Vanish mode on Messenger: meaning, not working, turn off
Facebook Messenger's Vanish mode allows people to send messages, photos, videos, and other content that disappear after a predetermined amount of time. This article will show you how to send messages in vanish mode on Facebook Messenger.
What does Vanish mode on Facebook Messenger mean?
Vanish mode is a Facebook Messenger mode that allows conversations to disappear after a given period of time or once users have left the conversation after having seen the messages. Once a message has disappeared, it will no longer be visible to either member of the chat.
How to turn on Vanish Mode?
Turning vanish mode on, or off from your chat is easy:
- Firstly go into Messenger, and then Chats
- Select the conversation that you want to use vanish mode with
- On the chat, touch the bottom of the chat and swipe up to turn on vanish mode
Note: If your phone has a swipe up feature to show settings, like with iOS devices, swipe from within the messenger window, and not the absolute bottom of your screen.
How to turn off Vanish mode?
To turn vanish mode off, repeat the same actions as above, or tap the Turn Off Vanish Mode button.
How to see an already vanished message?
Once the message has disappeared you cannot recover it, nor are you able to copy, save or forward a vanishing message before it has disappeared. The only way to save a message is with a screenshot.
How do Vanish mode notifications work?
If you receive a new vanish mode message in a regular chat you will be notified. You can choose to enter vanish mode with them.
If you take a screenshot of a message in Vanish mode the other members of the chat will receive a notification that you have taken a screenshot. Likewise, if another member takes a screenshot of the conversation, you will be notified. This is also the same for screen recordings. Facebook states that they “may not be able to detect all screen recordings or screenshots”.
Be aware. Just because you do not receive a notification that a screenshot has been taken, doesn’t mean that they haven’t taken a photo of their screen with another device. If you are concerned that someone may have taken a screenshot, or photo of your messages, Facebook has a dedicated page in their safety center on what to do if someone shares a photo without your consent.
Is Vanish mode safe?
Try to only use vanish mode messages with people that you trust, because whilst the messages and photos will disappear, it is possible for other members of the chat to take screenshots of any shared content.
Vanish mode messages are end-to-end encrypted. They can only be read by the person that you send the message to.
Which chats can use Vanish mode?
The Facebook Messenger Vanish Mode is not available for all chats. Group chats, voice calls, and video calls are not supported in vanish mode.
People you have not chatted with before cannot send you message requests in vanish mode. Equally, you cannot send someone a vanishing message without first messaging them normally. It is recommended that you do not use vanishing messages with someone that you do not fully trust.
At the moment vanish mode is not available worldwide. If you find that you cannot send a vanish mode message to someone, it may be because this feature is not currently available in their country.