Facebook Marketplace conversations are Messenger chats, so you delete them the way you delete any Messenger message: open the chat, hover over the message, click the menu, click Delete and choose Delete for you or Delete for everyone. Deleting is permanent. If you only want a Marketplace chat out of your inbox, archive it instead.
Marketplace inboxes fill up fast, especially if you've listed something popular and had twenty people ask if it's still available. Before you clear them out, it's worth knowing what deleting does and doesn't do, because a deleted chat can matter later if a sale goes wrong.
Delete a Marketplace message you sent
Facebook's steps for deleting a message on desktop (messenger.com) are:
- Open the chat containing the message you want to delete.
- Hover over the message, click the menu icon, then click Delete.
- Click Delete for you or Delete for everyone.
Delete for you removes it from your screen only, and the other person still sees it. Delete for everyone removes it for everyone in the chat. Facebook renamed these options: they used to be called Unsend for you and Unsend for everyone.
Delete a message you received
The steps are the same, but you only get one choice. Facebook says when you delete a message you received, the only option is Delete for you. You can't remove a buyer's or seller's message from their side of the chat.
| What you delete | Options you get | Who stops seeing it |
|---|---|---|
| A message you sent | Delete for you or Delete for everyone | You only, or everyone in the chat |
| A message you received | Delete for you | You only. The sender still has it |
| A whole chat | Delete | You. Deleting chats and photos permanently removes them for you |
Archive instead of deleting
Archiving a chat hides it from your inbox until the next time you chat with that person, and you can view or unarchive it at any time. On messenger.com, click Archive in the left menu to see all your archived chats, or search for the person's name. Sending them a new message puts the chat back in your inbox. Just opening it doesn't.
Marketplace does some of this for you. When you mark a listing as sold, everyone who messaged you about it gets a note saying it's sold, and Facebook asks if you want to archive the conversation. If you later mark the item as available again, those Messenger conversations are unarchived. I've covered the rest in my guide to finding archived messages on Messenger.
Cut the messages down before they arrive
If you're deleting chats because a listing is drowning in questions, there's a better fix. Once you've agreed a sale but it isn't final, mark the listing as pending. Facebook sends everyone who has messaged you about it a note saying the item is pending, and new buyers see that it's pending before they can message you. That alone stops most of the repeat questions, and you can switch it back to available if the sale falls through.
If your inbox is full of buyer chats about a car, see finding or selling a car on Facebook.
What deleting doesn't do
A few limits from Facebook's own help page that most people don't know:
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- People may have already seen your message before you deleted it.
- If either of you downloads a copy of your Facebook information with Messages included, you'll both see that messages were deleted in the chat, though not what they said.
- If you think a deleted message you received breaks the Community Standards, you can still report the conversation. Facebook can only review deleted messages if you report them within 14 days of deletion, or within 6 hours in end-to-end encrypted chats.
- Deleting a forwarded post in a chat removes the forwarded message, not the original post.
If your Marketplace messages have vanished and you didn't delete them, that's a different problem. My guide on Facebook Marketplace not showing messages walks through the usual causes.
My advice
Don't delete a Marketplace chat until the sale is finished and you're happy with it. Facebook's scam guidance says to keep your conversations on Facebook or Messenger because a record of the chat helps if there's a problem with the purchase or the payment later, and that record is gone once you delete it. For the time wasters and the twenty "is this available?" messages, archive them. Your inbox gets tidy and you keep the evidence.
This guide is part of my Facebook Help: 80 Guides to Pages, Groups, Ads, Stories and Fixes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I delete Facebook Marketplace messages?
Yes. Marketplace conversations are Messenger chats, so you can delete a message by hovering over it, clicking the menu and choosing Delete, or delete the whole chat.
Does deleting a Marketplace message delete it for the buyer?
Only if it's a message you sent and you choose Delete for everyone. If you choose Delete for you, or delete a message you received, the other person still sees it.
What's the difference between archiving and deleting a Marketplace chat?
Archiving hides the chat until the next time you chat with that person, and you can unarchive it any time. Deleting permanently removes it for you.
Can a deleted Marketplace message still be reported?
Yes. Facebook can review deleted messages if they're reported within 14 days of deletion, or within 6 hours in end-to-end encrypted chats.
