How to check Facebook filtered messages and message requests

If you enter giveaways on Facebook, you should be checking your message inbox (or Messenger app) regularly in case you get a winning notification! But it’s not as straightforward as it seems – there are also Message Requests and Spam (Filtered Messages) inboxes to check.

• If you get a Facebook message from a friend (or a page you’ve messaged), it will go into your regular Chats inbox at www.facebook.com/messages
• If a message comes in from someone Facebook thinks you might know, it will go into your Message Requests
• Messages from non-friends, assumed by Facebook to be spam, are sent to your Spam (previously called Filtered) folder 

A Facebook page (company) can only message a fan directly if they have commented on their page – OR they can message if the fan has previously sent a message. Sometimes though, a notification about a giveaway you’ve won will come from a page admin, who has to use their personal account to send that message – and it may well go to your Spam folder!

Find your messages on facebook.com

Go to www.facebook.com and click the speech bubble icon at the top of your browser window to open your main message inbox – it will have Chats at the top. This is also the same format as if you go directly to www.messenger.com

Click the three dots to the right of the Chats heading, and from the drop-down menu select Message Requests.

This will open your Requests inbox. Scroll right down to the end of all your Message Requests and you should see a link to See Spam messages – if you have any!

If you Reply to a message request or a spam (filtered) message, it will move to your main Chats inbox. If you don’t want to respond, you can either leave the message in your inbox, or click I don’t want to hear from…

If you choose this, you can then decide whether to delete conversation or block the sender.

Find your messages using the Messenger app

To find your Message Requests on mobile, open Messenger (if you tap the Chat icon in the Facebook app, it will open Messenger for you too).

You will see a list of your current Chats (your regular inbox). Tap your profile photo at the top of the screen. Then tap Message Requests from the menu.

On the Message requests screen you’ll see messages from people that Facebook thinks you may know. At the top, tap Spam to view your spam inbox. 

Tap the messages in your spam list to view each one – you can delete the message, or block the sender. 

Find your messages using the Messenger app (old version)

Spam messages are harder to find on older versions of Messenger! From your main inbox, tap your profile photo at the top of the screen. Then tap Message Requests from the menu.

Scroll down past all the Requests and you’ll see a Spam icon – this is where your filtered messages are (if you have any!)

If you pick up an old winning message and find you’ve missed the claim date for your prize (or there was no claim date!) don’t despair. Send a polite message back to the promoter explaining that you didn’t know about the Filtered Messages folder – they may be sympathetic!

If it’s a UK promotion you could also point out that the Advertising Standards Authority recommends that only contacting a winner once is NOT sufficient, and more attempts should be made if there’s no response (read more on this here).

Don’t forget to check your message requests on Twitter and Instagram too!

If you found this blog post helpful, why not download my free PDF A Comper’s Guide to Facebook, or watch my Beginners Guide to Facebook on YouTube? I also have a guide on how to unlike multiple Facebook pages quickly, which will help you spring clean your account!

What’s the most exciting message you’ve found in your hidden Facebook folder? Tell me in the comments!