How To Unsend A Message On Messenger Without Them Knowing?

Today people prefer messaging over calling because of the convenience, comfort, and cost-effectiveness. 

That is why messaging platforms have become an important part of our lives. One such messaging service that helps all of us connect with friends, family, and coworkers easily is Facebook Messenger.

Even though messaging is convenient and effective, in any case, if you send the wrong message to the wrong people or a message with some errors.

Then you would want to unsend or delete it so the person on the other side doesn’t receive it.

Let’s look at my article to know if you can unsend a message or not, and if you can, will the other person know?

Why Would You Want To Unsend A Message?

This generation, as the elderly people, says hide a lot of things and can’t express what they feel.

I guess this might be somewhat true, and that can be one of the reasons you are searching for ways to unsend messages on Messenger without letting the recipient know.

Maybe you sent something you should not have, or maybe you asked your crush out and then got to know she was already seeing someone.

Other reasons include sending the wrong text to the wrong person, or you must have hit send before realizing that there were a few words misspelled.

There can be hundreds of reasons why you might want to unsend a message on Messenger.

Can You Unsend A Message On Messenger Without Them Knowing?

You definitely can unsend a message on Messenger, but Facebook doesn’t guarantee any such option where the recipient would not know.

As a Facebook Messenger user, you can unsend messages by using the “Message Unsend” option.

A message you unsent is deleted from both your chat and the recipient’s chat, but a notification will be there. 

You have the option to use this function to fix any errors in the text, to avoid misunderstandings, or just to revoke what you wanted to say before but not anymore. 

If the other person (recipient) has already gone through the conversation or saw what you sent; before you deleted it, they could still be able to see the message in their chat history.

Additionally, if the recipient has already screenshotted the chat history before you delete the chat, they will have proof that you did send it before.

This is how the deleted chat would look like- 

How Message Unsend Works In Facebook Messenger?

Messenger also gives the option to retract a message you have already sent to someone or in a group conversation, thanks to a feature called Message Unsend. If you send a message to the wrong person or any other situation you might be in where you need to remove a message from a chat, you can use this function to unsend it. 

When you unsend a message, it is removed from the recipient’s chat, but it still notifies the recipient.

Now I will tell you how you do it- 

To unsend a message, hold it and tap on the “Remove” option. A quick pop-up will appear, asking if you want to remove the message for the other person as well or just for yourself. 

Choose “Remove for Everyone” to unsend the message from both your and the recipient’s end. You have to confirm at the end by clicking on Remove.

Once unsent, the message will be replaced with a note and disappear from the recipient’s end.

 There was a time limit for using the Message Unsend feature earlier; users had 10 minutes from the time of sending a message to unsend it. Once the time was over, the option to unsend the message was no longer available. 

But not anymore; now you can unsend the message whenever you want!

One of the problems I found in this feature is that it doesn’t allow you to delete all the messages at once (for example- You have to unsend each message separately if you have sent 10 texts in a row).

How To Unsend Messages On Messenger (Desktop Web and App)?

Firstly, I will write down the steps for the mobile messenger app, do follow the accurate steps for results.

1. Open the Messenger application
2. Login into your account
3. Open the chat box where the message you wish to unsend was previously sent
4. Select the message you want to delete/unsend with the right click
5. Select whether you want to just Remove (for you) or Remove for Everyone
6. Click on Remove (this will do the job)

Let’s see the steps for Messenger for the web on a desktop:

1. Open your preferred browser on your computer
2. Type- messenger.com, and enter your login information
3. Open the conversation on Messenger
4. Put the cursor over the message you want to unsend
5. You will see three dots; click on them
6. Choose Unsend for Everyone
7. Click the ‘Remove’ button from the menu

How to Unsend Messages On Messenger (Android and iOS App)?

For Android app? Let’s get it solved right now:

1. First, open the Messenger app on your Android device.
2. Go to the chats and choose the message you want to revoke.
3. Tap Remove after long pressing the particular message you want to resend.
4. Tap on More in order to stop unsend the message
5. A pop-up- ‘Unsend,’ will appear on your screen
6. Hit it, and you are done unsending the message

For iOS users:

1. Open the Messenger application on your iOS device.
2. Select the message you want to retract in the chat.
3. Long hold the message you want to unsend.
4. Tap on ‘more.’
5. Select Unsend after that.
6. Choose Unsend for Everyone.

You can simply unsend messages on Messenger by following the steps I have mentioned above for all kinds of users. 

This gives you more control over your chats and ensures that any unwanted messages are immediately removed or unsend from both ends.

It’s important to keep in mind that while these instructions are correct presently, as per my knowledge, Facebook may come up with some new features in the future. 

As a result, I will always advise you to read through their official website for any updates that might affect Messenger policies.

In Conclusion

Facebook Messenger users like you and I can correct mistakes and keep control of our interactions by using the Message Unsend tool. It helps in correcting errors, preventing misunderstandings, and protecting privacy. 

But it also leaves a notification whenever you unsend a message from the conversation, and this is clearly visible to the other person.

However, users must take into account how their actions could affect the recipient’s perspective and communication style in the future, as unsending a message can leave a negative impact.

Some alternatives to unsending include apologizing for errors (you made in the previous message) and sending follow-up texts to clarify what you actually wanted to say in the preceding text. 

To make the most of this function, you must be aware of updates and changes to the Messenger platform. 

[FAQs] Frequently Asked Questions

Pria Sharma

Caffeine junkie, a lively learner, and an experienced affiliate marketing writer for SB Digital. Always wanted to research and write on various verticals – that’s my thing now! Down for a France trip with me? Well, read my blog posts first, and it’s a deal!