PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Facebook Messenger Unsend Will Only Work Within 10 Minutes

When the "Unsend Message" feature will actually arrive to all users isn't known. But a developer spotted the feature running as a test function in the Messenger app, and posted screenshots of it on Friday.

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter
Our Experts
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

UPDATE (11/7): A few more details have emerged about the upcoming Facebook Messenger unsend feature we first heard about last month.

In its notes for Messenger for iOS version 191.0, released Tuesday, Facebook said the unsend feature is "coming soon." Now, for the lame part: the feature will only let you retract a message within 10 minutes of pressing send.

"If you accidentally send the wrong photo, incorrect information, or message the wrong thread, you can easily correct it by removing the message within 10 minutes of sending it," Facebook wrote.

That's a pretty narrow window, which doesn't give you much time to mull it over. If, for instance, you wake up in the morning regretting some desperate messages you sent your ex after too many glasses of wine the night before, you'll be out of luck.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp gives you more than an hour to delete messages after sending them and rival messaging app Telegram gives users 48 hours to unsend messages.

Original Story (10/12):
Facebook may be getting closer to launching an unsend feature for Facebook Messenger.

On Friday, the developer Jane Manchun Wong posted screenshots of the "Unsend Message" button, which she spotted running as a test function in the app's code.

The feature appears to be pretty straightforward, but according to Wong, you'll only be able to unsend a message within a certain time limit. "After that time limit, the message will no longer be unsendable," she tweeted.

Facebook Unsend Message

On Friday, Facebook declined to say when the feature will actually arrive, but it remains in the works, a company spokeswoman said.

Currently, you can't retract what you send over Facebook Messenger; you can only delete the message from appearing in your chat, not from the other person's inbox. However, Facebook has been willing to bend the rules when it comes to the company's own executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

According to Techcrunch, the company decided to retract messages Zuckerberg had sent to several users over Facebook Messenger, but without their consent. The social network said this was done for corporate security purposes and pointed to the 2014 hack on Sony Pictures, which led to the leaking of private email messages from several top executives. Nevertheless, the whole episode raised questions over why normal users on Messenger don't possess the same privileges.

Facebook responded by saying in April that an unsend feature was going to arrive for all users. However, it's been six months later and the ability to undo your messages still isn't here. Meanwhile, Facebook's other property, Instagram, does let you unsend direct messages. In June, Snapchat decided to add a message recall feature too.

The closest thing Messenger has to an undo feature is through the "Secret Conversations" feature, which lets you set a timer on how long you want a message to remain visible to the other user. You can learn more about this feature and other tricks for Messenger here.

About Our Experts

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

Read full bio

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

Read full bio