How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Facebook or WhatsApp Messages?

Have you accidentally deleted an important Facebook or WhatsApp message? Have you deleted your spouse’s Facebook or WhatsApp messages in anger and now want those love messages back?

No matter your reason for deleting Facebook or WhatsApp messages, you can easily recover them. Since Facebook owns WhatsApp now, there are several ways to recover accidentally deleted Facebook or WhatsApp messages with or without backup.

Cool right?

Let’s explore the topic in depth.

How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Facebook Messages?

Let’s first see how to recover accidentally deleted Facebook messages with ease.

Method 1. Go to Facebook Archives

Foremost, you should check the archived messages. There is a possibility that you have hit the archive option rather than deleting the messages. To confirm that, follow these steps to access Facebook archives:

Step 1. Open Facebook Messenger on your mobile or web browser.

Step 2. Select to See all in Messenger.

Step 3. Click on the three-dot icon next to Chats.

Step 4. Select Archived chats from the dropdown menu.

Step 5. Scroll down to find the message you are looking for.

Here are the steps that you can follow to find archived Facebook messages in the Messenger app:

Step 1. Launch the Messenger app on your phone.

Step 2. Type the name of the person whose chat is missing in the search bar.

Step 3. If the chat is archived, it will now show on your screen.

Method 2. Recover Accidentally Deleted Facebook Messages on Android

If you are an Android user, you can retrieve data for almost every app from the cache data. There is a good chance that you can recover your accidentally deleted Facebook messages by following steps:

Step 1. If you don’t already have a file manager installed on your Android phone, download it from the Google Play Store now.

Step 2. After that, launch the app and go to Main Storage > Android > data > com.facebook.ocra > cache > fb_temp.

Step 3. This folder contains all your Facebook history. Here you can hopefully locate the accidentally deleted Facebook messages.

Method 3. Recover Accidentally Deleted Facebook Messages on iOS

Unlike Android devices, it is not that simple to recover accidentally deleted Facebook messages on an iPhone. If you have not backed up your iPhone to iCloud, there is no possible way to recover the app data within your phone.

You have to use third-party apps on your iPhone to recover accidentally deleted Facebook messages. There are many iPhone data recovery tools available. However, we suggest you use FonePaw iPhone Data Recovery.

 This software can recover deleted messages from Facebook messenger via scanning your entire iPhone, iTunes backup and iCloud backup. It also supports multiple file types, including messages, images, videos and others. Importantly, you can recover partially or completely deleted messages from Facebook with this tool.

Here are steps to recover accidentally deleted messages using FonePaw iPhone Data Recovery:

Step 1. Download and launch FonePaw iPhone Data Recovery on your PC or Mac.

Step 2. Under iOS devices, select Recover Data and connect your iPhone to your computer using the USB cable.

Step 3. Once the iPhone is authorized, click on the Start Scan button.

Step 4. The tool will search your entire iPhone data, including Facebook Messenger data.

Step 5. When the search is complete, click on Messenger and Messenger attachments. You will now see existing and deleted messages on the Facebook Messenger app from your iPhone. It includes Facebook contacts, messages sent and received, and other message-related details.

Step 6. If you see the deleted Facebook message, click on the Recover button.

 Method 4. Recover Accidentally Deleted Facebook Messages From Your Email or Backup

If you have enabled email notifications on Facebook, you can check your email inbox to find your deleted Facebook messages. However, if you have not activated the email notification feature, this method will not work for you.

You can also check your most recent Facebook backup file to find your deleted messages. If you don’t know how to create a Facebook backup file, you can follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Facebook on your desktop and tap on the dropdown menu from the top-right corner.

Step 2. Select Settings & privacy and then select Settings again.

Step 3. Scroll down to the Notifications from the left menu and click on it.

Step 4. Go to the bottom of the page and click on the Email.

Step 5. Select All notifications, except the ones you turn off. This way, you will get the messages in your inbox in the future.

How to Recover Accidentally Deleted WhatsApp Messages?

Talking about WhatsApp, there is no direct built-in tool to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. However, other indirect methods to recover deleted WhatsApp messages are:

Method 1. Recover Accidentally Deleted WhatsApp Messages on Android

Android users can lose their WhatsApp data in a blink of an eye. You can lose your WhatsApp data accidentally, or your device might get corrupted.

Fortunately, WhatsApp comes with a cloud-based backup solution that can help you retrieve your WhatsApp data. For this, you have to enable backup support on your phone. To do so, go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup. Then, verify your email address.

Here’s how you can recover deleted WhatsApp messages on an Android device from backup:

Step 1. Remove WhatsApp from your device.

Step 2. Download a new WhatsApp version from the Google Play Store.

Step 3. Open the new WhatsApp app and enter your login details like name and number.

Step 4. During the installation process, a prompt will ask whether you’d like to “Restore” your chats from your Google Drive. Click on the Restore button.

Step 5. Just follow the on-screen instructions to set your WhatsApp with all deleted messages.

Method 2. Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages on Your iPhone

Similar to Android, the WhatsApp application for iPhones also comes with backup to cloud facilities. So, if you frequently back up your WhatsApp messages on iCloud Drive, you can easily recover deleted WhatsApp messages on your iPhone. Here’s how you can recover deleted messages from iCloud:

Step 1. Uninstall WhatsApp from your iPhone and download it again from the App Store.

Step 2. Open new WhatsApp and follow on-screen instructions to set up your new account with deleted messages.

Method 3. Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages without a Backup on Android

If you don’t have enabled cloud backup on WhatsApp, there is no need to worry about it. Android devices come with the default data backup service — Android Local Backup. The application will keep a record of all your WhatsApp account backup. Here’s how you can use this backup to recover WhatsApp messages:

Step 1. Go to the File Manager and tap on WhatsApp.

Step 2. Select the Database folder.

Step 3. Search for the file named “msgstore.db.crypt12” and change its name to “msgstore_BACKUP.db.crypt12”.

Step 4. Next, navigate to the file named “msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12” and rename it to “msgstore.db.crypt12”.

Step 5. Now, delete WhatsApp from your device and then download the new version from the Google Play Store.

Step 7. Here select the option to restore your chats from the local phone backup.

Method 4. Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages without a Backup on iPhone

Unfortunately, the iPhone doesn’t come with an inbuilt backup facility for WhatsApp. If you have not backed up your WhatsApp to iCloud or iTunes, you have to use third-party software to recover your deleted WhatsApp messages.

For this guide, we will use MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. In addition, you don’t have to uninstall WhatsApp with this tool. Here is how it works:

Step 1. Download MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS on your computer. 

Step 2. Connect your iPhone to your computer using the USB cable.

Step 3. Open MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS.

Step 4. Click on the Scan. This will initiate a search on your iPhone.

Step 5. Select WhatsApp from the menu displayed on the left side.

Step 6. Select the messages you like to recover and hit the Recover button from the lower right corner.

Parting Remarks

That’s it, people! You have learned how to recover deleted Facebook and WhatsApp messages on both Android and iOS devices.

Generally, it is best practice to backup your Facebook and WhatsApp data on your device. Android users can use the local backup software, and iPhone users can opt for iCloud or iTunes backup.

In addition, you can use third-party tools to recover deleted Facebook or WhatsApp messages if you have not created a backup on your device.

Now, let’s say goodbye and keep on following this website for more informative guidelines.