conversation were deleted, leaving only the disjointed remnants behind.
3. There are placeholder messages
As mentioned previously, Messenger leaves placeholder markers when messages are removed. Look for messages that say something like “This message was deleted” where the content should be.
These placeholders are a sure sign that multiple messages were typed out and then deleted from the thread.
4. The notification count doesn’t match
Messenger shows a notification count on its app icon revealing how many unread messages you have.
If you see that you have 10 new messages, but open the app to find only 7 actual messages in the thread, deletions probably occurred.
The person deleted some of their messages before you read the full conversation, causing the numbers to be inconsistent.
5. The messages seem out of character
If the tone or content of the messages is unusual or out of character for the person, that can be a red flag.
You know this person well enough to know when their messaging patterns are off. The remaining messages may seem oddly curt, distant, or impersonal.
Chances are some friendlier, more personal messages were deleted to create this tone shift.
6. You already saw previews of deleted messages
Many times you’ll have evidence of deleted messages because you already saw the previews initially.
Most messaging apps preview content on notifications before you open the message. If you glance at your phone and see a preview that seems to be missing when you go to view the message, deletion likely occurred.
You essentially caught them in the act – seeing the preview of the now-deleted content.
7. You notice other sketchy activity
Finally, if you notice other unusual activity from this person like suddenly turning off read receipts, removing you as a friend, or adjusting privacy settings, this can hint that they are hiding something and deleting messages.
If your friend is behaving suspiciously in other ways, deletions could be part of a broader pattern.
Recovering Deleted Messages on Messenger
Once you confirm messages have likely been deleted from your Messenger history, you may desperately want to recover them. Is it actually possible to retrieve deleted Messenger messages?
Unfortunately, recovering deleted Messenger messages is extremely difficult and unlikely using Messenger itself. As mentioned, the messages are completely deleted from Messenger’s servers when removed.
However, there are a couple techniques that may work to restore deleted messages:
Method 1: Check Linked Devices
If you or the sender had Messenger linked across multiple devices, check those other devices for message history.
For example, if you also used Messenger on a secondary phone or tablet device, the message history may still be intact there, even if deleted from your current phone.
The message sync process is not instant across linked devices, so you may be able to recover deleted messages for a short time in the app on your other device.
Method 2: Use a File Recovery App (For Deleted Media)
If the deleted messages contained media like photos, videos, or audio files, use a file recovery app to scan your phone’s storage and restore deleted media files.
Apps like DiskDigger or iMyFone D-Back can scan your phone and often recover recently deleted media. This could restore media files sent over Messenger and then deleted.
Method 3: Check Message Backups
If you have an iPhone, check your iCloud backups for archived messaging history. Open Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups to view your device backups.
Go into the latest backup and see if your messaging history is still stored there. You may find deleted messages preserved in your iCloud backup data.
Method 4: Use Third-Party Messenger Recovery Apps
Some third-party apps claim they can recover deleted Messenger messages by scanning your device. Apps like Fonelab, iMyFone D-Back, or EaseUS MobiSaver for Android offer Messenger recovery features.
However, their success rates are mixed. Give them a try, but don’t expect miracles – Messenger deletes messages completely.
Preventing Message Deletion on Messenger
Recovering deleted messages is unreliable. The best thing is preventing deletion in the first place. Here are some tips:
- Turn on read receipts – Knowing when the other person reads messages can deter deletion
- Take screenshots – Capture important messages to preserve them
- Enable chat backup – Back up your Messenger history to a cloud service
- Export chat history – Save your Messenger conversations to documents
- Avoid sensitive topics – Don’t discuss things over Messenger you wouldn’t want deleted
- Use a different app – Try a more deletion-resistant messaging platform
Setting these protections ensures your messages can’t be secretly deleted from conversations.
Conclusion
Finding out if someone deleted messages on Messenger can be like solving a mystery without all the clues. You need to piece together the subtle hints.
Watch for things like odd gaps in conversations, disjointed jumps between messages, missing media you already previewed, and placeholder markers saying messages were removed.
If you see these signs, call out the other person for deleting messages. Recovering the deleted content itself will be very challenging if not impossible. But awareness is the first step to identifying and confronting the message deletion behavior.
Going forward, enable options like read receipts to deter shady deletions. And be careful about sharing anything sensitive over Messenger that you wouldn’t want erased later on.
With the right tools and knowledge, you can determine if messages have been deleted from your Messenger conversations and take action. Just be vigilant in watching for the telltale signs.