How to see old messages in Messenger

Messenger has one billion users. With so many people on this chat app, your friends’ messages can easily pile up. Until that point, it can be difficult to find the specific message you need. Fortunately, there are ways to find a forgotten message in your conversations.

In this article, you will learn how to find old messages, hidden or secret conversations, and even deleted messages.

How to view old messages in Messenger with the mobile app

Many users prefer Facebook Messenger to communicate, instead of the Facebook app. Through Messenger, you can send, receive and read your messages over and over again. But when they pile up, it’s harder to find older messages.

One of the ways to search for old messages that you want to see again is through the application itself.

1. Open the Facebook Messenger app on your device.
   
2. In the “Chats” window, a list of your conversations with friends will appear.
   
3. Click on the conversation to find old messages. Scroll up until you find what you’re looking for.

This is one of the easiest ways to search for old messages, but it is time-consuming, especially if you have had long conversations with a certain friend. There is another way to search for old messages through Messenger: using the keyword or a search option.

Use the search option in Messenger

1. Open the Messenger app on your phone device.
   
2. Below your profile photo and “Chats”, you will find a search option.
   
3. In the search bar, enter the term you want to search for.
   
4. You will then see all the conversations that contain that term.
   

But if you already know in which conversation the old message appears, you can do the following:

1. Open the messaging app.
   
2. In the “Chats” window, search for the conversation with the person in question.
   
3. Open the conversation and click the information icon at the top right of the screen.
   
4. Scroll down until you find the “Search in conversation” option.
   
5. Click on it, enter a search term and start searching.

How to view old messages in Messenger with Facebook

When looking for options on Facebook or Messenger, some opt for Facebook. The reason is that the Facebook website settings and options are much easier to navigate. This is how you can find old messages using Facebook.

Search with keywords

1. Click “Messages” and look for the “See all in Messenger” option.
   
2. When the conversation list opens, select the conversation you need.
   
3. Click on the icon with a magnifying glass and the search bar will appear.
   
4. Enter a keyword in the search bar.
   

Sometimes users like to pin important messages in a group chat or in a private conversation with someone, as a reminder of important messages. To find pinned messages, you just need to open the chat with your friend on the Facebook website. To the right of the screen, there is a “Chat Info” option. If you click on it, the “View pinned messages” option will appear. There you can see the most important messages in the conversation.

How to find hidden conversations on Messenger and Facebook

Facebook has a great feature to filter unwanted or spam messages. For some people, this feature is extremely useful as they do not need to receive notifications of spam messages. But sometimes important messages can get mixed with spam and go to the hidden conversation box.

Here’s how to find hidden conversations or messages in the Messenger app:

1. On the “Chats” screen, click the “People” icon in the lower right corner.
   
2. In the next window, click on the “Message Request” option.
   
3. There you can choose to accept or delete that request.
4. Under “View leaked requests”, you can find more secret conversations.

You can also find hidden conversations on the Facebook website.

1. Tap the Messenger icon at the top right of the screen.
   
2. In the “Message Request” p, search for messages from people who are not on your friends list.
   
3. Accepting the request will transfer that person’s messages to your inbox.
   
4. On the same page you will find the option “View filtered requests”. More hidden conversations may appear.
   
5. Accept or delete the message depending on the content and the people who sent it.

How to find deleted messages

For one reason or another, a user has deleted a message in a conversation. From time to time, everyone deletes something important by accident. There is a way to view deleted messages in Messenger. The best option is to check old email notifications.

If you are tired of searching for the deleted message, try searching in Gmail or your email app. Email notifications can be enabled for Messenger and all your conversations are stored and backed up to your email account.

Manage your messages on Facebook Messenger

There are many things you can do with the messages you receive in Messenger. You can archive them, delete them, delete them and unsubmit them.

Deleted messages

Deleting a message in the conversation in the Messenger app will only delete that message from your chat history. The other participant will still be able to see it. This is a good move if you just want to organize your chat history. And it is very easy to perform this action.

Archived messages

Choosing to archive a conversation in Messenger will not have irreversible consequences. You can always recover the archived conversation and put it back in your regular inbox. But if you feel like your inbox is cluttered, archiving a conversation is a good way to go. When you archive a conversation, it simply deletes it from your inbox without being deleted. You can always access it in the “Archived Folder” and continue sending messages. Archiving conversations is a good method to organize your chat history, in cases where you know you will not have frequent conversations with the person on the other end.

Deleted messages

Deleting a message in a conversation will delete that message for everyone if it occurs within 10 minutes of it being sent. Deleted messages will not be available to anyone in the conversation, but they will receive a notification that a certain message has been deleted. To delete a message, all you need to do is long-press the message and tap “Unsend” and then the “Unsend for everyone” option. You can also delete messages from other users. The deleted message will be deleted for you, but other participants will still be able to see it.

If you made a mistake and sent something you shouldn’t have, deleting that message is the way to go. Although it notifies the participants in the conversation, it is a good way to solve this particular problem.

Organize your conversations

The Messenger app can be complicated to use, and conversations piling up in your chat history only add to the problem. Another problematic thing is scrolling through your entire conversation with someone only to find an old message. Probably the best solution is to download the entire Messenger conversation. That way, you’ll have all your important messages in a single file on your personal computer.

Do you often search for old messages on Messenger or Facebook? Do you delete conversations to tidy up your chat history? Tell us in the comments p below.