Have you ever had a need to search messages by date in Facebook platform and found out that there is no simple way to do that ? . Well , We had the same problem .After days of research and tests we where able to find the best and easiest method to search messages by date in Facebook. Why ? , You might ask . There are few reasons to search messages by date . It’s easy to remember the day or date range that the conversation happen rather than remembering the parts of the conversation that happen in the past or someone may simply wants to check a conversation that happen on a specific date in the past .In this method we are going to select a date range and download messages that happen during that period of days .Then you can easily go through (navigate) these messages with the help of the web browsers build in search feature to find out the conversation that you needs. In this tutorial series , lets find some innovative solutions for how to search messages by date on Facebook.
Facebook messenger always very helpful when its comes to messaging. It’s one of the most popular tool in modern social media when it comes to communication between people . However , Some users may find it difficult to use the search tool that is build in the messenger. Facebook messenger have changed a lot over the time .Lots of features have been added but some of the features requested by the users are still missing .One of the feature is the ability to search for the messages that has been sent or receive in a specific date (Search by date). Although , you can search messages by using specific term that made in that conversation. But , you still cant search for messages by specific date. This is one of the most important features that Facebook messenger is still missing. The only way that you would be able to do this in the messenger is by scrolling. This might be a easy task for small conversations. But , For a long conversations that years old this will be a pain in the neck . It’s a waste of your valuable time. In this tutorial lets look how to fix this problem step by step using alternative easy methods .
Find messages by specific date
Log in to your Facebook account and in the home page , Click on the drop down icon (▼) at the top-right corner . Click on the “Settings and Privacy” option from the drop down menu.
Facebook top right settings & Privacy menu
In the “Settings & Privacy” drop down menu select “⚙ Settings” option. Which will take you to the Facebook settings page.
Facebook Settings page
In the Facebook settings page click on “Your Facebook Information” in the left side of the window .
Download Your information Facebook
In the “Your Facebook Information” page click on “Download Your Information“
Deselect All
In the Download Your Information page click on “Deselect All” , Which will uncheck every item in the list of things you wants to download.
Now scroll down , click and check “Messages” .Then Press the “Home” button of your keyboard or scroll up to the top of the page.
Check & Select Messages
Click on “Date Range” and select the date that you wants in the first calendar (First calendar) and the day after that in the second calendar (Right side) .Click “OK” .Then click on “Create File” button .Keep in mind that the file size depends on the size and the content of the conversation . If you don’t want a bigger file size , keep the date period narrow .
selecting date range for Facebook backup file
If you know the exact date where the conversation happen , You can select that date on the first calendar and the same day on the second calendar . This will select the conversations happen on that day .
Facebook Download notification
Wait until you receive a notification from Facebook stating “Your Facebook Information file is ready to download” . Click on it or visit your Archives Here.
Facebook select your download
Locate the first or the correct download file from the list .Click on Download .Facebook will ask you for your password . Type your password and click “Submit” .Your file will start downloading . Click on “save file” if your browser ask you about downloading the file. Wait until the file fully downloaded .
Extract Facebook file
Go to the downloaded .zip file location and right click on the file and select Extract All (Windows Explorer) or Extract Here (If you have WINRAR installed in your system , which will extract the content of .zip file in the same location) . If you choose “Extract All”. Then , Choose a location by clicking on “Browse” button. Click on Extract . If you have WinrRar installed in your system right click on the file and select “Extract Here” to extract the files in the same location.
Mac OS – If you are using a apple computer , don’t worry . In newer versions of Mac OS you can open a “.zip” files by double clicking on it . It doesn’t require any third party software . If you are using an old version of mac OS you may need a third party software such as WINZIP . This will add “unzip” option to the right click menu . Simply , right click on the file and choose Services > Unzip . Select a location to extract or unzip the files inside the zip file .
view your message
locate the extracted files and double click on the “Index.html” . Which will open in the web browser .Click on “Your Messages” and select the contact that you want to see the messages from. That’s it , Now you can see the conversation that happen on that day.
Conclusion – Search messages by date in new Facebook
Facebook messenger doesn’t have any option to search by date option . Only way was to scroll throughout the conversation until you reach that date. But , It’s a waste of your time and effort . The best alternative quick method to search messages by date is by creating a copy or a backup of your messenger data for specific date or dates ( Using date filers ) and downloading that copy of your Facebook messenger data .Then , open that messenger data in a web browser. Use the build-in search feature of your web browser to go through the messages .This method is very easy and useful .Because , Not only you can see the conversation for that specific date but also you can keep this file in your local drive for future reference . Hopefully , someday Facebook may include this feature in the future so that users doesn’t have to go through all these measures to find a simple conversation happen in the past. However , You cannot select a specific conversation to download .You have to download all the conversations that happen on that day or period of days that you have selected .
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is there any other method to find Facebook messages by date ?.
Unfortunately , We are not able to find such method . However , We will update this article in such case.
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Can you do the same in Mac OS ?
Sure , You can follow the same steps . Only the .zip file extract section is different in the Mac OS .
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What would be the file size ?
The file size depends on the amount of messages that you are downloading . If you have any concern about the file size , Use the date filters to reduce the amount of messages that you have to download.
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Can you get the Deleted messages using the same method ?
No , Once the Facebook messages are deleted . You will not be able to get them back using any method . It’s permanent .
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Does this affect my Facebook message history ?
No , This process does not erase ,edit or add any messages to your Facebook messages . It just download a copy of your messages .
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Can Someone else do the same to my Account?
As long as you are the only one who have access to your Facebook account you don’t have to worry about someone else downloading your messages . But , we strongly advice you to sign out after using Facebook , If you are using a device that used by multiple persons . Two step verification and password protecting your devices are highly recommended actions that could taken to prevent unauthorized access to your Facebook account .
Disclaimer – The content of this article may change over the time . The method that we used to search Facebook messages by the date in this article may or may not work in future . Because , Facebook platform changes all the time . The options and menus may relocated as the Facebook layout changes . In such case please google to find the specific menus and options in Facebook . This Tutorial does not involves any illegal activities nor encourages to do such . All the actions that preformed in this tutorial are totally complies with the TOS of Facebook platform .
Author : Janaka Jayathilake
01/11/2020
