Category — Internet Tips

Here is the new code I have got working for automatically deleting multiple Facebook messages from the Facebook message inbox.

Please note you have to do the following to make it work with your own set up: -

1. Check the ‘Version Build’ Number matches that of your iMacro version
2. Make sure your Facebook is set to use https (secure browsing setting)
3. Re-run if it hits a fault that it does not get past – this has happened to me however it is not so often and makes the deleting of messages much easier than the multi click per message option
4. Don’t forget to archive any messages you want to keep – you’ll have to do this manually to be able to choose what to keep of course!
5. You’ll need the iMacros add-on for Firefox to use this script..

iMacros plugin for Firefox can be found through a link on this page

FYI: Whilst you may delete your messages from private messages and chats, if the other person in the conversation does not delete theirs Facebook still has a copy.

You will notice that there are 5 sections to the code, one for each vowel so that it picks up the link to each friends name to know the message to click. Facebook uses the full message ID which will not allow multiple deletes. Loop the iMacro to delete more than five messages.

If anyone can tell me why Facebook does not allow us to turn off chat recording or have a delete all messages option I would love to now!

The code that is currently working for me is below. I just tested it by copying and pasting it into a new iMacro within Firefox and saving under a new name and it is working well.

If you like the code and it is working for you, please share or link to this page, thank you.

VERSION BUILD=7300701 RECORDER=FX
TAB T=1
URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/messages/
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*a*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=A ATTR=TXT:Actions
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>Messages…
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>All
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*e*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=A ATTR=TXT:Actions
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>Messages…
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>All
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*i*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=A ATTR=TXT:Actions
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>Messages…
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>All
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*o*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=A ATTR=TXT:Actions
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>Messages…
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>All
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*u*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=A ATTR=TXT:Actions
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>Messages…
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>All
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation

If you want to clean posts from your Facebook wall you can avoid the tedious process of several clicks for each post to be deleted.

Go to the Facebook Wall Cleaner page and drag the link to your bookmarks or bookmark toolbar.
Then go to your Facebook profile page and click on the bookmark.
Select the number of posts to keep (delete up until) leaving your most recent posts in place.

After the recent change / update to the Tor Project the Windows package the Tor Button for Firefox no longer works by default. I like to use the Tor Button in Firefox instead of the Tor Browser (currently Aurora, designed by Mozilla) for instances when I wish to view using add-ons such as Flash Player for videos or access my main set of bookmarks already stored within Firefox.

After searching around for a while and testing different options I found that it is necessary to make an option change to get the Firefox Tor Button working again.

1. Go to your extensions list to find the Tor Button options

2. Choose the first tab ‘Proxy Settings’

3. Untick ‘use Polipo’

Your Tor Button should now work within Firefox as with previous versions of the Tor Bundle for Windows.

Here is the iMacro code that worked pretty quickly for deleting all my archived Facebook messages and chats. Just copy and paste the code below into an iMacro file and save with your preferred name. Then (whilst logged into Facebook) double click the file in iMacros to run the script.

Firstly if you do not have it the iMacros plugin for Firefox can be found through a link on this page
Then add the following code into an iMacro file (.iim) and save with a new name. Please check the build number in one of your exisiting sample iMacro files as if you have a different build you may have to change this.

Please note the code below no longer works due to Facebook making changes to their code. New code is here .. Delete Facebook Messages From Inbox

Code edited to overcome more Facebook changes on 29/06/2011

VERSION BUILD=7220523 RECORDER=FX
URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=inbox&query=is%3Aarchived
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*a*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES

TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Actions
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>messages…
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>all
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation

URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=inbox&query=is%3Aarchived
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*e*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES

TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Actions
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>messages…
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>all
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation

URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=inbox&query=is%3Aarchived
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*i*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES

TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Actions
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>messages…
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>all
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation

URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=inbox&query=is%3Aarchived
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*o*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES

TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Actions
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>messages…
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>all
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation

URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=inbox&query=is%3Aarchived
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES
TAG POS=1 TYPE=STRONG ATTR=TXT:*u*
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES

TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Actions
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>messages…
TAG POS=1 TYPE=SPAN ATTR=TXT:Delete<SP>all
WAIT SECONDS=1
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:BUTTON ATTR=NAME:delete&&VALUE:Delete<SP>conversation

URL GOTO=https://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=inbox&query=is%3Aarchived
WAIT SECONDS=1
SET !ERRORIGNORE YES

Code edited to overcome more Facebook changes on 29/06/2011

The steps then required are: -
Go to Messages Inbox
Move individual messages to archive folder by pressing the ‘x’ on the right hand side (It is very fast and easy to go through your messages with one click for each)
Go to Messages Archived Folder
Run iMacro script file

Back to ‘Delete Facebook Messages‘

If you’ve made it here you have probably been searching for a method to delete all your stored messages in Facebook now that they have decided by default to keep a copy of all your messages and chats. Facebook has not only failed to offer an option not to keep a copy of these messages or an easy method to delete them for some reason they feel it is for them to choose to store a copy on their servers and make it hard remove them.

Please note the code below no longer works due to Facebook making changes to their code. New code is here .. Delete Facebook Messages From Inbox

In my personal effort to remove as much data from Facebook as possible (after listening to the Julian Assage interview about Facebook’s links to and access given to US government departments) I decided to delete all my old messages. Whilst I have nothing to hide, it begs the question why do they need open access to all our personal data?

More background information here

Having used iMacros before to delete all my old wall posts I decided this would be a suitable method. I hit a stumbling block pretty early on however we managed to find a workaround that really works.

The problem was Facebook has all the links for opening each archived message as unique links to be clicked. The iMacro would not initially handle these automatically as (after recording the sequence in iMacros) it goes back to look for the previous deleted link. We got around this by sending the iMacros script to look for the next vowel within a link. With some more editing of the code we now have (until Facebook changes everything again) a working script to use in iMacros that automatically deletes all your archived messages. It runs in a cycle deleting the messages one at a time so it is easy to stop the deletions at any time.

To be sure not to delete any messages you wish to keep, ensure you have your messages you wish to retain in either your ‘inbox’ or ‘other’ folder within the messages area.

Get the code here.. Delete Facebook Messages using iMacro

The steps then required are: -
Go to Messages Inbox
Move individual messages to archive folder by pressing the ‘x’ on the right hand side (It is very fast and easy to go through your messages with one click for each)
Go to Messages Archived Folder
Run iMacro script

If you regularly perform the same tasks daily or several times each day in your web browser there is an option to automate these tasks. Whether it be filling out the same logins or forms each visit to testing a working website for errors iMacros for Firefox is a very useful tool.

iMacros have a record facility so no need to be able to write code, you just set to record, use the webpage as you wish to and then when finished stop the recording. now to save your file ready to use later.

Here is the link to the iMacros plug in for Firefox

We first started using a similar plug in for testing some of our websites ‘Selenium’ is a great tool for this. More recently we wanted to delete four years of wall posts from Facebook and found iMacros.