How to recover deleted messages, dialogue, correspondence in VK (3 methods)

Often there is a need to look at the history of VKontakte messages, the reasons may be different, but this needs to be done. It’s good if the entire history of correspondence with a person is safe and sound, but what if the messages have been deleted long ago? At this moment the question arises: is it possible to recover deleted messages in VK? Of course, there is a way to restore the archive of messages in Vkontakte after deletion. You can do this via your phone; the method is suitable for Android devices and iPhones. This video describes in detail how to restore Vontakte correspondence by contacting the support of the social network for the archive; it usually takes about a day to receive it, so you will have to wait a little.

Is it possible to recover deleted VKontakte messages?

When a person corresponds and receives valuable information in a dialogue, he does not always think about the consequences when he deletes the conversation. Sometimes it is simply impossible to recover erased data. This can only be done in a number of cases:

The user has SMS notifications enabled for new messages to their email address;
the cache in your mobile or computer equipment has not yet been cleared;
Initially, the device from which the user accesses the social network has a data copy function installed;
the other interlocutor has not yet managed to delete the messages and is ready to forward the information;
The technical support service was helpful.

The latter is unlikely, but there is always hope. For example, you can instantly restore a dialogue yourself. This does not require a lot of manipulations. It’s harder when a lot of time has passed since the chat was cleared. You can always request a data archive in ZIP format, where all chats will be saved, even if they have been cleared on the page. A step-by-step algorithm of actions is provided for this:

Go to the “VKontakte Data Protection” section.
Then click on the “Data Management Procedure” item.
Select the “Request archive” option.

A person will see four tabs: “Profile”, “Payments”, “Advertising” and “Other”. If you want to recover only deleted messages, then you need to uncheck all the checkboxes in the “Profile” tab except the one next to “Messages”. Retrieving information takes some time. If a person was actively texting, the upload may take several hours. Everything is saved on a computer device in an electronic folder called “Messages”.

In order not to look through all the folders, but to quickly find the necessary correspondence, you need to know the ID number of the dialogue.

How are messages deleted on VKontakte?

Before moving on to solving the problem, you need to understand the reason for its occurrence. We can say that the reason for the deletion does not change anything, and these words will turn out to be true, because we need to know not what prompted the deletion, but how the message was erased.

The method of deletion determines how you will have to revive previously written lines. You can divide the removal methods into 2 camps, each of which will have 2 more units.

The first is the type of device from which the message was sent. We know that VK is divided into a mobile version and a computer version, which, however, are different in many ways.

The second camp is related to some privacy of deletion. This is the choice you made before erasing your messages. Let me remind you that it can only be deleted from you or from you and your interlocutor (from all group members).

Useful links: How to hide friends from other users in VK: tips, VK: registering a new page via mail (cheat sheet), VK shortening links: necessary or not + TOP-5 services.

Instant correspondence recovery

Restoring is very simple if the deletion has just happened. Then just press the “Restore” button next to the deleted lines and the text will appear again. This method is only available on the official website if a person is on a social network via a computer. This option is not provided in the mobile version. In the application, if messages were sent to the trash, you will have to return them to the dialog one at a time.

If the Recycle Bin has been emptied, then restoration will not be possible, unless the person initially enabled the “copy backup data” functions.

Restore button

Imagine a situation where you accidentally deleted a message. In this case, you need to immediately press this very button, since nothing bad has happened yet. It looks like this.

By clicking on this button, the desired letter will be returned to the dialogue. The same must be done with the rest, which were deleted by pure chance.

The method is too elementary and simple for such a broad topic, how to restore correspondence in VK after deletion via a computer , but we had to touch on even this trivial situation. Let's move on.

How to restore correspondence in VK through technical support

Contacting the administration or customer support service about this issue is not very relevant, but if other methods have not brought results, then it is worth a try. To contact support, step-by-step instructions are provided:

Go to your VKontakte page.
Open an additional tab next to your avatar.
Find the "Help" section.
Select a topic for communication with the site administrator.
Write a message (it is advisable to indicate links to the profile of the person with whom you had correspondence that requires recovery).

No one can guarantee that the request will be fulfilled. In the best case scenario, the manager will send instructions on how to try to obtain a remote dialogue yourself. The human factor plays a big role here (as they say, what kind of administrator you end up with). How to restore a dialogue in VK with the help of a friend

There is always hope that the person with whom the “written conversation” was deleted did not do the same. Then it is enough to contact him with a request for forwarding. Another user presses the “Forward” button in the dialog box, having previously selected the messages needed to send.

Is it possible to recover and read deleted messages and how to do it?

There are several ways to recover deleted personal messages on VK.
If no more than 24 hours have passed since the deletion, then the first method is suitable - through the VKontakte API (but it will not help if the entire dialogue is deleted at once). In other cases, only forwarding from the interlocutor or requesting a data archive is possible. We talk about all the methods below. When you delete individual messages in a personal message, a Restore link appears in their place before you close the page. If you close it, you can no longer use this link. Deleted messages are not saved in the browser cache (in temporary files). Therefore, you will have to use one of the recovery methods. If no more than 24 hours have passed since removal, the first one is recommended:

Restoring via email notifications

If, when setting up a profile, a person confirmed that he wants to receive notifications about new messages by email, then you can view the contents of the correspondence in the virtual mailbox. This will be a preview option, meaning you can only read the informational content of the emails. To set up alerts, you need to find the “Settings” tab on the main page in VK, then check the box next to the word “Email notifications”.

If you want to save SMS alerts for a specific VKontakte user, you will need to add the dialog box number to the list. To find out the chat ID, you need to open the correspondence in the WEB version of VK and copy the numbers from there:

If there is no open dialog, then you should create one and copy the number at the top of the screen.

Recover using VKOpt

I have already talked about this very convenient and functional extension in one of the previous articles. Specifically, in it I talked about downloading music from the Vkontakte website. Be sure to read it.

So what is this plugin? It allows you to significantly increase the functionality of the site in addition to downloading media files. Allows you to increase customization options, convenience and comfort. You can read about this in detail on the official website.

Follow the link and install for your browser. After that, go to the site itself and go to the “Messages” section, which is located in the left menu.

In the dialog window that opens, look at the bottom and hover the cursor over the gear. A window of available functions will open, in which we will need to select the appropriate “Search for deleted messages” item.

Another window will open that will start the process. This may take a very long time, and after receiving the result you can download the dialog file.

As the extension itself warns: the messages found will most likely be missing text and, for the most part, this method is suitable for recently deleted messages with attachments. This method will not work if you deleted messages a long time ago.

Checking the cache

Caching is a special folder where the equipment transfers the most important information. A person can enable automatic cleaning; the standard frequency for deleting data from the cache is 30 days. The cache stores all data that passes through the social network page. The instructions for mobile or computer equipment are identical. To find the folder, you need to go through three steps: VKontakte application cache - VK MP3 MOD - (Android/ROOT) If the messages were cleared on the computer, but first you need to complete the work there, install SQLite Database Editor on your mobile device and provide ROOT rights. How to restore a VK archive with profile data

Unloading messages from the archive may not be complete if there were a lot of messages in the dialog box or the data requires information over a long period of time. In order to make a request for an archive, a number of manipulations will be required:

Follow the link
Click on the “Request archive” button, additionally checking the box only in the “Messages” item.
Confirm your actions by entering your password.

When the download is complete, the user will be able to find the “Messages” folder in the downloads section.

Time to check the archives

As mentioned earlier, the VKontakte social network stores posts, messages, stories for 6 months from the date of their publication, unless, of course, they were deleted or archived.

Due to a misunderstanding between the administration and users regarding the fact that the latter did not know what deleted information about them was visible to third parties, a special “Archive” section appeared on the platform. It contains all the information that the user archived no more than 6 months ago.

You can’t just go into the archive; you need to request consent to visit it in the section on data management procedures on the data protection page. After clicking on the “Request Archive” button, you will see a plate with sections where the archived information is stored.

Here you can find wall posts, gifts, blacklist, photos and messages. Select the latter and wait a few minutes. Usually this time stretches to several hours, although the administration assures that a letter with data will arrive within 10 minutes.

When the link to download the archive is generated, you will receive a personal message from the administration. Unpack the archive and select the desired folder in the “messages” section. For greater convenience, folders with dialogues are named after the id of the user with whom you communicated.

The directory also contains folders whose names begin with the number “200000”. It’s not hard to guess that these folders contain chats of various communities and conversations. To read messages, open the folder and find the file with the date the message was sent.

How to create and restore a backup using the application

The backup utility is installed on every smartphone by default. Depending on the model, the type of application is different. Despite this, the principle of operation of these programs is the same. Functionality and configuration algorithm:

You need to go to “Settings” and select “Memory and backups”.
Find the “Backup and Restore” tab, then click on the “Backup” button.
The system will provide paths and tabs to choose from from which the person wants to copy. You need to select the tedious positions, and then start the program using the “Start copying” button.

The data will be saved in the “Backup” folder (internal memory of your mobile phone or tablet). On computer equipment, saving is cloud-based. In addition to official programs that are installed by manufacturers of mobile and computer equipment, there are third-party utilities. The main thing is that the selected service is suitable for the device software.

Briefly about the main thing

The answer to the question of how to restore correspondence on VKontakte turned out to be detailed. You can restore the conversation by contacting technical support, sending a request to visit the archive, checking your email, contacting a friend, or perhaps you are lucky and have not yet had time to refresh the tab with the dialogue.

There are a lot of options for restoring correspondence, and the most optimal one is to be careful with chats and not press the delete button.

Sincerely, Maria Vishnevskaya specially for the project proudalenku.ru

Backup Tips

Users often delete conversations, not caring that their contents may be needed later. This is often done to clean up the chat section. To avoid such a situation, some users take screenshots of those dialogs, the contents of which may be useful later, or create a backup copy. If a person has not secured himself in any way, then in addition to the standard options, you can use the advice of other people and act according to the situation:

If a person has agreed that a friend will forward him all the messages from his chat, then it should be taken into account that he can send no more than 100 messages at a time.
There is no point in contacting technical support, because dialog boxes are personal information that only the people between whom the communication is taking place have access to.
If a person accidentally deletes a message, a “Restore” button appears next to this construction site. It will disappear immediately after the person closes the dialog box. Then it will not be possible to return message data.

It is best to set up notifications so that all correspondence is displayed in the mailbox, then after cleaning the contents of the conversation can always be viewed at the virtual mail address. To do this, you must indicate the address of the virtual mailbox on the VKontakte page.

How can I recover a message if I just deleted it?

The following coincidence of circumstances can be considered the highest degree of luck: you deleted a message in the computer version of VKontakte and did not have time to update the page. The site allows you to instantly restore a string. Please note that this method works literally within a minute after removal.

Once you've clicked on the trash can icon, you'll notice a "Recover message" line to the right of what's written. Click on it to quickly restore a passage of dialogue. Note that only 1 message can be returned this way.

If you can delete them without restrictions regarding their number, then you can instantly erase only one. Choose wisely, because after clicking the rescue button, the chat page will be updated and take with it the ability to restore other fragments of the correspondence.

FAQ

Vyacheslav

For several years he worked in mobile phone stores of two large operators. I understand tariffs well and see all the pitfalls. I love gadgets, especially Android ones.

Ask a Question

Question to the expert

What to do if the cache is cleared?

Then you can return the contents of the conversation only if you saved a backup copy

How else to save important correspondence?

You can periodically copy the “Messages” folder, which is located on the social network in the “Profile” section

How quickly will technical support respond to a conversation restoration message?

This process takes from several hours to several days. Practice shows that with such questions you may not wait for an answer from the operator at all.

Why do you need to clear the cache or contents of personal folders on social networks and devices?

Sometimes mobile devices or computers have little memory, which becomes very clogged for active users

What is more convenient: storing information through caching or in a backup copy?

A backup is a cloud-based option for storing information. It is the most convenient because it does not require the participation of the operating system and does not clog up memory

Why does customer support most often refuse to provide assistance in restoring deleted conversations?

Any conversation in voice or printed form is a person’s personal life, and outside help is an intrusion that is prohibited by law

An alternative method for storing conversations from the VK social network?

If there are a lot of correspondence, then you can save information by creating text documents for each interlocutor. Such files do not take up much space on the device

Most people always have a backup installed, and it is safest to retrieve information from there. The cache is cleaned on its own once a month, so if the correspondence was carried out earlier, there most likely will not be any information there. To avoid hopeless situations, it is better to immediately save important correspondence in separate folders on your computer or smartphone.

4.5 / 5 ( 23 voices)

Recovering deleted messages via VKontakte API

This method works through the official VKontakte API (programming interface for developers). Everything is done in a browser on a computer or laptop. The point is this: find the number (id) of the last message in the dialogue (or the message after which or before which there were messages that are now deleted), and then restore messages with numbers that are greater or less than the one found (that is, they were in the correspondence after it or before it).

The method works if no more than a day (24 hours) has passed since the messages were deleted.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work if the entire dialog is deleted. Even if you create a dialogue again (write something to this person), the numbering of messages will continue, but when you try to restore previous messages, an error will be returned.

The procedure is simple. You will open the VK website twice: first to determine the message id, then to restore deleted messages. You need to do this in the browser by logging into your page with your username and password. We recommend a computer, laptop, tablet where the full version of the VK website works normally. Let's start:

Enter the last name of the user you corresponded with (or first and last name separated by a space), then click Find:

Finding the last message number

When the VK page opens, scroll down, find an Example of a request where the required surname is already entered, and click Execute.
In the execution results (on the right), look at the first last_message_id : this is the number of the last message in the dialogue with this person. Write it down.

Instead of steps 1–3, you can view the message number through the code inspector in the browser. How to do it?

Open the desired dialogue.
Right-click on the message after which you deleted it. A context menu will open.
Select View element code or Inspect - usually it is at the very end of the menu. The Code Inspector window will open.
Find the li that contains the selected message (most likely, it will be a little higher). You can press the left arrow [←] on your keyboard to jump to it. The element looks something like this:
the data-msgid parameter , that is, in our example, the number 88901, is the message number we are looking for. Write down the number you found.
Close the inspector's window with a cross.

Increase this number by 1 if you want to restore a later message, or decrease by 1 if you want to restore an earlier one. This will be the estimated number of the deleted message. Enter it here and click Restore:

Message recovery

When the VK page opens, find the Example request where this number is inserted and click Execute. If the message is successfully restored, the execution result will be “response”: 1 , otherwise “error” .
On the same page, continue to increase or decrease the number and click Run to recover other deleted messages.
To check the result, open the dialog page (or, if it is already open, refresh it).

Contact support

This is a fairly reliable method that can really help in our work today. Although the help blog itself convinces us that nothing will work out, this is not true. I have personal experience with customer support and they were able to help me.

For this purpose there is a link to the support service, which I leave for you.

Fill out the form with your problem in as much detail as possible so that they can really help you. Most often, this is the maximum guarantee of the success of your venture. After the description, click the “send” button.

As a rule, you should describe that after deleting the dialog, you realized that there was data there that was very important to you and needed to be returned. Try to build a dialogue in such a way that the agents will help you, because they are not always ready to make concessions.

After a certain time, you will receive an answer that will be displayed in the site notifications, where there will be a separate block with correspondence. Strive to return, convince the support and they will definitely help you!

If the above methods did not help you, then you can always try your luck and write to the person with whom you want to return the letters. Perhaps he still has them and he can send them to you. If this method did not save you, then, alas, you will have to come to terms with such a loss. No other methods will help you and most likely the messages will be permanently deleted.