Instructions To Delete Windows Live Messenger Chat Archive History

Windows Live Messenger, which is a part of Windows Live Essentials, is Microsoft’s latest instant chat application. It was previously known as MSN messenger. Like all Microsoft chat applications, Live Messenger too saves a copy of all your chat conversations on your computer. Since this message history isn’t password-protected, any people who log into Live Messenger on your computer can view this history. If you don’t want others to see your conversation history, you could delete these chat archives to safeguard your privacy. Mentioned below are instructions to delete the chat history from your Windows Live Messenger application. Avail Windows online support, in case you have trouble performing this.

Instructions

• Click on the Windows Start button on your taskbar and then click “My Computer” or “Computer”, depending on the OS version. As the “My Computer” or “Computer” window opens, double-click the “C:\” drive to open it. 
• Locate and open the folder named “Users” to find your user profile folder in it. Double-click your user profile folder to open it. 
• Under this folder, open the “Documents” subfolder and then further open “My Received Files”. 
• Now locate and open your Windows Live Messenger profile folder. You will find the folder for “History” here. This folder will contain the list of archived IM conversations. These conversations will be saved in XML file formats with the IM recipient’s screen name associated with it.
• You may either choose to delete a particular conversation list the selecting the appropriate IM recipient screen name or may deleted the entire conversation history. Select those XML files that you want to dele te and press the “Delete” key on your keyboard. To delete the entire message history, press “Ctrl + A” keys together and the press the “Delete” key. Click “OK” to confirm the deletion.
• This type of deletion will move the files to the “Recycle Bin” folder on your computer desktop. In order to permanently delete the files, you need to delete it from the Recycle Bin folder. Go to the desktop and right-click on “Recycle Bin” folder, and then select the option “Empty Recycle Bin”. When you get the prompt to confirm the deletion, click “Yes”.

This is how you can delete the chat history from Live Messenger. You will find useful tips on Windows Help menu, or you may seek assistance from the Windows online support team to learn more about the various features and options in Windows Live Messenger.