Does Facebook Store Chat Logs?

When you complete a chat conversation with a friend, your entire chat history is stored in the Facebook Messages box. While you are still chatting, scrolling up the chat window displays your message exchange history, but when a conversation ends, Facebook stores your chat history in the Messages box, where you can refer back to it anytime you want.

If you sign in to your Facebook account and click the "Messages" icon located next to the Notifications icon, you should see your chat messages together with other emails and text messages. If you click the "See All" link, the Messages box is expanded to display all of your inbox messages. Simply scroll down the list of messages and click the friend for whom you want to view chats. When you open a previous chat, Facebook displays every message exchanged in that conversation.

If you are still chatting with a friend, you can clear your conversation history directly from the chat window. If you click the "Actions" menu at the top right of the chat window and select "Clear Window," Facebook deletes your conversation history. If you continue to chat even after clearing your conversation, the new messages will be displayed in the chat window. You can also clear chat conversations directly from the Messages box long after ending a conversation. If you open the Messages box and open the conversation to clear, Facebook displays the messages you exchanged with your friend. If you click the "Actions" button and click "Delete Conversation," Facebook deletes the entire chat history.

You can also access your chat history directly from a mobile device; however, the process varies with different devices. Smartphones such as iPhones and Android-operated smartphones generally rely on a Facebook application to access and manage your social networking account. The app can be used to conveniently view and edit previous chat conversations.