Mistakes are unavoidable. You want to elude them. You want to steer clear of them as much as possible. But despite the strictest precautions and the utmost care, mistakes find a way into your actions like ants do to an open jar of honey. Amid all the mistakes you commit every day, sending the wrong message to a person on Instagram is likely among the most inconsequential ones. Nevertheless, Instagram lets you undo this mistake by allowing you to unsend messages.
While unsending a message takes a few taps so you can erase the message almost as soon as you realize it, there is still a small chance that the person might see it. This might happen if they see the message from the notification panel.
What happens to the message notification once you press the Unsend button? Will the notification get deleted as well, or will the person still see it from the notification bar? Or worse, does the person get notified that you deleted a message?
Read on to discover the answers to these questions and know more about how unsending messages on Instagram works.
How do unsent messages on Instagram work?
Before discussing the answer to your question, it’s important to know how unsending messages work on Instagram.
You are likely already familiar with how deleting messages works on WhatsApp. On WhatsApp, you can opt to delete messages for everyone to delete the message from both ends. Unfortunately– or fortunately for some– deleted messages leave a trace on WhatsApp, and the recipient can easily know that you deleted a message.
Instagram is different in this regard, as unsending messages here leaves no trace. Once you unsend a message, there is no way for anyone to know that such a message existed. You tap and hold the message, hit the Unsend button, and whoop! The message disappears forever.
Now, let’s return to the question.
If you unsend a message, will the person see it from the notification bar?
First of all, let’s be clear, Instagram doesn’t notify anyone when you unsend a message. So, you don’t need to fear notifications or other indications telling the person about the message deletion.
However, when you send a message, Instagram does send a notification to the recipient(s). This notification naturally appears in the notification panel like other notifications. The notification contains the message’s contents, so the recipient can view the message right from the notification panel without opening Instagram.
But here is the good news. When you unsend a message, it also disappears from the recipient’s notification panel! In other words, your message also gets deleted from the user’s notification as well.
Can someone see a message you have unsent?
While it is true that message notification also disappears when you unsend a message, there is no need to get into a celebratory mood yet. There are some catches here and there, and the user may still see the message from the notification panel.
Here are some instances where the user may see the message even after you have unsent it:
There are network issues
Suppose you send the wrong message to the wrong person. Fortunately, you realize the mistake soon and unsend the message. Normally, the message will disappear from the notification panel when you unsend it.
However, network issues with your device’s network, the recipient’s network, or Instagram servers can delay the disappearance of the notification. Therefore, the receiver can see the notification before it disappears.
The recipient’s data is turned off
Network issues can delay the disappearance of the notification. But the absence of a network connection is even worse. You can send the message to the person, and they get the notification.
If for some reason, their internet gets disconnected or they turn off their mobile data before you unsend it, the notification will remain until they connect to the internet again. Therefore, it’s best to unsend a message as soon as possible.
The recipient’s chat screen is open
If you are currently chatting with a person, and they are chatting with you, unsending a message will have to be really quick to make a difference. This is because if their chat screen is open, they will see your message as soon as you send it.
Even if you unsend the message later, they would likely have already seen it, and you can’t do anything about it.
The recipient uses a third-party app to save messages
Several third-party apps help users save their messages as soon as they receive them. These apps have access to an account’s messages and store them automatically. If the recipient uses such apps, they can see your message even after you delete it.
Is there a time limit for unsending Instagram messages?
If you want to know how long Instagram allows you to unsend messages after you have sent them, you’ll be glad to know the answer. There is no time limit for unsending messages on Instagram.
This means you can delete messages for everyone hours, days, or weeks after sending them. In other words, you can unsend messages anytime on Instagram. You can unsend messages even after the recipient has seen the message, though that would not make much sense.
Can unsent Instagram messages be reported?
As mentioned above, messages you unsend on Instagram disappear forever without any trace. Neither the recipient nor you can see or access an unsent message again.
However, this doesn’t mean you can send anything to anyone and get away with it by unsending the message later. While unsending messages might seem an easy way to erase the proof of what you say to others online, there is a catch.
Users can report your conversation to Instagram even if they can’t see your deleted messages. Although none of you can see the message, Instagram surely can. It can review the last 30 days of messages and check for any Community Guidelines violations. Therefore, be sure to stay polite and friendly; it won’t require much effort.
Wrapping it up
Sending the wrong messages to the wrong people at the wrong time can put you in sticky situations. But fortunately, Instagram offers its users a second chance to amend their mistakes by unsending messages. However, what happens to the message notification after unsending a message often intrigues many users.
In the above lines, we discussed that message notifications also disappear along with the messages when you unsend them. But it is still possible to view unsent (deleted) messages. We also discussed how unsend messages work on Instagram and what the limitations of unsending messages are.
If you liked this blog, share it with your friends who have mistakenly sent messages to the wrong recipients. They will thank you for sharing this information, and you can thank us later!
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