So, you want to delete your recent search history on Facebook Messenger across all devices. I’m not going to ask why.
Facebook in their wisdom don’t make this as easy as it should be. A Delete Search History button would be nice! Maybe one day.
The only way to do this for now is to sign out of your Messenger app.
Unfortunately, Messenger itself does not allow you to log out independently. You can only log out using the Facebook app or website.
I’ll explain how to do this on your phone or mobile device and on your Desktop.
Like many actions on Facebook Messenger it is important to remember that if you delete search history on your laptop or PC – it doesn’t delete it on your mobile.
You need to go in and do this on all devices you use to sign in to Facebook. A bit of a pain!
I cover lots of tips and tricks to help people get the most out of using Messenger and other social apps. One recent post covers a common problem where you can’t paste Gifs in Messenger. Check it out to see the guide and fix those Gifs.
Deleting Recent Search History Through Your Phone
If you want to delete your Messenger search history through your phone, you need to do it through the Facebook app. This works for Android as well as iPhone users.
If you don’t have this app on your phone, you can download it from your app store. Once you have done so, log into the app using your email address and password as normal.
Use the following steps to clear your search history.
- Open and log into the Facebook app if you haven’t already.
- There will be an icon with three horizontal lines on your app either at the top of the screen (for Android) or at the bottom (for iPhone). Tap on this icon.
- From the menu that appears, tap on the ‘Settings’ option.
- Go to ‘Account Settings’ and tap on the ‘Security and Login’ option.
- Scroll down and find the ‘Where You’re Logged In’ section.
- Now, find the device (phone or tablet) on which you are logged into Messenger.
- The word ‘Messenger’ should be visible below the name of the device.
- If you can’t find it immediately, click on ‘See More’ to show more options. If you are using Android, you will have to click on ‘See More’ in order to log out.
- Once you find the ‘Messenger’ option, click on the icon with three vertical dots next to it. Make sure you click on ‘Messenger’ only and not the ‘Facebook’ option.
- When you click on the three dots, a menu will appear.
- Tap on the ‘Log Out’ option. This will log you out from the app.
- When you log back into Messenger next time, tap on the search bar and you will find that your ‘Recent Searches’ section will be empty.
So that’s you sorted on your phone or tablet. Next up your desktop version if you use it.
Delete Facebook Messenger Search History Through Your Desktop
If you want to delete your Messenger search history through your desktop, the process is similar to the one you used for your phone. This works in the same way for your PC or Mac.
Follow the steps below to delete your search history:
- Go to facebook.com through your browser and login if you aren’t already logged in.
- Click on the ‘Menu’ icon on the top right corner. It will be in the shape of an inverted triangle.
- Click on ‘Settings’ from the options that appear.
- Click on ‘Security and Login’ on the left side of the page.
- Find the ‘Where You’re Logged In’ option and click on it.
- Find the device (phone or tablet) on which you are using the Messenger app.
- Find the word ‘Messenger’ below the name of the device.
- Click on the three vertical dots that appear next to this option.
- Click on ‘Log Out’. This will log you out from the app on your device.
- When you log back in, the ‘Recent Searches’ section will be empty.
Want to brush up on what the icons look like? See my article explaining the Facebook Messenger icons and symbols.
Other Tips
If you don’t want to go through this entire process, you can simply delete and reinstall the Facebook Messenger app on your device. This will clear your ‘Recent Searches’ on the app as well.
However, this will require you to download the app again each time you want to delete your search history.
If you want to clear your search history on one device only and not all devices, you can do that through the Messenger app by clicking on the search bar in the ‘Chats’ section, tapping ‘Edit’ and then tapping ‘Clear All’ next to the ‘Recent Searches’ option.
Remember that this will only clear your history on that particular device.
You can also use the ‘Where You’re Logged In’ section to ensure that you aren’t logged into any unwanted device.
They never seem to make things really clear on Facebook. I have a series of articles covering how to get the most out of Messenger with the least hassle:
See this article about how your FB account can be hacked – it’s pretty scary stuff in the wrong hands. I also cover the top Facebook hacking apps for parents wanting to monitor their kids accounts for safety.
Or maybe you want to know how to tell if someone has blocked you on Messenger or if you can tell when someone was last active on Facebook. Have a good look around I have lots of useful guides and tutorials.
Conclusion
These are the steps that you need to follow to delete your search history on Facebook Messenger across all your devices. It would, of course, be easier if you could simply log out through the Messenger app but until then, this is the way to go.
Oh just give us a delete button!
