How to find your oldest social media posts and delete them

We’ve been surviving pinch societal media for a agelong clip now — Facebook opened up to nan nationalist successful 2006 — and that intends a lengthy way of posts stretching backmost done nan years. While this does fto you return a nostalgic travel into nan past pinch conscionable a fewer clicks, it tin besides bring up immoderate embarrassing and awkward memories.

Maybe your Twitter takes from 10 years agone haven’t aged well, aliases there’s an ex-partner you’d alternatively not remember, aliases you’re heading for a occupation question and reply and don’t want your would-be employers to judge who you are now from your decades-old societal media posts.

Whatever nan reason, you tin find and delete ancient societal media posts without excessively overmuch trouble utilizing nan web aliases mobile apps. (They opportunity that thing connected nan net is forever, of course, but you tin do your champion to astatine slightest somewhat shut up your mistakes. Who knows? Maybe your imaginable caller leader ne'er heard of the Wayback Machine.) We’ve included instructions for Facebook, X, and Instagram, arsenic these are nan places wherever you’re astir apt to person posted contented you’ve agelong since forgotten about.

Facebook

Facebook is closing successful connected 20 years of being disposable to anyone pinch an email address, truthful let’s commencement there. If you were astir erstwhile Facebook first arrived, you’ll retrieve individual position updates were overmuch much communal than they are now — group moreover utilized to constitute connected each other’s profiles, MySpace-style.

You tin spell backmost done your posts connected mobile, too.

Don’t retrieve erstwhile you joined Facebook? That’s thing you tin find out, though nan process is simply a small complicated:

On nan web:

On nan mobile app:

If you person a batch of posts to sift through, you tin usage different filters (like month) to constrictive down nan results. If you spot thing you want to get free of, conscionable click nan 3 dots adjacent to it, past click Delete post.

X / Twitter

X, which was antecedently known arsenic Twitter, tin often beryllium a spot for opinions and takes, and it’s imaginable — moreover probable — that immoderate of them person aged amended than others. If you want to spell down representation lane (and assuming you haven’t already deactivated your account), you tin get to your oldest tweets successful a fewer ways, but utilizing nan platform’s built-in hunt motor is nan astir straightforward.

To delete a tweet, click nan 3 dots adjacent to it, past click Delete.

If you don’t retrieve erstwhile you first joined, spell to your Profile; nan day you joined should beryllium beneath your description.

If you want to usage nan mobile app for X instead, you tin usage nan aforesaid hunt position arsenic supra to find your tweets. Just pat nan magnifying solid icon astatine nan bottommost of nan surface to get to nan hunt box.

Instagram

Instagram is only a fewer years down Facebook and X erstwhile it comes to age, appearing successful nationalist for nan first clip successful 2010. That’s a batch of years for photos and videos to build up connected your nationalist feed, moreover if a batch of Instagram activity is focused connected Stories, which automatically disappear.

Here, you’re champion disconnected utilizing nan Instagram app connected mobile:

Your first-ever Instagram posts will past look astatine nan apical of nan screen. If you want to beryllium much circumstantial successful your search, pat nan All dates drop-down menu, which lets you look for Instagram posts wrong a circumstantial day range.

If you spot thing you’d alternatively not person connected your Instagram profile, pat connected nan post, pat nan 3 dots successful nan top-right corner, and past take Delete. The aforesaid paper lets you archive a post, which intends you tin still spot it (and each nan comments and likes), but it’s hidden for everyone else.