Can You Unsend or Delete a Message on Badoo

No. Badoo does not let you delete or unsend a message after you have sent it, and you cannot delete a specific message you have received either. If a message someone sent you breaks the guidelines, tap Report under that message.

Everything you send on Badoo is final. There is no unsend button, no edit, and no way to remove a single line from a conversation.

It works the same in reverse. If a woman sends you something, you cannot delete that one message from your side. What you can do is report it. If a message breaks Badoo's guidelines, tap Report under it.

So the only control you really have is before you tap send.

a dating coach does not polish his openers for long. They usually go out within a minute of him reading her page. Fast is good. Most men overthink openers, and a message that sits in drafts for an hour rarely gets better.

But fast does not mean careless. Before you send, read the message once, the way she will read it. Check three things.

• Her name. Getting it wrong is the classic regret, especially when you are talking to several women at once.
• The tone. A tease that sounds playful in your head can read as rude on a screen. If it could land either way, soften it.
• The length. If it runs past a couple of lines, cut it.

That takes five seconds and saves you most of the messages you would want back.

If you are replying to several women in one sitting, open each chat fresh and reread her last message before you type. Working from memory across three conversations at once is exactly when the wrong name slips out.

What to do depends on what went wrong.

A typo. Leave it. Nobody cares, and correcting it draws more attention to it than the typo did.

The wrong name, or something obviously meant for someone else. Own it once, lightly, and move on. A short line with a bit of humor works better than a long apology.

Something that came out harsher or cruder than you meant. One short, calm message is enough. Say you worded it badly, then say something normal. Do not write a paragraph explaining yourself.

In every case, send one message at most. My view is that each text you send adds a touch of neediness. Three apologies in a row turn a small slip into a much bigger one.

The message you are staring at at midnight usually matters far less to her than it does to you. She is talking to other people and busy with her life, and one awkward line rarely ends a conversation that was going well.

If the conversation was good before the slip, leave it with her and let her answer. If she replies normally, carry on as if nothing happened. If she does not reply, the slip was probably not the only reason, and chasing it with more messages will not fix it.

The most common message men wish they could take back is not a typo. It is the one that went too far, too soon.

coach has pointed out that a stranger who gets forward too quickly worries women, and sexual comments worry them most. Finding him attractive does not cancel that out. On Badoo, a line like that stays in the chat for good. Keep the early messages light, specific and a little playful, and save anything bolder for when you have met and there is real chemistry.

Sometimes the message you wish you could delete is one someone sent you. It might be abusive, explicit when you did not ask, or trying to sell you something.

You cannot delete it from the conversation. What you can do is tap Report under that message. Do that rather than arguing with the sender. A heated reply gets you nothing, and it leaves your own words sitting in a chat you cannot clean up either.

After you report it, put your attention back on the women who are worth talking to. One bad message says nothing about the app or about you.

The best protection against a message you cannot delete is a conversation that moves quickly to a plan.

coach keeps app conversations short on purpose. Once there is some fun going, he suggests moving to a number, and none of his messages are there just to fill space. Short conversations with a clear direction leave very little room for the kind of line you would want to unsend.