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Can you get back cleared conversations on Snapchat?

Can you get back cleared conversations on Snapchat?

Snapchat is a popular messaging app known for its disappearing messages that are automatically deleted after being viewed. Once a Snapchat conversation is cleared, many users wonder if there is any way to retrieve or recover the deleted messages and photos.

What happens when you clear a conversation on Snapchat?

Clearing a conversation on Snapchat deletes the entire chat history between you and the other person. This includes all messages, photos, videos, audio notes, and any other content exchanged in that conversation.

When you clear a chat, the messages are deleted from both your device and Snapchat’s servers. So they are no longer accessible through either your phone’s storage or your Snapchat account.

Clearing chats is permanent and irreversible through normal means. Snapchat does not have a built-in feature to recover cleared conversations. This is by design to enforce the ephemeral nature of Snapchats.

Is it possible to recover cleared Snapchat conversations?

Despite Snapchat’s intentional impermanence, there are some limited methods users have found to retrieve cleared conversations in certain circumstances:

Using data recovery apps

If the messages were deleted very recently, data recovery apps for iOS and Android can sometimes salvage Snapchats from your device’s storage before they get overwritten. This depends on how much your device has been used since the deletion.

Apps like iMyFone D-Back and Fonelab are designed to scan your phone and retrieve residual data left behind by apps like Snapchat. However, their success rate varies based on specific device conditions.

Restoring from a backup

If your chats were cleared after your last device backup, you may find the lost Snaps in the backup files. For iPhone users, restore your device from an iCloud or iTunes backup made prior to the deletion. Android users can similarly restore from a Google Drive or device backup containing the chats.

Just be aware that everything on your phone will revert to the state it was in at the time of the backup. So you’ll lose any new data created in the meantime.

Using Snapchat Plus+ (third-party app)

Snapchat Plus+ is a popular modified version of Snapchat for jailbroken iOS devices. It lets you bypass some of Snapchat’s restrictions, including the inability to recover cleared conversations.

However, being unofficial software, Snapchat Plus+ violates Snapchat’s terms of service. Use at your own discretion.

Why is it so hard to recover cleared Snapchats?

There are several reasons why Snapchat makes it difficult to resurrect deleted chats:

  • Encryption – Snapchat encrypts messages, photos, and videos end-to-end. So only the sender and recipient can access them.
  • Ephemerality – Snapchat was designed for temporary sharing. Data is automatically deleted from their servers once viewed.
  • Data limits – Snapchat stores very limited user data compared to other social media platforms.
  • Legal obligations – Snapchat must abide by data privacy regulations that require deleting data when requested.

Ultimately, the app’s premise is predicated on privacy through impermanence. So Snapchat cannot retain data without compromising its core product vision.

Tips for recovering cleared Snapchat conversations

While difficult, here are a few best practices that can increase your chances of restoring deleted Snapchats:

  • Avoid continued phone usage – The less you use your device after deleting conversations, the better chance data recovery tools have of salvaging residual Snapchat data that hasn’t been overwritten.
  • Regularly backup your device – Backups give you a way to restore snapshots of data from earlier times. Make sure to backup before clearing important chats.
  • Use a chat recovery app immediately – Your best chance of success is using a data recovery app as soon as possible after chats are cleared, before that data is rewritten.
  • Download important Snaps – You can save incoming Snaps to your phone’s storage using some third-party apps. This gives you a permanent copy of important photos/videos.
  • Take screenshots – Screenshots are stored in your normal photo gallery so you’ll still have copies of conversations, though the other user will be notified.

Are cleared chats really gone forever?

For the average Snapchat user without advanced technical skills, cleared conversations are essentially gone for good and irrecoverable through conventional means.

However, Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. likely maintains some internal databases and backups containing at least some deleted user data. But this is inaccessible to normal users.

In rare cases, law enforcement agencies can subpoena Snapchat to retrieve data on suspects. But this requires getting legal clearance.

A few fringe cases exist where elite hackers have managed to break into Snapchat’s systems and databases to extract user information. But this is highly illegal, unethical, and extremely difficult even for skilled hackers.

Can Snapchat tell if you cleared a conversation?

No, Snapchat does not notify or alert users if a conversation between them was cleared. The app provides no indication to the other person that their chat history has been deleted.

This applies for both individual and group conversations. When any participant clears a Snapchat conversation, it disappears from their account without leaving a trace for other participants.

The chat will simply no longer be accessible or show up in the list of recent conversations. But the other users will not receive a notification informing them it was cleared.

Does clearing a chat also delete it for the other person?

No, clearing a conversation only deletes it from your own account and device. It does not remove the chat for anyone else you were messaging with.

All of your chat history will disappear when you clear it. But the other user(s) will still have the full conversation thread intact on their end.

So clearing a chat is not a mutual deletion – it only erases it unilaterally for the person who cleared it. The chat remains visible for all other parties.

What gets deleted when you clear a Snapchat conversation?

Clearing a Snapchat conversation permanently erases the following from your account:

  • All messages, photos, videos, and content sent or received in that chat
  • Call history for any voice/video calls made in that conversation
  • Shared locations within that chat
  • Chat settings like named assigned to the other user
  • Notifications muted or enabled for that conversation

Essentially, the entire chat history and settings specific to that conversation get wiped from your Snapchat when clearing the chat.

Does clearing a chat remove you as a friend?

No, clearing a conversation has no effect on your friend status with that person. You will both remain friends on Snapchat.

All that’s erased is the conversation history between you and that friend. Your friendship itself remains intact. You will both still see each other in your contacts list and can start a new chat again.

Unfriending someone is a separate action that must be done intentionally through your Snapchat’s friend management settings. Clearing chats does not unfriend anyone.

Can you recover cleared chats after uninstalling Snapchat?

Unfortunately, no. Uninstalling the Snapchat app eliminates any possibility of retrieving cleared conversations.

When you uninstall Snapchat, all locally stored data is erased, including any residual files that a data recovery app could potentially restore from your phone’s storage.

Any backup made before uninstalling would also no longer apply to the new Snapchat installation. So the cleared chats contained in the backup would not carry over.

The only way a previously cleared conversation could be recovered is if the other user still has the chat available on their device and sends you the contents again.

Conclusion

While Snapchat does not want users to retrieve deleted conversations, some limited recovery methods exist in specific circumstances. But ultimately, the app’s ephemeral design philosophy makes it very difficult to resurrect chats after they’ve been cleared.

To save important conversations, users should screenshot or back up Snaps they want to keep before clearing. Relying on being able to recover cleared chats is unrealistic for the average user.

Clearing a Snapchat conversation erases it permanently from your account, with no notification to other users. The chat remains visible to all other parties you were messaging with. So clearing chats only deletes them unilaterally for your account, not mutually.

With Snapchat’s emphasis on privacy and impermanence, the expectation is chats are transient by nature, so recovery goes against the app’s core premise. While possible in fringe cases, users should consider cleared Snapchats gone for good in most situations.