Everyone communicates via messengers, but not everyone knows how to do it as efficiently as possible. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and even Instagram Direct have their own tricks for correspondence. Thus, deleted messages can often still be read, and correspondence with an unwanted interlocutor can be viewed secretly.
In August 2021, a study was conducted on the Brand Analytics website that proves: Russians want to write, not call. Since 2021, Russians’ interest in correspondence applications (messengers) has increased almost 2.5 times.
WhatsApp took first place in the popularity ranking, overtaking Viber, and Telegram took the third place of honor. Now that Roskomnadzor has given in and unblocked him, Pavel Durov’s messenger has every chance to rise to the very top of the table.
At the same time, not all messenger users know about the useful functions of these applications.
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WhatsApp: deleting messages won't help
In the summer of 2021, WhatsApp allowed group chats to be turned into public channels to replicate the success of Telegram channels. But in fact, for many, this messenger still remains more of a means of communication with relatives, teachers or neighbors next door.
Few people here conduct very personal correspondence—and, apparently, they do it right. The founder of VKontakte and Telegram, Pavel Durov, spoke about the insecurity of the messenger. According to the entrepreneur, using WhatsApp is fraught with leakage of personal data. Vulnerabilities in the application lead to data ending up in the hands of hackers and government intelligence agencies.
However, even if hackers and the FSB do not scare you, you should still be careful with correspondence. Not all people know that you can even see deleted correspondence on WhatsApp. Yes, yes, if your ex sent you something at three in the morning, and changed his mind the next morning, this is not the end.
Any message sent in the messenger can be erased: to do this, you need to hold your finger on it and select the “delete” and “delete for everyone” options. However, the interlocutor will still see that you wrote something to him.
Moreover, deleted correspondence can be restored if the backup function is enabled in the application. Usually it is by default, and you can enable it in “Settings” by selecting the “Chats” tab, and in it - “Backup”.
If copying worked and the correspondence was deleted, you need to follow several steps to restore it.
- Delete WhatsApp
- Install it again
- Open the application and confirm your number
- After this, WhatsApp will prompt you to restore all correspondence from the cloud - you need to agree with it.
As a result, all chats will appear on the application as if nothing had happened.
By the way, WhatsApp has the ability to hide conversations from yourself without completely deleting them. Any chat can be archived by holding your finger on it and selecting the appropriate option. You can delete all correspondence in general by going to the chat settings. In the same tab you can unarchive all chats back. In this case, any archived correspondence will automatically return as soon as you receive a new message from the interlocutor.
Viber: extremely secret chats
Although Viber has dropped to second place in the ranking, its popularity in Russian social networks is still off the charts. This application is also used by many entrepreneurs to interact with clients: most often you can see business accounts in Viber.
In this regard, ordinary users are often ready to refuse to use the messenger for personal purposes: there is too much spam in it. However, in terms of functionality, Viber does not lag behind WhatsApp.
So, in this application you can delete a message for yourself and for the interlocutor in the same way. At the same time, as in WhatsApp, Viber makes backup copies of all chats: you can check this in the settings - in the “Account” section.
If the backup was made recently, deleting messages will not hide them from the eyes of your interlocutor. Just as in the case of the first messenger, he will only need to delete the application, download it again and restore the data from the copy.
At the same time, Viber has a special approach to secrecy. You can always start a secret chat in the application by setting a self-destruct timer for each message. To create a secret chat, you need to open the chats screen and click on the “Create” button, selecting the appropriate option. Or simply select a user and in your dialogue options click on “Go to secret chat”.
In the chat that appears, for each message you can set a time interval, after which it will be erased.
Messages from secret chats cannot be forwarded to anyone else, and if you try to take a screenshot, Viber will notify all participants in the secret correspondence. It is also not possible to restore these messages from a backup copy.
In addition, any chat in Viber can not only be hidden, like in WhatsApp, but also locked with a password. On Android, you need to click on the dialog, and on iPhone, you need to swipe it from right to left. After this, you can set a PIN code for correspondence.
After this, the chat will disappear from the general list. To find it, you will need to enter your PIN in the search field.
Browser extension
A browser extension such as VKopt can help with message processing. You can download it on the official website at the link: //vkopt.net/download/. Select your browser and download the appropriate version of the extension.
We recommend: How to delete all messages on VKontakte at once
IMPORTANT. Any extensions exist and develop independently of the official VKontakte administration. This means that the stability of their operation cannot be guaranteed. For the same reason, there are a large number of clones of popular extensions; be careful when choosing a download source.
After installing the extension, do this:
- Open the message.
- Select the “Statistics” item in “Actions”.
- We set the parameters that interest you and click “Let's go!”
- We choose a person to talk to, enter the time and date.
- We see what we are looking for. Yes, even if the entire dialogue was deleted.
Telegram: read messages and don’t get burned
Telegram is no longer a banned messenger, but, apparently, even during the blocking of Roskomnadzor, nothing prevented it from growing its audience. This application has almost all the same features as WhatsApp and Viber - and even more.
The main advantage of Telegram is security and confidentiality, so there is no question of backup. Developers simply do not allow users to leak their own data where attackers can get to it. Therefore, it will not be possible to restore deleted messages in the cart.
But secret chats in Telegram are among the safest in the world. No one, including the creators of the messenger, can intercept correspondence and decrypt the messages in it. You can create a similar dialogue on the chats screen by selecting the “Create secret chat” option at the top right.
Messages will be linked to only one device, and will immediately disappear when you log out of your account. There is also a self-destruct timer - to set it you need to click on the clock icon (on iOS it is located in the text input field, and on Android it is on the top panel).
But for many people, the main advantage of telegram is the ability to read correspondence without the interlocutor noticing. Let’s say a person wrote to you and you don’t want to respond to him or even somehow show that you are interested in dialogue. You want to read the message, but if you go into the chat, the interlocutor will understand that you saw his message and are ignoring it.
You can avoid awkwardness in telegram. If you have an Android phone, you need to do the following.
- Open chat list
- Press your finger (and do not release) on the person’s avatar in the chat you are interested in
- After a couple of seconds, the chat will open - but not in full screen, but on top of the list of chats.
You will see the latest messages that interest you - the main thing is not to pull the chat up, otherwise it will open fully and a read mark will appear in the correspondence.
For iPhones, silently viewing messages works differently depending on the phone model. For older smartphones without the 3D Touch function, everything will be the same as in the case of Android.
And with new iPhones, you just need to press a little harder on any part of the chat that interests you. A preview of the conversation will appear on top of the list of chats. At the same time, unlike Telegram on Android, it is not necessary to keep your finger pressed. You can even scroll through messages rather than being limited to the most recent ones.
Well, for those who don’t have 3D Touch, but want to scroll through the chat without being noticed, a life hack with airplane mode will help. All you have to do is enable this feature on your phone and then open the chat. The main thing is to close the chat and the application itself after reading it and then turn off airplane mode.
#5 In the VKOpt service
This is an application that optimizes the operation of VK; it includes many cool functions that are not provided by official social developers. networks. For example, you can restore a conversation if you deleted a conversation. The service is built into the browser and works as an add-on. The developer is Google Chrome, so VKOpt is considered safe and reliable.
Download VKOpt only from the official website or in the Chrome store - this way you will get the original version instead of a malicious fake.
Answering the question of whether it is possible to read deleted VKontakte messages using VKOpt, we will answer “Yes,” but only if you regularly make backup copies of correspondence. Otherwise, the utility will not help you, because this option does not exist in it and never has.
How to make backups?
- Go to the dialogue window;
- Click on the three dots at the top of the field;
- Select the “Save correspondence” command;
- Decide on the format: Html or Txt.
- Click "OK"
- And here’s what the result itself looks like: the resulting document opens in a browser.
Please note that any third-party applications that you are likely to try to install and try may cause harm. You risk getting viruses, giving scammers access to your data, downloading useless software with a bunch of annoying ads, paying money (there are paid versions) for non-working software. We also do not recommend these methods because we ourselves have tested most popular applications - we assure you that none of them help you view deleted messages.
And now we want to summarize the material presented above:
- On a computer, immediately after deletion, the texts are easy to view only before updating;
- Contacting technical support is rarely effective;
- The interlocutor will help only if it is convenient for you to contact him;
- Notifications provide access to deleted incoming messages only if they are properly configured;
- VKOpt will only be useful if you have backed up dialogs;
- Other utilities don't work at all.
Our review has come to an end, we have shown working options that tell us how to see deleted messages in VK and pointed out all the pitfalls. We wish you good luck!
Instagram: yes, there is also a convenient messenger here
Strictly speaking, Instagram is a social network, but inside it there is a direct message - an almost full-fledged messenger with video calls, voice messages and many other functions.
Thus, many users do not know what their subscribers see by default when they are online. In order to hide your status, you need to go to the “Privacy” section in the Instagram settings.
In Instagram Direct, as in other messengers, you can mark a read message as unread by swiping from right to left in the chat. True, you cannot deceive your interlocutor this way: for him, the viewing notification will remain in place. “Unread” is a function not for secretive people, but for those who want to leave themselves a reminder and return to the dialogue later.
And instead of deleting a message, there is another function here. If you wrote something to a person and immediately regretted it, you need to press your finger on the text and hold it until the message “Cancel sending” appears.
When you select this option, the message will disappear as if it never existed, and if the interlocutor had notifications turned on, the text of the erased message will disappear from there - only a message will remain stating that it is no longer available.
When corresponding on social networks, do not forget about psychological safety. In 2021, the “Blue Whale” returned to the Internet, or rather, his follower, TikToker Jonathan Galindo. And many teenagers are terrified of this dog man.
However, for Russian-speaking users this character seems to have become more of a reason for fun. The teenagers themselves began to write to accounts under the nicknames of Galindo, offering to play the game, and they trolled them to great effect.
