10 Tips & tricks for Facebook Messenger you probably didn’t know

While plenty of people (myself included) are complaining regarding Facebook Messenger’s battery drain, we still continue to use it right? And for good reason, especially when looking at the plethora of new features Facebook is regularly adding into their Messenger app.

Messenger’s functions extend far beyond the simple chat capability – some of the stuff it provides is simply for entertainment, but plenty of features can be of use to anyone. And with so many updates that just keep coming it’s hard to stay on top of them.

Without further ado, here are some of our favorite (and lesser known) things that can be done in Facebook Messenger. Give them a try and let us know which one’s your favorite!

1. Send pictures of random cute animals

1 - Facebook Messenger random cuteness

Who doesn’t love to see some super cute pets? No need to search for a pic yourself, just type @dailycute and send it in a chat thread and Messenger will serve both of you a photo of an adorable animal.

2. Play Chess

2 - Facebook Messenger Chess

The conversation is too boring or you ran out of subjects to talk about? Facebook Messenger lets you play Chess right in the chat window. Just type @fbchess play and hit the Send button to get started.

21 - Facebook Messenger Chess

3. Get third-party apps for Messenger

Tap on the three dots icon located above the message input field and you’ll be presented with a list of various third-party apps you can integrate with Messenger. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to expand it. By installing these apps, you’ll be able to access and share their content right inside the Messenger app, making conversations much more fun and/or interesting!

4. Delete chat history

4 - Facebook Messenger erase conversation history

Head over to your phone’s Settings and in the Applications Management or Settings menu select Facebook Messenger to open it’s App Info screen. If you use the ‘Clear Data’ and ‘Clear Cache’ options, they will delete Messenger’s chat and conversation history. And if you log out before using these options, they will erase every bit of personal information from the app – it will be just like it was freshly installed on your device.

5. Change the chat colors

Messenger lets you easily customize the colors for each conversation thread. Simply tap on the info button (‘i’) in the upper-right corner of the chat and select ‘Color’ on the following screen. Then, you’ll be able to pick another color for the conversation from the existing palette, which offers a decent amount of choices.

6. Change the conversation’s default emoji

If you have a certain emoji you really like and find it appropriate for a specific conversation, you can set it as default by tapping on the info button at the top of the chat window, and selecting the ‘Emoji’ option.

Then you can choose an emoji you like from the list and from then on you will find it right below the three dot icon that opens up the list of third-party apps you can install in Messenger.

7. Delete a conversation

To delete a specific conversation tap on the Info button found in the upper -right corner of the chat screen and in the Details menu, tap on the three dots icon. Select ‘Delete conversation’ from the pop-up menu and you’re done.

8. Mute specific conversations

Regardless if it’s a group chat or a private conversation, when it becomes distracting or annoying you can quickly mute its notifications. To do that, head over to Messenger’s history view, tap and hold on the conversation you want to mute and select the ‘Mute notifications’ option. Then you can choose for how long you want to silence its notifications. As you can see in the image above, you have a bunch of options – you can even mute the chat for an indefinite period of time and manually turn the notifications back on when you need it.

9. Manage message requests

When a Facebook user that’s not your friend sends you a message, Messenger (or Facebook) won’t show it in your messages inbox. While this might sound silly, it’s an anti-spam feature, to ensure no one outside your friends can just go ahead and send you whatever they want.

Nevertheless, if you ever receive such a message (or just want to see if you have some), tap on the cog icon to open Messenger’s Settings menu and select People, then Message Requests. Our screenshot has nothing to show for since we didn’t have any, but yours might.

10. Sign in with an additional account

In case you didn’t know, Messenger comes with multi-account support, meaning you can stay logged in on two or more Facebook accounts at the same time. This can be extremely useful for both office and personal use.

To add another account in Messenger, tap on the Cog icon to open its Settings and select Accounts. Then, all you have left to do is enter the credentials, optionally disable the password prompt when switching to the account you’re just about to add and tap on ‘Add’.

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