Many users are unaware of the possibility of having secret conversations on Messenger. There is a lot of talk about the lack of privacy on Messenger, meanwhile, there is a feature to fully encrypt messages.
How does this feature work, how do you enable secret messages and to what extent are they actually secret? How do you find secret conversations on Messenger? The answers to these and other questions can be found in my today’s post.
How do secret conversations on Messenger work?
Secret conversations on Messenger, unlike regular ones, are fully encrypted. In practice, this means that messages and calls can only be read or listened to by the conversation partners.
As you can read in Facebook’s Help Centre, even Meta cannot access secret messages – link. However, is this always the case?
Are secret conversations truly secret? When does the Meta have access?
As I mentioned, the text in the Facebook Help Centre shows that even Meta does not have access to secret conversations. However, on the same page, a few headings below, there is information about the possibility of reporting encrypted messages.
When our interlocutor feels that our messages are breaking Community Standards and reports this to the site’s administrators, Meta will see and verify the last 30 messages from the secret conversation. So it’s worth keeping this in mind.
How do I enable secret conversations on Messenger?
Enabling secret conversations on Messenger is very simple and can be done in 2 ways. You will find the instructions below.
Method I. Enabling a secret conversation from within Messenger settings
To enable a secret conversation from within Messenger settings, follow the steps below:
- open the Messenger app and click the pencil icon in the top right corner,
- next to the ‘New message’ heading, activate the slider with the padlock symbol,
- type in the name of the person you would like to start a secret conversation with on Messenger. Done!
Method II. Enabling a secret conversation from within a chat with a friend
To enable a secret conversation from within a chat with a friend, follow these instructions:
- open Messenger and go to chat with a friend,
- click the ‘i’ icon in the top right corner,
- scroll down and select ‘Go to secret conversation’. Done!
How do I enable disappearing messages in a secret conversation?
To further protect users’ privacy, Meta has also provided a message disappearing option. The idea is that the messages we send to our recipients will stop displaying to them after a set amount of time.
How do I enable the disappearing messages option?
- Open Messenger and go to a secret conversation,
- click on the icon with the letter “i” in the top right corner,
- select the “Disappearing messages” option,
- set the time after which the messages should disappear.
How do I find secret conversations on Messenger?
How do I find secret conversations? Is it always possible? Below I have included 2 ways and the necessary information.
Method I. Finding secret conversations from the Chats section
To find the history of secret conversations on Messenger from within the Chats section, follow these steps:
- open Messenger and go to the Chats section,
- find all the chats that have the padlock symbol next to them. These are the secret ones.
Method II. Viewing secret conversations from another phone using the app
Parents have the right and even the duty to watch over their children on the Internet. For this reason, many parental control applications have been developed to view text messages on children’s phones.
These apps work in such a way that every time a child receives a notification, it also appears on the parents’ phones. This even applies to secret conversations on Messenger. It is worth recalling that Messenger is available to children over the age of 13.
Is it possible to find deleted secret conversations on Messenger?
Secret conversations that have been deleted cannot be recovered. We can only access those conversations that have been archived. However, the archiving option for secret conversations is not available.
How do I delete a secret conversation on Messenger?
Have you had a secret conversation on Messenger and no longer want it to appear on your account? In this situation, it’s best to delete it. To do this, follow the steps in the instructions below:
- go to the Chats section of Messenger and locate the secret conversation (padlock icon),
- hold the conversation until the list of options opens,
- select Delete. Done!
I hope you found my comprehensive guide and instructions on how to use the secret conversations option on Messenger helpful and sufficient. However, if you have any questions or need additional information, please describe your concerns in the comments.
