How to Find Deleted Tweets on Twitter

To find Deleted tweets on Twitter, the best way is to go to Wayback Machine and enter the URL of the Twitter user.

After entering the URL of the Twitter user, check the dates before the tweet was removed, scroll down, and find the deleted tweet.

You can visit the old version of the website by using a tool known as the Wayback Machine.

If you know the link of a website, type it into the search bar and click on the “Browse History” button.

You can browse the archived version of the site by selecting the date range.

You need to keep in mind that if the Twitter account of that person is private or the account is new one, the Wayback Machine may not have archived their tweets.

Here is a step by step guide to find deleted tweets on Twitter:

#1: Go to Wayback Machine & Open it

The first thing you need to do is to go to Wayback Machine.

Go to Google search engine, search for the terms “Wayback Machine” and click on the first search result.

On the other hand, you can go to the tool on this URL: https://web.archive.org/.

Wayback Machine enables you to see the looks of websites in the past.

For instance, if you want to see what Twitter looked like in 2011, you can search for “Twitter.com” and click on “2011”.

It can also be used to find deleted tweets on Twitter (if the tweet was archived) by using the URL of the user.

However, the Twitter profile should not be private for the tool to work.

#2: Enter the URL/Link of the Twitter user

After opening the Wayback Machine, the next thing is to enter the URL of the Twitter user into the search bar.

For instance, if you want to see Elon Musk’s deleted tweets, you need to copy the link to Elon Musk’s Twitter profile first.

It can be done by going to his profile on Twitter, highlighting the URL, and pressing “CTRL” + “C” on your keyboard to copy it.

After copying the link of the Twitter user (for example, Elon Musk), go back to Wayback Machine and paste it into the search bar.

Here is the link of Elon Musk’s Twitter profile: https://www.twitter.com/elonmusk.

The last part of the URL is always the Twitter username of the person.

After doing so, click on “Browse History” in order to start browsing the archive of that Twitter profile.

Just remember that the Wayback Machine is ideal for famous people on Twitter.

The reason behind it is that the profile of renowned people on Twitter get crawled more often than someone who does not have too many followers.

Having said that, even if the person does not even have 1,000 followers on Twitter, their profile will still be crawled.

#3: Visit the date and time before the tweet was deleted

After clicking on “Browse History”, it will take you to the calendar.

The calendar has multiple colored dots.

Blue indicates that the web server result code the crawler got for the capture was good (2xx).

Green shows that the crawlers obtained a redirect status code (3xx).

Red indicates that the crawler saw a server error (5xx).

A bigger dot tells that there are more snapshots.

Alternatively, a smaller dot shows that there are fewer snapshots.

Now, your task is to click on the estimated date and time before the tweet was removed.

For instance, if the tweet was posted on 10 March, you need to click on the “10 March” dot.

If the tweet was posted at 12 am but was deleted at 1 pm, you need to go to a snapshot after 12 am but before 1 pm.

If you don’t remember the exact date and time that the tweet was posted or deleted, the only thing you can do is to use the trial and error method.

Try guessing when the tweet was posted before it was deleted and select the date and go for it.

#4: Scroll down and find the deleted tweet

After clicking on the estimated date and time before the tweet was removed, it will take you to the person’s Twitter profile.

After doing so, now, click on “Tweets & replies” to see all of the tweets of the person and replies.

You will not be able to see their replies but can see the tweets of the person.

In the end, you have to scroll down and find the deleted tweet.

After selecting the right date and time, you’ll be able to find the deleted tweet.

However, if you did not find the removed tweet, you should choose a different time and date.

If you are not successful, repeat the process.

I’ve managed to find one of Elon Musk’s deleted tweets that compared Trudeau to Hitler with the help of the Wayback Machine.

That tweet attracted a lot of criticism and attention from the media.

After the criticism, Elon Musk realized that the meme was a bit insensitive and removed it from his Twitter account.

Final Words

The phrase, “Once on the internet, always on the internet” is supported by the tools like the Wayback Machine.

Although you can find the deleted Tweets via the Wayback Machine, it’s not sane to cancel someone from a tweet that they posted years ago.

The process is making free speech difficult on social media sites such as Twitter everyone is worried about talking about their opinions even if they are true.

This is the reason why some people try to stay anonymous on Twitter by using a fake name.

If you want to prevent your tweets from archived, you can make your Twitter profile private by going to Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Audience and tagging > Protect your tweets.

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