How to delete all messages and conversations on Facebook Messenger

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• iPhone
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Deleting Facebook messages doesn’t have to be incredibly difficult. Whether you’re deleting a thread or an entire history, there are options so you can do both with minimal effort.

Some users may find it easier to delete their entire Facebook account. We have one article for that also!

How can you start cleaning your inbox? – Following the steps in this article.

Archive Facebook messages

Before deleting all your messages, you may want to archive them instead of doing a complete and permanent removal. By doing this, you can hide the messages you want to keep. Please note that following the steps below will also delete those messages.

Start the process in Facebook Messenger:

1. Hover over the conversation you want to delete.
   
2. Three Menu items will appear; click on those.
   
3. Click Hide.
   

Following this step will remove unwanted messages without permanently deleting them. When visiting Settings in Facebook Messenger, you can click Hidden chats to recover archived messages.

Android

Delete messages on an Android phone or tablet:

1. Open Facebook Messenger.
   
2. Locate a message to delete.
   
3. Tap and hold the message to open the context menu.
4. Tap Delete.
   

iPhone

Delete messages on an iPhone or iPad:

1. Open the Facebook Messenger app.
   
2. Press and hold the conversation you no longer want, then swipe left.
   
3. When the menu appears, select Delete.
   
4. Confirm your selection by tapping Delete Conversation.
   

The smartphone versions of the Facebook Messenger app allow you to delete only one message thread at a time. If you want to delete more, it may be better to use a browser.

Browser

1. Sign in to your Facebook account.
   
2. Click See all in Messenger.
   
3. Click the options wheel next to a conversation.
   
4. Click Delete if you want to delete all messages.
   

But what can you do with multiple messages and multiple conversations? – To do this, you need to install a third-party browser extension.

Web browser extensions

Extensions become part of your web browser and allow you to perform various functions on a website. To delete several or all of your Facebook message histories, you will need to add an extension to your web browser. Whether it’s Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer, you can start by using Google to access the Web Store.

For example: use Chrome, Google “Facebook Messenger bulk removal extension” or something like that. You will see that one of the main options is chrome.google.com. This is the web store for that browser.

Once you have clicked Install, you will be prompted through several pop-ups until that extension is added. You will see the icon in the upper right corner of your browser.

Quick deletion of Facebook™ messages

Sign in to your Facebook account in your browser after installing the extension. Click the Extension icon in the extensions bar. It should have the Facebook Messenger logo and a red X at the top.

After that, it’s as easy as following the on-screen instructions.

1. Click on the Open your messages when it appears.
2. Click on the New button
3. Start removalonce it appears.
4. Select OK to confirm your action.

This should automatically take care of all the messages in your inbox. If not, it will help to refresh the page and repeat the process. If you have too many conversations, you may not delete them all at once, so repeat the process.

Once you have deleted your Facebook message history from a web browser, you will NOT be able to recover them unless you have a backup copy elsewhere. Android, for example, allows users to backup Facebook messages to ES File Explorer.

Message Cleaner

This extension works best if you first scroll down to the end of the message list. Once you load the extension, it will recognize all messages as selected for deletion. Then you can also choose inpidual messages that you want to save.

Both extensions allow you to select multiple messages from different conversations and delete them all at once. However, you still have to select the ones you want to delete. There is no button or feature that creates an automatic selection of all messages.

These extensions will permanently delete all your Facebook messages if you haven’t backed them up. Assuming you selected “all” before clicking “confirm”, the only way to recover those messages is to ask the person you sent them to for help or use data recovery methods to recover the backed up information.

Deleted Message Recovery

You can only recover messages that were saved to a backup file. For iPhone users, an iCloud recovery can recover those messages. For Android users, they can be saved in the ES File Explorer on your system.

When you use Facebook Messenger on an Android smartphone or tablet, all conversations can be saved on your device. Just because you’re “deleting” them in Messenger doesn’t mean they’re gone.

Here are some things you can try:

If you use ES File Explorer or whatever browser works for you, you can still access that information.

1. Open ES File Explorer.
   
2. Gonna Storage either SD card file.
   
3. Select and open the Android file.
   
4. Open the data file.
   
5. Scroll through the folders until you locate com.facebook.orca (This belongs to the Facebook Messenger app.)
   
6. Open the folder.
   
7. Open the fb_temp file.

This is a cache folder that contains backup files for conversations on Facebook Messenger.

Please note that this method may not always work. You can only recover deleted conversations if you backed up your phone before deleting something.

Alternatively, you can connect your device to your computer and browse folders this way.

If you are on an iOS device, you may need to use third-party software to recover old messages. There are many data recovery applications available, so it is recommended to choose the one with the best reviews. Dr.Fone, for example, is one of the most popular data recovery applications.