Facebook Messenger allows users to send messages, photos, videos, audio clips, and more to friends and connections on the platform. Over time, message threads can become quite long containing a lot of sensitive information that some users may eventually want to delete.
Facebook Messenger gives users two options for removing messages – either deleting a chat for yourself, or permanently deleting a chat for both you and the recipient. But what exactly happens when you choose to permanently delete a Messenger conversation?
Permanently Deleting vs. Deleting for Yourself
When you delete a Facebook Messenger chat for yourself, the messages are removed from your inbox and message history. However, they remain visible for the recipient and can still be retrieved if you re-start the conversation again later on.
Permanently deleting a chat is different – it removes the conversation for both you and the other person you were chatting with. Neither party will be able to retrieve the messages again after permanent deletion.
When to Permanently Delete a Chat
Here are some common reasons why someone may want to permanently delete a Messenger conversation:
- The chat contains sensitive information you don’t want accessed again, like private photos or messages with personal details.
- You want to completely remove traces of a conversation with an ex-partner or someone else you no longer communicate with.
- The chat contains abusive, inappropriate, or bullying messages you want erased.
- You accidentally sent private information like passwords or account numbers to the wrong person.
Permanently removing the entire chat history ensures neither party can access the messages again in the future.
How to Permanently Delete a Messenger Chat
Permanently deleting a chat takes a few more steps than simply deleting for yourself, but is still quick and straightforward:
- Open the Messenger conversation you want to delete.
- At the top of the chat window, tap on the contact’s name to open the conversation information.
- Scroll down and tap ‘Delete Conversation’.
- Tap ‘Delete Conversation’ again to confirm.
- Select the option ‘Delete for both of us’ when prompted.
The chat will then immediately be erased from yours and the recipient’s inboxes. Neither of you will be able to retrieve it.
Things to Note
- You can only permanently delete one-on-one chats – group conversations cannot be permanently erased.
- Both parties will receive a notification that the chat has been deleted.
- If you have deleted contacts enabled, the conversation will also be removed from that list.
- Permanently deleting a chat does not block or unfriend the contact.
What Happens Behind the Scenes
Once permanently deleted, a Messenger conversation is completely removed from Facebook’s servers and databases. Neither you nor the recipient will find any trace of it in your profiles.
Some key things that happen behind the scenes when you permanently erase a chat include:
- All messages, photos, videos, and files sent in the chat are deleted.
- All logs and metadata associated with the chat are erased.
- The conversation is removed from all participant’s message inboxes and histories.
- The chat ceases to exist in Facebook’s database.
In essence, it’s like the conversation never happened as far as Facebook’s systems are concerned.
Can Deleted Messages be Recovered?
With most social networks and messaging apps, there is often the misconception that deleted data is never truly gone. In Facebook’s case, they claim once a Messenger chat is permanently deleted, there is no recovering it.
According to Facebook, “Deleted conversations are permanently deleted from our servers and cannot be recovered.” The platform goes through the process of erasing the chat from their databases soon after a user initiates the permanent delete function.
However, it’s worth noting there are a few scenarios where traces of permanently deleted chats could potentially remain:
- If either user had backups of the conversation on their device or external storage, the messages could still be retained there even if deleted from Facebook’s servers.
- Users who had email notifications enabled for the chat may still have message history in their email inbox.
- Facebook and authorities could access deleted information if legally required as part of an investigation.
Outside of these edge cases, Facebook states it has no ability to recover chats after they are permanently erased by a user. But for absolute certainty the messages are gone for good, all participants should delete any backups they had saved.
Alternatives to Permanently Deleting
For those who simply want to remove a Messenger conversation from their own view, but don’t necessarily need to delete it for both parties, here are a couple alternative options besides permanently erasing the chat:
Delete Conversation for Yourself
This removes the chat from your inbox and history only, but leaves it intact for the other person. To do this:
- Open the conversation.
- Tap the contact’s name at the top.
- Select ‘Delete Conversation’.
- Choose ‘Delete for You’ when prompted.
Archive Conversation
Archiving removes the chat from your main inbox, but it remains easily accessible in your archive folder. The messages will still be visible for the recipient. To archive a conversation:
- Tap and hold the conversation in your inbox.
- Select ‘Archive’ to move the chat to your archive folder.
These options allow you to remove annoying or unnecessary conversations from view without permanently deleting the entire chat history.
Conclusion
Permanently deleting a Messenger conversation erases the chat for both you and the recipient. Neither of you will be able to access the information again through Facebook.
The process is straightforward – just open the chat, access the conversation info, select ‘Delete Conversation’, and choose ‘Delete for both of us’. Facebook will then wipe the chat from existence on their servers.
Reasons to permanently delete a chat include removing abusive messages, embarrassing conversations, or private media you want completely erased. Alternatively, you can choose to simply archive or delete the messages for yourself only.
Overall, permanently deleting Messenger conversations is a useful way to regain privacy and permanently remove conversations you no longer want to persist. Just be aware that outside of Facebook’s servers, traces of the chat could still remain in other places like user device backups.