I receive lots of tech questions here at Rick’s Daily Tips, and there’s one question in particular that I receive time and again:
“If I delete a message I’ve sent to someone on Messenger will it be deleted from the recipient’s inbox as well?”
The answer to that question used to be no, but Meta changed that a while back.
Now when you send someone a message you have 10 minutes to change your mind and “Unsend” it if you want to. And it’s very easy to do. Just follow the steps below for the device you’re using.
If you’re using the “Messenger” feature on the Facebook website (on a laptop or desktop PC):
1 – Hover your mouse over the message you want to delete, then click the three dots after they pop up on the screen.
2 – Click Unsend.
3 – Select Unsend for Everyone.
4 – Click Remove.
Note: The message should now be gone from both your account AND the recipient’s inbox.
If you’re using the Messenger app on a mobile device:
1 – Tap on the message you want to delete and hold it until a menu pops up (ignore the emojis).
2 – Tap the three dots in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
3 – Tap Delete.
4 – Tap Delete for Everyone.
5 – Tap Ok.
Note: The message should now be gone from both your account AND the recipient’s inbox.
Pretty cool, right? Users have been asking for the ability to do this for a long time and Facebook has finally made it happen.
Just be sure to remember these two important caveats:
1 – You only have 10 minutes from the time the message is sent to remove it from both accounts. If you wait longer than that only the recipient of the message will be able to delete it from his/her inbox. You won’t be able to remove it from your end.
2 – When you delete a message from the recipient’s inbox the deleted message will be replaced by a notice informing them that you’ve deleted a message that you sent to them.
They won’t know what the message was (because you deleted it before they read it) but they’ll know you sent one and then changed your mind and deleted it.
That’s all there is to it. Isn’t it great knowing you “unsend” a message you sent if you end up having second thoughts about it?
Bonus tip: As you probably know, Facebook and the Internet at large are favorite playgrounds for hackers and scammers. This can help keep you safe. (#ad)