There are a few potential reasons why chats may disappear on Facebook Messenger:
You or the other person deleted the messages
If you or the person you were chatting with deletes a message, it will disappear from both of your chat histories. This is one of the most common reasons chats vanish. Keep in mind that deleting a message only removes it from your view – Facebook still retains deleted messages on their servers.
Your message expired
Facebook Messenger has an option to send expiring messages that disappear after a set amount of time. If you or the other person sent a message that was set to expire, it would automatically get deleted after that time period elapsed.
Here are the expiring message time options on Messenger:
| Expiration Time | When Message Disappears |
|---|---|
| 5 seconds | 5 seconds after being viewed |
| 10 seconds | 10 seconds after being viewed |
| 1 minute | 1 minute after being viewed |
| 1 hour | 1 hour after being viewed |
| 1 day | 1 day after being viewed |
| 1 week | 1 week after being viewed |
| 1 month | 1 month after being viewed |
So if either you or the recipient chose one of those expiration options, the message would vanish after the selected time.
Your message was unsent
Messenger also gives you the option to “unsend” a message after you’ve already sent it. When you choose to unsend, it will disappear from both your chat and the recipient’s chat.
You have up to 10 minutes after sending a message to unsend it. Here’s how:
- In Messenger, tap and hold on the message you want to unsend
- Tap “Remove” to unsend it
- The message will now disappear from both chats within 10 minutes
So if you unsent a message, that’s why it may have vanished.
Your message was reported and deleted
If a message is reported and found to violate Facebook’s Community Standards, it may get deleted by Facebook. This could happen if the message contained hate speech, nudity, harassment, or other prohibited content.
When a message is deleted for policy violation, it disappears from both users’ chats. Neither person will be able to see or recover that message.
You blocked the other person
Blocking someone on Messenger will remove your entire conversation history with that person. So if you block a contact, all previous chats you had with them will disappear.
However, the messages will still be visible from their side if they have not also blocked you. Blocking only erases the chat on your end.
The other person blocked you
Similarly, if someone blocks you on Messenger, your chat history with them will be erased from your perspective. You will no longer see any past messages in that conversation.
The messages will remain visible on their end, unless they also choose to delete the chat history in addition to blocking.
You were logged out of Facebook
If you get logged out of your Facebook account for any reason, you may temporarily lose access to your Messenger chats. Logging back in should restore your conversations.
Possible reasons you could get logged out include:
- You logged out manually
- Your session expired after being inactive for some time
- You changed your Facebook password
- Facebook forced a log out due to suspicious activity detected
As soon as you log back into your Facebook account, you should be able to view your messages again.
There was a Messenger app bug
In rare cases, a bug in the Messenger app itself may cause messages to disappear. Bugs that have caused issues in the past include:
- Chat history failed to sync properly across devices
- Messages got stuck sending and never delivered
- The app crashed while trying to load messages
App bugs can sometimes result in temporary message issues or loss. Updating to the latest version of Messenger may help resolve it.
Your account was hacked
If your Facebook account gets hacked, the hacker may delete messages and conversations. This can result in entire chat histories disappearing.
Other signs your account was hacked include:
- Suspicious posts made on your behalf
- Password changed without your authorization
- Email and security settings altered
- Friends receiving spam messages from your account
If you think your account has been compromised, change your password immediately and enable two-factor authentication for stronger security.
You updated the Messenger app
When updating to a new version of Messenger, there is a small chance your chats may glitch during the update process. For most people this doesn’t pose an issue, but in rare cases message history can be inadvertently lost.
To minimize disruption, be sure to keep the app open during the update so your chats can sync properly. If you do notice conversations missing after an update, try force quitting and relaunching Messenger to refresh.
Your phone was reset
If your phone was reset to factory default settings, the Messenger app will get erased as well – causing you to lose your chat history stored locally on that device.
Resetting your phone results in all data being wiped, including all apps and associated data. The only way to recover your previous Messenger chats would be if you had a backup from before the reset.
You don’t have chat history enabled
Messenger lets you control whether or not to keep a history of your conversations. The options are:
- Chat history on – Keeps all chats saved unless explicitly deleted
- Chat history off – Automatically deletes old chats after 24 hours
If you have chat history turned off, messages more than 24 hours old will routinely disappear from your message window. Double check your chat history setting if chats seem to be routinely vanishing.
Your storage was full
If the storage space on your phone is completely full, it can cause erratic behavior from apps like Messenger. Important data may get deleted, including message history, in an attempt to free up storage capacity.
Try clearing old photos, files, and apps you no longer need to free up internal storage. Also be sure to check for and delete Messenger files stored locally under Settings > Storage.
How to recover disappeared messages on Messenger
If important messages disappeared from Messenger unexpectedly, here are some ways to try recovering them:
- Retrieve from sender – If the other person still has the message, ask them to send it to you again
- Look in archives – Check your archives in case the messages were accidentally moved there
- Review email notifications – Message previews may have been emailed to you
- Check backups – Use a backup program to extract Messenger chat logs and media
- Contact Facebook support – If all else fails, report lost messages to Facebook for help
How to prevent Messenger chats from disappearing
To avoid losing Messenger conversations going forward, here are some recommendations:
- Disable expiring messages – Don’t use self-destructing message features
- Avoid blocking contacts – Blocking erases chat history
- Be cautious deleting – Double check before deleting messages
- Enable chat history – Keep the setting turned on to retain all chats
- Back up regularly – Use a third party app to backup your chats
- Update when prompted – Keep Messenger updated to avoid bugs
- Monitor account activity – Enable alerts about logins and security changes
- Add login approvals – Require two-factor authentication to access your account
- Free up storage space – Delete unused files and media to prevent deletions
Conclusion
There are many potential reasons Messenger chats can disappear, including intentional deletions, expiring messages, unsending, blocking, logging out, app issues, account hacks, updating bugs, device resets, privacy settings, and storage limits.
To recover missing messages, try retrieving them from the sender, checking archives and backups, or contacting Facebook support. To avoid losing chats going forward, disable expiring messages, back up regularly, keep chat history enabled, and maintain adequate storage space.
With good practices, you can minimize the chances of important conversations mysteriously vanishing from your Messenger app.