Originally launched as FaceMash on October 28, 2003, for college students to its present name Meta, Facebook has successfully charmed the world every time with its new features and functionalities. There are two ways to send and receive messages on Facebook- Facebook Chat and Facebook messenger. Chat was launched in 2008 and can be accessed via Facebook on your computer. Messenger is an app. that was launched in 2011. It has to be downloaded separately on your phone.
Facebook Chat And Messages
Facebook messages and chats let you communicate confidentially on Facebook. Unlike the other Facebook features like photos, videos, status updates, or comments, chats and messages will not be shared or posted on your Timeline for the whole world or to your friends to see.
We have been using Facebook chat and messenger, immensely in our day-to-day life. While doing so, you must have wondered if these messages sent or received via chat or messenger are private, or if somebody else can also access them? What if they become public? Do Facebook delete these messages? All these thoughts sound scary, ain’t they!?
Questions Related To Facebook Messages
Today we will clear a few doubts related to the Facebook message that pops into many Facebook users’ minds through question-answer.
Do Facebook messages expire?
If you are wondering how long Facebook keeps your messages then you are referring to the ‘Message Expiration’ feature.
Facebook’s message expiration feature can be enabled from a “Disappearing Messages” tab which you can find on a contact’s page in the Messenger application. Messages for a discussion string can then be set to expire subsequently 1 minute, 15 minutes, 60 minutes, 4 hours, or 24 hours.
Additionally, stories automatically lapse following 24 hours except if you archive them, and that gives individuals the relief to share all the more normally. This viewpoint could be applied to all private content – texts, images, videos, etc. For instance, messages could be erased after 30 days or a year by default.
How long does Facebook keep chat history?
The answer is eternity. Anything that you do online amounts to your digital footprints. Each message sent over Facebook chat or messenger will be put away on a server. Facebook may ultimately erase a few messages after a specific measure of time, whether this is to put up with security regulations or to decrease capacity costs. Yet, for the most part, anything that you send will constantly be stored in someplace regardless of whether you erase it.
Indeed, the facts confirm that provides options to access and erase stored messages. Remember that by erasing messages you are just getting rid of them from your inbox; any messages you’ve sent show up in the chat window or inboxes of whomever you had sent the messages except if that individual decides to erase them.
Does Facebook delete old messages?
Nevertheless, Facebook messages don’t seem to be public in your account. But, Facebook stores all messages exchanged in Facebook Chat even after you shut the chat window to wrap up a discussion.
The “Clear Window” option in the Facebook Chat window drop-down menu deletes the messages from the window, yet this activity doesn’t forever erase the chat history. So, Facebook stores old messages as discussed above, and you can access these chats from the Facebook Messages application.
Facebook then launched something called “Vanish Mode” in 2020 on Messenger across all supported devices and countries.
This is how it works: when Vanish Mode is turned on by swiping up on your screen in a private chat or group chat window, the feature will consequently delete texts, photographs, stickers, emoticons, and all other types of contents.
On the other hand, this doesn’t occur at a predetermined time, similar to a few other comparable solutions. Alternatively, the messages possibly delete themselves when you’re the person you had chatted with has seen the conversation, and you have shut the window.
Assuming you keep the conversation window open, the messages will continue to exist. To turn the feature off, you simply have to click the “Turn off Vanish Mode” button that will show up at the top of your Messenger window.
In any case, you can’t compel the other person or user to turn on Vanish Mode along with you. When you or another person enables this feature, everybody needs to pick in for the mode to be turned on. Assuming one person decides to quit, you can’t involve the feature in that visit except if you attempt once more sometime in the future.
Then again, this feature is available only for Facebook’s Messenger app., and it may not function in their desktop chat version.
Facebook doesn’t erase old messages or discussions that have been lying dormant for years. Regardless of whether they exhibit them on your chat window anymore, you couldn’t ensure that they have been erased. It appears they do delete old messages sent to you by others, particularly, in case those others are no longer on Facebook.
Does deleting your Facebook account also delete messages?
Deleting or deactivating your Facebook account doesn’t completely erase it. When you deactivate or disable your account, Facebook stores your settings in general, photographs, and data if you choose to reactivate your account sometime. Your data isn’t gone – it’s for time being hidden. At the same time, it is feasible to erase your account once and for all with no choice for retrieval.
You possibly should do this, if you are certain, beyond any doubt you need to permanently delete your Facebook account. But that comes under another topic and we shall discuss this in another blog. Stay tuned for more useful and interesting information.
Also Read: HOW TO GET SOMEONE’S FACEBOOK DELETED
Conclusion
All that you share on Facebook, whether private or public, is archived permanently, including the stuff you erased. Facebook keeps track of everything.
It might likewise store duplicates of “some material” from erased accounts, yet eliminate individual identifiers. So, we may conclude here by saying that Facebook messages are never deleted permanently.
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