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Your Facebook post has been deleted: how to recover it

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Some people claim that it's impossible to recover a post deleted from Facebook. Which is actually not true: the result depends on a specific situation.

In this article we're going to talk about all possible cases. Among them you're likely to find a solution to help you to recover a post deleted from the wall of your profile. If these methods are of no use, don't hesitate sending us your questions via the contact form.

Table of Contents

Here is Facebook official statement: there is no way you can recover a post

Relying on the official answer, it's impossible to recover a post after it's been accidentally removed. However, we should also quote Facebook Support Team (the source):

What happens to the content (posts or photos) deleted from Facebook?

When any information posted by a user is deleted from Facebook, we also remove it from our website. Some part of this information is deleted from our servers, but another part of it can be erased only after the account (from which it has been posted) is deactivated.

After checking out the Facebook help, we can conclude that:

  1. If your account has been (accidentally) permanently deleted, you won't be able to retrieve the data (such as personal information, photos, videos and correspondence).
  2. If you delete posts made by a running FB account, there is no way you can't undelete them either.
  3. Only if you deactivate your account and then activate it again, all the posts and other data published from it will be recovered.

But is the real state of things really as hopeless as it's described in the cases number 1 and 2? Let's take a closer look at them.

Quora users offer to recover accidentally deleted posts from Facebook

Quora is a great resource where you can find answers to a lot of technical questions. Here is a shot summary of its users' suggestions on how you recover a Facebook post:

Method 1:

  1. Sign in to your account using the email address linked to it.
  2. Via the "Notification" tab, check if there are any quotes from your deleted posts which have been published on your wall before.

In fact, this is the way of how sometimes you can find the text of accidentally deleted posts.

Method 2 (can also be used for creating backups):

1. Go to Facebook settings (the "Settings" button in the right corner).

2. Find the option for downloading your data from Facebook: Your Facebook Information – Download Your Information.

3. In "Your Information" specify the types of data you want to create back up copies of

4. Click "Create File" in order to create a copy of the selected data.

5. In order to create an archive press "Request My Download".

6. After an archive is created you'll receive a notification with a link by email.

7. Follow this link in order to get access to the history of your account

8. Among the downloaded data, try finding deleted posts and other data you want to recover.  

Moreover, in the "Available Copies" tab all previously created backups are stored. If there any of them, you can recover all the information you've downloaded when a copy of your Facebook profile data was created.

Are there any programs for retrieving Facebook posts?

No.

We would like to warn you against using any recovery-apps for both PC and mobile phones during the recovery of Facebook posts. All of them are designed for recovering data directly from the memory of a mobile phone and such media storage devices as SD cards and hard drives.

All the information you need is stored on Facebook servers and actually no recovery software is able to reach them.

Nevertheless, some dishonest software developers strongly recommend using their products, although they completely understand that they deceive their users by forcing them to pay money for non-existent features.

Don't get fooled by such offers and instead give a try to all the other existing recovery methods except of this one.

How to delete a FB post in order to quickly recover it afterwards

An amazing option is to hide it from your timeline. Thus your posts will be unavailable for other users and you can return them at any time.

  1. Go to your profile page with all your Facebook posts displayed.
  2. Click on the "Manage posts" button.
  3. Check the post(s) you want to delete from your timeline.
  4. Press "Next" and in the "Manage Posts" window select the "Hide posts" option.
  5. Press "Done" in order to confirm the action.

It's pretty easy to retrieve a post to the wall in the same way (via the management of posts). This post will be recovered without any changes: with the same date, comments, content and text.

How to avoid accidental deletion of FB posts

Method 1. See above how to download your data from Facebook via the main settings of your profile.

Method 2. When deleting an important Facebook post, copy its contents to a text editor. Of course, it makes no sense to perform it to every post from your Facebook and anyway it's better to create a backup taking into account that one day you may need any information you delete (for example, phones numbers, any figures, contacts, etc.).

Method 3. Alternatively, take screenshots of the posts of particular value and comments to them. By the way, you can do the same with other people's posts. In case any disputes or conflicts arise a screenshot can be used as a great argument.

Vlad Brown, USA, Buffalo, WY

Vlad is a professional writer. He has expert knowledge in data recovery with 15 years of experience. He started his career as a journalist by reviewing PC and mobile apps. His current responsibilities are to keep track of users' questions and answer them. 

His current responsibilities are to keep track of users' questions and provide answers to them, write proven manuals, be the website technical support and also run a Youtube channel.

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