Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Request archived MSN logs
• Method 2 of 2: Search XML files
• Tips
• Warnings

MSN / Windows Live Messenger was discontinued by Microsoft in 2013 and replaced by Skype as their instant messaging communication platform. If you're still using the same hard drive, your old chat messages should be available even if you've upgraded to Skype. The instructions below will show you where to find these old conversations.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Request archived MSN logs

1. Find out if your chat logs still exist. Since chat logs are stored locally in MSN / Windows Live Messenger, you will need the same hard drive on which the programs were installed or where the chat logs were stored. In addition, the function to save the chat conversations had to be enabled in the MSN / Windows Live Messenger application. If you haven't done this before, there won't be any chat logs to recover.
2. Find the chat log folder. When enabling the chat conversation save feature, users could choose the destination folder where the logs were saved. If you had set that manually, that is the folder you should look for. Otherwise the default location is:
   • C: Users username> Documents My Received Files username> History under Windows Vista, 7, or 8.
   • C: Documents and Settings username> My Documents My Received Files username> History under Windows XP.
3. Open the chat file with your favorite web browser. Older MSN / Windows Live Messenger chat logs are stored in an .xml file. This can be read by a web browser. Open the file by right-clicking on it> Open with ... and choose your favorite browser from the list.

Method 2 of 2: Search XML files

1. Try to remember where you kept the chat logs. If you think you've changed the default location for saving the MSN chat logs and you don't remember where that is, all hope is not lost. You can search Windows for the chat files contained in XML files, but this can be a tedious task.
   • Xml (Extensible Markup Language) files are used as a format for text data. Like HTML files, they can be opened in a web browser. However, the format is a bit more flexible with how the data can be applied between applications. They can also be opened with a text editor, but the data will be easier to read with a web browser.
2. Search Windows for XML. Go to Start> Search and enter the search term xml and start searching.
3. Analyze the results. You can get multiple results with XML files, but you can simplify it by looking at the file directory of each displayed result. Look for a file folder where the chat logs may be stored. With luck and persistence, you can find the chat logs you're looking for!

Tips

• If chat logs are important to you, consider keeping the log files on an external hard drive for retrieval at a later time.
• Make sure to activate the chat logs feature in Skype so you can find your old conversations in the future!

Warnings

• If you've formatted your computer or replaced your hard drives, you're out of luck. MSN / Windows Live Messenger does not store chat logs in the cloud.