Instagram has millions of users and has emerged as a major direct messaging communication tool. Instagram’s DM makes it simple to connect, whether it’s through text, images, or videos. However, what would happen if you unintentionally erased important messages? This leads us to the question at hand: “How to recover deleted messages on Instagram?”
Whatever the cause, it’s comforting to know that, with the right tools and methods, deleted messages on Instagram can be recovered. It doesn’t matter if they are from your Instagram close friends or even your boss. We’ll walk you through the steps needed to recover deleted Instagram messages in this post. Let’s begin.
Can You Retrieve Deleted Messages on Instagram?
The ‘Recently Deleted’ feature on Instagram does not restore deleted messages, as stated by the Instagram Help Center. Only deleted images, movies, reels, and stories can be recovered using this feature. Additionally, you should be aware that there are time restrictions. While deleted media or reels have 30 days, erased stories can be recovered in as little as 24 hours.
While this is a helpful feature overall, it doesn’t support message recovery. Therefore, in order to retrieve and view deleted Instagram messages, you must employ certain helpful tools and pieces of advice that come next.
Top 3 Methods to Recover Deleted Instagram Messages
You’ve probably encountered the problem of deleted messages or DMs that vanish by themselves. It can be especially annoying when you discover that there isn’t a simple way to get these messages back within Instagram itself. But don’t give up. Here are some ways you can implement to get the messages back:
1. Using the Instagram Data Download Feature
This method helps you with downloading all of your Instagram data to a device so you can recover the deleted messages if they show up there. Here are the steps you need to take if you’re wondering how to recover deleted messages on Instagram:
- Go to your profile on the Instagram app.
- Open ‘Menu’ by choosing the three lines at the top corner of your screen.
- Select ‘Your activity’ from the menu.
- Scroll down to “Data Download” and tap it.
- Enter your email address and tap “Request Download”.
- Select ‘Some of your information’, and check ‘Messages’.
- Pick a location for your data to be transferred to.
- When ready, pick a ‘Date range’ you think is good enough and tap on ‘Create files’.
Once the download is complete, you can access the data on your device. However, follow these steps if you choose a transfer destination,
- Select your Destination.
- Go through ‘Next’ when you pick one of the ‘Google Drive’ or ‘Dropbox’.
- Connect to your ‘Google Drive’ or ‘Dropbox’.
- Select ‘Start Transfer’ when you choose the data range you need.
Open the “Messages” folder. Here you can find the messages that were deleted from your Instagram. All you need to do is scroll through the messages and find the ones that have been deleted.
2. Using Third-Party Apps
If the previous method didn’t work for you, you can use third-party data recovery apps to recover deleted Instagram messages. App stores are typically where you can find these types of apps. Not all erased data will be immediately removed from your device; some can stay as cache files. To find deleted files that haven’t been replaced yet, these tools search your phone completely. To recover the lost data, the application locates these files, extracts them, and then puts them back together.
Note: Use these apps with caution, as there have been numerous cases of data breaches and misuse of personal information.
Read More: How to unview someone’s story on Instagram?
3. Check Your Email Linked to Instagram Account
You will probably see the deleted messages in your email inbox if you enable Instagram email alerts. If you receive an email notification, you can still access the content of a direct message in your inbox even if Instagram deletes it. However, you can’t get back the deleted Instagram messages from there, and the alert will not happen every time.
Although it’s normally safe to check your email for deleted Instagram messages, keep in mind that your Instagram alerts could be viewed by anyone with access to your email account. Use strong passwords and make sure your email account is safe.
Remember Backing Up Instagram Messages
Although we’ve covered a few methods on how to recover deleted messages on Instagram, it doesn’t have to go this way, and you can prevent all of these by backing up your data.
Maintaining regular backups might serve as a safeguard against loss or deletion of your important messages. Depending on the number and significance of your messages, you can establish a regular backup schedule that could be weekly, two weeks, or even monthly.
Archived messages also help. Follow the steps to archive your messages easily:
- Open your Instagram account and log in.
- Access your “direct messages.”
- Go to the conversation window with your follower or friend.
- To save the post, tap the “archive button” next to it.
- Create a new collection or select one to save in.
Conclusion
We all know that accidental deletion of Instagram messages can be stressful and frustrating. In this article, we went over how to recover deleted messages on Instagram as well as some other helpful hints about archiving your important messages. Remember to keep calm and follow the said methods to hopefully reach your messages and recover them in time.
FAQs
In this part, we gathered the most common questions about recovering Instagram messages on the Internet:
1. Are Instagram Messages Deleted Forever?
There are methods to try and recover Instagram deleted messages. However, there is a high chance that deleted messages on Instagram will be deleted forever. So, be careful and back up your data regularly.
2. How to Restore Deleted Posts and Reels on Instagram?
Recently deleted feature is the saviour in this case. By going to Settings and Recently Deleted, you may quickly retrieve any posts, reels, or stories that you may have accidentally deleted. Just make sure you do it within 24 hours for stories and within 30 days for posts and reels.
