Do you keep any old voicemails, texts, and photos from past relationships, even if they’re painful to see/hear? If so, for how long? If not, why not?
February 22, 2026
Do you keep any old voicemails, texts, and photos from past relationships, even if they’re painful to see/hear? If so, for how long? If not, why not?
31 comments
I kept the last VM from my mom after she passed for years…… even listened to it every once in a while…..
I keep a text from an ex friend to remind me how much of a bad person she is. I get sentimental sometimes and miss her until I’m smacked in the face with her vile text
First I put the chat in archives so it’s less visible, then at some point when I feel strong I will delete the number, and as time goes by I delete the entire chat.
I do keep pictures. As a matter of fact, I’ve been into making picture albums recently and decided to make one of a lovely trip I made with my ex almost 5 years ago. I don’t use the couply ones, but I will not cut them out either. They were part of that journey.
I never had voicemails and never listen to them anyway, so that’s not an issue.
Edit: I distance myself from the chat to move on. I keep the pictures because the memories, even the painful ones, are dear to me.
I don’t really delete photos of people from my past. They’re memories of events that still happen and looking at photos makes the memory stay clearer. Even if it was someone painful, the experience taught me lessons and remembering those lessons is valuable to me. It also helps me “look through the eyes” of the person I used to be, and tune in to how I was thinking during that time.
I don’t stare at old photos and suffer though, I just let myself remember whenever I encounter them in my camera roll and then move on.
I have a voicemail from my grandmother telling me happy birthday and she loves me, shes passed now. I have it saved. Otherwise I don’t keep anything else like from ex boyfriends saved.
I have a collection of texts from my mother just before we cut her off nearly a decade ago now. If you really want to know, I still have the screenshots.
I rellay hope that I can keep the last VM from my grandma forever. Rip oda, you are missed so much
ironically, i just found pics with my ex about an hour ago, we’ve been separated 4 years.
it hurts a bit bc we were absolute goals for a long time and i dont know my adult life without them. but also i am over us and happy for them to have moved on with someone new while i can finally put myself first.
I still have the voice memo I recorded from when I confronted my ex for cheating in MY apartment.
No, it made me feel better to delete everything to feel like i was having a fresh start and I didn’t see the purpose of keeping anything anyway
Thank you for your input
I’ve only kept messages from one person. From about 2 years ago. They’re incredibly painful to read when ive accidentally gone on to them, literally feel my heart breaking all over again but equally I can’t bring myself to delete them because that’d be my last connection with them gone.
Nope! The only thing I keep is texts and voicemails from my mom that’s passed.
No. I have no reason to.
Photos yes, some. Letters yes because they are sentimental and reference history. Text nope. Voicemails nope. I’m a millennial…the number of times my phone changed between 2002 and now? There’s no way I could have kept all that. And probably for the better. I have journals from my time with them. Ironically having read some of them recently, my emotions have been pretty repetitive over the years. Different details, but mostly same feelings, new people. The turning point was the longevity and depth with my now spouse. We’ve been through some shit, but it’s made us so strong.
I keep photos etc for a bit but eventually do a purge. It’s a step in the letting go process.
I don’t have any VMs or videos of my ex. Of course, we broke up like 20 years ago, pre smart phone, so I wasn’t taking videos of anything. I do have photos but I don’t go looking at them for no reason. They exist in my box with all my printed photos. I am not one to toss that kind of stuff. I’ve been with my husband 17 years, so that was my last ex. I do have some film from that period of my life that I am afraid to develop…I probably should do that before it can’t be developed anymore. It might be painful to see photos of some friends that are no longer in my life. I have videos of my cat that passed, sometimes I look at those. I miss her.
I kept a VM from my mom who passed in 2017. I deleted it by mistake and was devastated but I still have so many memories of her that can’t be deleted.
I have a teddy bear that I haven’t taken out of the bin it’s stored in. It has a personal recording from my ex. I probably won’t ever listen to it. He and I stayed friends and he is married now. I don’t think I can throw it out, but it’s not because of anything more than how much I respect what we were. He was my longest relationship and I learned so much about myself since our split.
No. All of my past relationships I grieved before exiting, so I already came to terms with it and didn’t have a need to keep anything.
I’ve kept from one to remind myself what an idiot I was to fall for his bullshit, the evidence of which is also in the text messages.
I do. Not because I miss the person, but because I miss the time period. It was just a simpler time, the world was happier and more peaceful and you could hear it in people’s voices.
Exes no, don’t care to keep them but from immediate family, yes dont delete them.
[removed]
Yes, i keep them because there were good times and bad. I don’t visit them very often, but i know one day they won’t hurt anymore. Then i can let them go. Until then, sometimes i want to see the happier times. But mostly so I can remember that it wasn’t me imagining these things.
I keep Photos. I don’t like erasing my history
Nope, it’s all gone. I live in the now, don’t need reminders of something negative.
I delete and move on. I get too sad and nostalgic otherwise.
Nope, they are all gone. I love the auto delete option in apps like Whatsapp. Old messages is just clutter and noise to me.
I keep photos but delete everything else right away or move it to a place I won’t see it regularly
Hurts more but faster healing. Cut it off.
I have kept a photo of my ex husband and I from my first wedding. On the bad I have written ‘never again’. It is a reminder to stay true to myself.
I have now married the woman of my dreams who I believe is my soul mate.
31 comments
I kept the last VM from my mom after she passed for years…… even listened to it every once in a while…..
I keep a text from an ex friend to remind me how much of a bad person she is. I get sentimental sometimes and miss her until I’m smacked in the face with her vile text
First I put the chat in archives so it’s less visible, then at some point when I feel strong I will delete the number, and as time goes by I delete the entire chat.
I do keep pictures. As a matter of fact, I’ve been into making picture albums recently and decided to make one of a lovely trip I made with my ex almost 5 years ago. I don’t use the couply ones, but I will not cut them out either. They were part of that journey.
I never had voicemails and never listen to them anyway, so that’s not an issue.
Edit: I distance myself from the chat to move on. I keep the pictures because the memories, even the painful ones, are dear to me.
I don’t really delete photos of people from my past. They’re memories of events that still happen and looking at photos makes the memory stay clearer. Even if it was someone painful, the experience taught me lessons and remembering those lessons is valuable to me. It also helps me “look through the eyes” of the person I used to be, and tune in to how I was thinking during that time.
I don’t stare at old photos and suffer though, I just let myself remember whenever I encounter them in my camera roll and then move on.
I have a voicemail from my grandmother telling me happy birthday and she loves me, shes passed now. I have it saved. Otherwise I don’t keep anything else like from ex boyfriends saved.
I have a collection of texts from my mother just before we cut her off nearly a decade ago now. If you really want to know, I still have the screenshots.
I rellay hope that I can keep the last VM from my grandma forever. Rip oda, you are missed so much
ironically, i just found pics with my ex about an hour ago, we’ve been separated 4 years.
it hurts a bit bc we were absolute goals for a long time and i dont know my adult life without them. but also i am over us and happy for them to have moved on with someone new while i can finally put myself first.
I still have the voice memo I recorded from when I confronted my ex for cheating in MY apartment.
No, it made me feel better to delete everything to feel like i was having a fresh start and I didn’t see the purpose of keeping anything anyway
Thank you for your input
I’ve only kept messages from one person. From about 2 years ago. They’re incredibly painful to read when ive accidentally gone on to them, literally feel my heart breaking all over again but equally I can’t bring myself to delete them because that’d be my last connection with them gone.
Nope! The only thing I keep is texts and voicemails from my mom that’s passed.
No. I have no reason to.
Photos yes, some. Letters yes because they are sentimental and reference history. Text nope. Voicemails nope. I’m a millennial…the number of times my phone changed between 2002 and now? There’s no way I could have kept all that. And probably for the better. I have journals from my time with them. Ironically having read some of them recently, my emotions have been pretty repetitive over the years. Different details, but mostly same feelings, new people. The turning point was the longevity and depth with my now spouse. We’ve been through some shit, but it’s made us so strong.
I keep photos etc for a bit but eventually do a purge. It’s a step in the letting go process.
I don’t have any VMs or videos of my ex. Of course, we broke up like 20 years ago, pre smart phone, so I wasn’t taking videos of anything. I do have photos but I don’t go looking at them for no reason. They exist in my box with all my printed photos. I am not one to toss that kind of stuff. I’ve been with my husband 17 years, so that was my last ex. I do have some film from that period of my life that I am afraid to develop…I probably should do that before it can’t be developed anymore. It might be painful to see photos of some friends that are no longer in my life. I have videos of my cat that passed, sometimes I look at those. I miss her.
I kept a VM from my mom who passed in 2017. I deleted it by mistake and was devastated but I still have so many memories of her that can’t be deleted.
I have a teddy bear that I haven’t taken out of the bin it’s stored in. It has a personal recording from my ex. I probably won’t ever listen to it. He and I stayed friends and he is married now. I don’t think I can throw it out, but it’s not because of anything more than how much I respect what we were. He was my longest relationship and I learned so much about myself since our split.
No. All of my past relationships I grieved before exiting, so I already came to terms with it and didn’t have a need to keep anything.
I’ve kept from one to remind myself what an idiot I was to fall for his bullshit, the evidence of which is also in the text messages.
I do. Not because I miss the person, but because I miss the time period. It was just a simpler time, the world was happier and more peaceful and you could hear it in people’s voices.
Exes no, don’t care to keep them but from immediate family, yes dont delete them.
[removed]
Yes, i keep them because there were good times and bad. I don’t visit them very often, but i know one day they won’t hurt anymore. Then i can let them go. Until then, sometimes i want to see the happier times. But mostly so I can remember that it wasn’t me imagining these things.
I keep Photos. I don’t like erasing my history
Nope, it’s all gone. I live in the now, don’t need reminders of something negative.
I delete and move on. I get too sad and nostalgic otherwise.
Nope, they are all gone. I love the auto delete option in apps like Whatsapp. Old messages is just clutter and noise to me.
I keep photos but delete everything else right away or move it to a place I won’t see it regularly
Hurts more but faster healing. Cut it off.
I have kept a photo of my ex husband and I from my first wedding. On the bad I have written ‘never again’. It is a reminder to stay true to myself.
I have now married the woman of my dreams who I believe is my soul mate.