How do I retrieve deleted messages from Signal?

Is there a Web version of Signal?

There's a good article on Signal over at Ars Technica that points out some of the Web-oriented features that Signal is making available.

It mentions the ability to download your messages for offline reading, as well as the ability to send a copy of your conversation to other devices if you lose your Internet connection. For a free app with those features, that's pretty darn useful! However, there's no version of Signal for the browser. What if you don't have Signal installed on your phone but still want access to these features?

Signal desktop. Luckily, Signal Desktop works like a charm in a Chrome browser. Just head over to and launch the extension. Once it's installed, open up a new tab in your browser, go to the website, and sign in. You should be redirected to your desktop web version of Signal! If you have the desktop version installed on your phone (or Android device), you can send and receive files using the desktop. This is done by first switching to desktop view, then selecting File Send File.

You can also send messages in your desktop version of Signal. Just go to the main screen and select Messages Send. On the next screen, you'll see an option to use the desktop web app.

I wouldn't consider this a full replacement for Signal as a mobile app, but it's nice to have desktop access to some of the same functionality as I do on my phone.

Can I use Signal on 2 phones with the same number?

If I get a new signal from Verizon and I have 2 smartphones with the same number, can I use Signal on both devices with my existing number?

If yes, how can I make it happen? It seems that Signal Mobile is compatible with multiple devices for now. As long as you provide the same phone number you can use Signal on the device. For instance, I have 2 iPhones with "12345678" active. However, if you buy an iPhone 6 and switch to "123467890", it will say it only supports one phone per phone number. But once you try to set a call to the old number "12345678" it will detect your iOS and allow you to switch between devices.

This happened even when both devices are using the same SIM cards. I am just using Signal for testing purpose to answer questions like "can I use Signal on multiple phones? The only way I found is to unblock "12345678" in your iPhone. It says "Unlock your iPhone" but is actually the old phone number.

This is also reflected on the Android version of Signal, but they may just use a different database than on the iPhone.

How do I retrieve deleted messages from Signal?

I'm using the desktop client and the Android app.

I have messages in my desktop client which are gone when I exit the app. How do I retrieve them? Signal does not provide any way to retrieve deleted messages. You can only retrieve messages you've sent yourself.

However, there are several third-party apps that work like a file browser, allowing you to browse your Signal mailbox. You could also use Google Drive or another cloud storage service to store your Signal messages.