How to Delete Instagram Messages

Reasons to Know How to Delete Instagram Messages

Learning how to delete Instagram messages can make your online browsing less stressful and with the unclogged chat feed. It’s not just about cutting out the words, it’s about privacy, keeping the chats clean, limiting contact with strangers, and keeping things straight. The Mallory Soft team understands that most of the regular Instagram users are aware of how to delete messages and chats. Our guide focuses on the needs of newcomers who rarely use Instagram and want to learn all the methods to delete undesired messages.

Privacy Concerns

Privacy is one of the biggest reasons to know how to delete all messages on Instagram. Direct Messages (DMs) should remain private, including personal conversations, shared links, or photos/videos. You can remove these chats from your phone to make sure no one will be able to see and screenshot/download them. Deleting a text on your end does not put it off the removed person’s account, but using the “unsend” button removes it from both sides. By the way, you can limit in such a way who can search your Instagram account by phone number. Another advantage for your safety and online privacy.

Managing Clutter

Inboxes become full very quickly. Spam, deleted conversations and lost/forgotten chats accumulate over time. You clear this mess by deleting chats you don’t need. A clean inbox means you can keep an eye on the messages that really matter. It’s one of the smallest yet effective ways to stay in mental control while using the time-consuming app.

Controlling Communications

Not all the messages are worth saving or keeping in the common chat. Maybe an argument hasn’t held up, or a debate has become unpalatable. If you delete these messages, you can regain your control over your online presence. It’s like editing your digital landscape to suit your needs.

Avoiding Miscommunication

Mistakes happen. You may have sent something to the wrong person by mistake or the message was just a bad idea. Instagram’s delete and “unsend” functions save it the day in these cases. With messages deleted or edited, you can erase a mistake before it leads to confusion. It is particularly critical when dealing with professional relationships on Instagram or when talking about something that is personal.

Knowing how to delete Instagram messages is not just about cleaning up, it’s foremost about giving the user a better experience.

How to Delete One Message on Instagram?

It is easy to delete a single message on Instagram using the default “Unsend” option. This option removes the message from your chat and the recipient’s chat as if it never existed. You should do such actions:

Launch the app on your phone or PC;
Click on Direct Messages – the messenger icon at the top right;
Choose the chat where the message is located;
Scroll down until you see the message you would like to remove;
Press and hold the message until a menu pops up. Select “Unsend”;

Once verified, the message disappears from the other end of the chat. Remember, however, that even if the receiving person has already seen the message, they might still remember or save it.

How to Delete All Messages from Instagram Chats on Your Side

If you delete all your Instagram messages on your side, it’ll save your inbox space and ensure privacy. There are a few methods the Mallory Soft team recommends you to use:

Directly On Instagram

On Android:

Open the app and click the messenger icon at the top right corner;
Search your chat list for the conversation you want to delete;
Long press the chat and select “Delete” in the pop-up menu. Confirm your step, and the chat is deleted;

On iOS:

Click the messenger button to open your inbox;
Search for the conversation you wish to remove;
Swipe left on the chat, click “Delete” and accept the prompt;

On PC:

Login to Instagram’s website to enter your account;
Select the messenger icon in the top-right corner;
Hover over the chat, click the three dots, and choose “Delete”.
Make sure you delete it from your window;

You should check the following official Help page on how to delete all Instagram messages and chats in different formats.

Using Third-Party Tools

1) Auto Clicker:

Download the app to your device;
Set up multi-targets and capture the delete messages instructions in your Instagram inbox;
Run the script and let it delete the chats or messages automatically;

2) Bulk Delete Chrome Extensions (only on PC):

Install a trusted extension in your browser;
Delete chats from multiple chats;

Third-party tools can save time but could violate Instagram’s policy and be a security risk. Make sure that the third-party software is used correctly. When you delete Instagram chats, you only delete them from your side of the chat. It doesn’t matter if someone else deletes the messages too. Take your time so you don’t make a mistake.

How to Delete Received Messages on Instagram?

Instagram can deal with the received messages in 2 ways. Re-sending messages you have already sent and delete conversations. Both methods offer you some ownership of your inbox but they have their limitations.

1) Unsend Your Messages

To delete a message you sent from both your and the recipient’s chats:

Open the app on your mobile device;
Click the messenger icon in the top-right corner to open “Direct Messages”.
Navigate through your chats to find the conversation in which the message is stored;
Long press the specific message. In the “Unsend” menu, click on the “Delete” button;
Confirm when prompted;

That takes the message out of both parties, leaving it discarded. But if the sender is familiar with the message, they might still remember what it said.

2) Delete Entire Conversations

Click the messenger icon to open the app;
Search for the conversation you want to delete;
Left-finger (iOS) or long-press (Android) on the chat;
Click “Delete” and then “Ok”.

Deleting a conversation simply deletes it from your account. Unless they delete the messages as well, the messages will remain accessible to the other party.

Important Considerations:

If your message receiver was online, they might have seen your message before you sent it back;
When you send or delete a message, it’s gone forever;
These services can help you to clean your inbox, protect your privacy, and maintain control over your online experience.

How to Delete All Incoming Instagram Messages At Once?

Instagram currently doesn’t have an on-screen option to delete every incoming message in bulk. But you can delete entire chats at once straight from the mobile app. Here’s how you can do it:

Open the app on your smartphone;
Click the messenger icon (paper airplane) on the top-right;
Look for the three dots or icon at the top-right of the message window;
The Settings window appears. Tap “Select Chats”;
Select all the conversations you want to remove. The selected chats will be highlighted;
Click the “Delete” button at the bottom of the screen;
The confirmation pop-up will open. Click “Delete” to delete the chosen chats once and for all from your inbox;

This process deletes entire conversations. However, the sender will not have access to them unless they delete the chats. Bulk delete only works on conversations in your inbox. The Instagram messages you’ve sent within a conversation can’t be selectively deleted. When you pick and delete multiple chats carefully, your inbox can quickly be emptied and cleared.

Issues You Can Face When Deleting Instagram Messages and Whole Chats

1) Notifications

The major problem is that people can see what you’re sending before you delete it. And, if they’re in the app or have notifications turned on, you may see a preview of the message. Even if you remove it, the damage may be done. It can cause embarrassment or confusion if the message wasn’t meant for them.

2) Permanent Deletion

Sending an e-mail is one-way communication: you can’t do it again. When deleted, the message can’t be recovered. If you swoop in or delete it because you didn’t need it, you can’t get the message back. It’s one of the reasons why we should always double-check what we wrote before sending.

3) Limited Control Over Received Messages

You can only delete messages you’ve sent on Instagram. Other people’s messages stay visible in your chat until they decide to remove them or unsend them. The restriction is that you can disconnect your channel from a conversation, but the other channel can still access their messages.

4) Bulk Deletion Challenges

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t offer a simple way to bulk delete certain messages. Deleting whole conversations is available for users, but they can’t remove messages one by one. This option can be annoying for users who would like to clear their inboxes without deleting entire conversations.

Do you want to learn more about possible issues and troubleshooting? Then check this Reddit thread where users discuss the problem of deleting Instagram messages.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to delete all Instagram chats at once?

Instagram doesn’t support the bulk deletion for all chats at once. But you can also delete multiple chats on your own:

On the mobile app, click the messenger icon, hold a chat for longer (Android) or swipe left (iOS), then click “Delete”. Repeat for all other unwanted chats;
On PC from a web browser, go to your Instagram messages, hover over chats, and click “Delete”;
You will clear them from your dashboard, but they will remain visible to the other party;

Also, you can watch the video on YouTube that shows in detail how to delete messages on Instagram.

How to “unsend” Instagram messages?

If you want to delete a message, just long-press the message in chat and choose “Unsend”. This clears the message from both sides, leaving no trace. However, if the receiving person saw it before “unsending”, they’d likely remember this chat. Unsent messages are deleted for good on your side, so double-check this option before you use it.

How to turn on the Vanish Mode on Instagram?

To send the messages in an invisible mode, you should turn on the “Vanish Mode”:

Open a chat and swipe up to “Vanish Mode”
The posts sent in this way are deleted after they have been read or the chat closes;
This mode alerts you when screenshots of chats are taken, putting additional security on private conversations;

How do you delete individual messages on Instagram?

If you need to remove a single Instagram message, you can do this via the “Unsend” feature. In chat, open the message you’d like to delete and long-press it. Click “Unsend”. This action deletes the message from your and the other person’s chat permanently. However, the message senders can even see it before deletion if they’re logged in or have notifications turned on.

Why can’t you delete messages on Instagram?

Instagram has limitations:

Only your messages can be unsent, not someone else’s messages or chats;
Quick notifications might let recipients see the messages before you delete them;
You can’t bulk delete incoming messages, and deleted chats just disappear from your view;

How do I delete the whole chat on Instagram from both sides?

To close a chat from both parties, you have to manually unsend every message. Open the chat, press each message on the list, and click “Unsend”. This deletes the message permanently from both accounts. You can also delete the chat from your inbox, though, it will not get deleted from the other person’s account unless they delete it too.

How do I delete Instagram chats on my iPhone?

Click left on the Instagram chat and click “Delete”. Confirm when prompted. Delete individual messages by holding down the message, clicking “Unsend” and confirming your action. It’s important to note that deleting a chat clears your inbox, but not the person’s.

How to delete Instagram messages on Android for yourself?

Android users can also delete multiple messages on their side:

Pressing a message too long and pressing “More”;
Click “Delete for you” and select a couple of messages to delete;
Click on “Delete for you” again;

This action only removes messages from your side and doesn’t affect the recipient.

How to permanently delete Instagram messages from both sides?

And sadly, Instagram does not allow you to remove messages from either side (only “unsend” messages you have already sent). And when you receive other people’s messages, you can only ask them to delete them. Keep in mind that blocking a user prevents them from replying in the future, but doesn’t delete previous messages.

While Instagram can’t remove your sent messages from its platform for other users, they do give some privacy and message management to prevent such situations in the future. These are all the ways how to delete messages on Instagram from both sides. Hopefully, this knowledge will help you to keep personal conversations more private.

Conclusion

The Mallory Soft team hopes you liked reading this guide about how to delete Instagram messages on iPhone, Android, and PC. It is quite easy and straightforward to do if you carefully check the settings of your Instagram account. Bookmark our website – we regularly post interesting reviews and guides for tech-savvy people!