Manage the Bin folder in Google Messages

Use the Bin folder in Google Messages for better control of your conversation history. To prevent unintended data loss, you can retrieve deleted messages from the Bin folder within 30 days.

Move conversations to the Bin folder

Important: After you've deleted a conversation from the Bin folder, you can't restore it.

You can move a single or multiple conversations to the Bin folder through the swipe action or when you touch and hold a message.

Through a swipe action

Before you can move a conversation to the Bin folder through a swipe action, you need to set it up.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap your profile picture or More Messages settings Swipe actions.
3. Next to 'Swipe right' or 'Swipe left', tap Customise.
4. From the options, select Bin.

Once the swipe action is set up, you can move a conversation to the Bin folder when you swipe right or left on a message.

Through the conversation

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Touch and hold a conversation.
   • You can select two or more conversations.
3. At the top, tap Bin Move to bin.

Tips:

• To check the days remaining before a binned conversation is permanently deleted, at the top right, tap your profile picture or More Bin.
• Each conversation in the Bin folder displays a counter. This indicates the number of days remaining before it'll be permanently deleted.

Restore and delete conversations from the Bin folder

Important:

• You can restore or delete all chat conversations at once, but delete with caution.
• You can't recover messages that you delete permanently from the Bin folder, whether done on purpose or accidentally.

Restore a single or multiple conversations

Important: You have 30 days to restore a conversation before Google Messages permanently deletes it.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap your profile picture or More Bin.
3. Touch and hold the conversation that you want to restore.
4. At the top, tap Restore .
   • To restore multiple chats, before you tap Restore , touch and hold the conversations that you want to restore.

Tip: To find the messages in a binned conversation, you must first restore the conversation.

Restore all conversations

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap your profile picture or More Bin.
3. To restore all chat conversations, tap Restore without touching and holding any of the individual chats in the Bin folder.

Permanently delete a single or multiple conversations

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap your profile picture or More Bin.
3. Touch and hold the conversation that you want to delete.
4. At the top, tap Bin Delete.
   • To permanently delete multiple chats, before you tap Bin , touch and hold the conversations that you want to permanently delete.

Permanently delete all conversations

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap your profile picture or More Bin.
   • Do not select any conversation.
3. At the top, tap Bin .
4. Tap Delete.

Tip: If you receive a new message in a conversation that's currently binned, you can find the message as a new conversation in your inbox.

Related resources

• Archive, delete and read conversations in Google Messages
• Star messages and pin conversations