How to turn it on
Google Pixel and most Android phones
- Open Settings.
- Tap Notifications.
- Tap Notification history and turn on Use notification history.
If you can't find it, search "notification history" in the Settings search bar. Menus differ a bit by brand.
Samsung Galaxy
- Open Settings.
- Tap Notifications, then Advanced settings.
- Tap Notification history and turn it on.
How to read a deleted message
- When you see "This message was deleted", don't swipe the notification away. It doesn't matter if you do, but it's quicker to find it in the history.
- Go back to Settings, Notifications, Notification history.
- Find WhatsApp or Instagram in the list and tap it to expand. The message text is there.
Limits
- About 24 hours. Older notifications are dropped.
- Only after you turn it on. It can't show messages from before.
- Muted chats are missed. No notification, no history.
- Open chat, no notification. If you had the chat open when the message came in, there was nothing to log.
- Text only. You'll see "Photo" or "Voice message", not the photo or the recording.
- Long messages are cut off.
- Several messages at once can be grouped into one summary notification, and some text may not show.
- Not on iPhone. iOS has no notification history.
Want more than that?
Notification history is a good free option on Android. If you also use WhatsApp or Instagram on a Windows PC, MsgSaver covers what it misses: muted chats, photos, voice notes, edited messages, and more than 24 hours. It only works on the PC, and only for messages that arrive after you set it up.