Facebook has undoubtedly etched its name is social media history. Due to the large popularity that Facebook gained for its messaging features, Facebook launched a separate instant messaging app known as Facebook Messenger in late 2011. The Facebook Messenger app is available for both iOS and Android. It supports voice and video calling for up to 8 members. Whenever you install Messenger on your mobile device it stores all of the conversations you have and shared information like videos, audios, and cache in a folder called com.facebook.orca.
But what is this folder? and why is it created by default? and what does it do? Let us discuss more in detail.
Contents
What Is Com.Facebook.Orca?
In order to understand what com.facebook.orca is you’ll need to understand the basics of how Android package names are created. First of all, android package names are written in lower case. Secondly, companies use their Internet domain in reverse when naming their package names. For instance, com.example.mypackage is the name for a package created by a programmer at example.com. 
Hence, in our case, “Orca” is a package developed by the team at facebook.com. But what in the world does the word “orca” have to do with Facebook Messenger? In actuality, ‘Orca’ is the package name for Messenger. A little fun fact: the major reason behind the name was because the developers of the Messenger app were led by the three founders of a company called Beluga. Hence, it’s presumable that they chose the package name Orca to keep the trend of having whale species as names.
Now, the com.facebook.orca folder will be created the instant you install the Messenger app for the first time. It will progressively store all of your details and conversations and you continue to use the app. Hence, it is without question that the file size of the folder will be fairly large. However, the contents in this folder, if not deleted can help you recover your long lost conversations. We’ll show you how to do it.
How To Recover Facebook Messages Using Com.Facebook.Orca Folder
Since the com.facebook.orca folder contains all the essentials files of your messenger chats, we can use it to recover any old or deleted messages. You can access your old message backups either through your phone or through your PC’s File Explorer.
Option #1: Recovery Messages Directly From Your Phone
Before we begin, you’ll a file explorer to browse through your application files on your phone. We recommend using ES File Manager if you don’t have one installed already.
- Download, install, and open the ES File Manager app.
- Go to Storage or SD Card (depending on where you set your storage location)
- Navigate through the following folders: Android > Data > Applications > com.facebook.orca > Cache Folder > fb_temp
- Now copy the file fb_temp to the clipboard (we recommend you paste it in another new folder)
- Delete and reinstall Facebook Messenger.
- Now again, open up ES File Manager and navigate to the Cache Folder Android > Data > Applications > com.facebook.orca > Cache
- Now paste in your copied fb_temp file.
- Start the Messenger app.
Option #2: Recover Messages From Your PC
This method is fairly similar except you’ll be accessing the com.facebook.folder from your PC. Basically you’ll be using the computer’s file explorer instead of a file explorer app on Android.
- Connect your Android device to your PC.
- Open Windows File Explorer click on your mobile device in the My Computer section.
- Navigate through the folders SD card/Internal Storage > Android>data>com.facebook.orca>Cache
- Now copy the fb_temp folder, onto your desktop or anywhere you, please.
- Similarly, on your phone delete and reinstall Facebook Messenger.
- Now on your computer (the Android device is still connected), paste the fb_temp folder back into SD card/Internal Storage > Android>data>com.facebook.orca>Cache
- Start your Messenger app.
How To Fix Com.Facebook.Orca Error?
It’s a common issue amongst users to get an error like this: 
If this happens to you don’t worry. Many people think this is due to some kind of malware or virus, and it definitely isn’t. As mentioned before the com.facebook.orca is simply a folder inside your system that contains all the information for the Messenger app. The major reason as to why this error is caused is because files become corrupted during the installation process. This could be due to network or software issues that occurred during the installation process.
To fix this issue all you have to do is uninstall and re-install the Messenger app. You can also try clearing the Messenger app’s system cache. You can do this by:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll down to App and tap on it to display all of your Android apps.
- Find ‘Messenger’ and click on it.
- Under the app info, click on Storage.
- Now press the ‘Clear cache’ button.
Your com.facebook.orca error should now be solved.
Final Words:
I hope that you have learned the importance behind com.facebook.orca folder and how it can be used to recover your Messenger conversations. We also discussed how you can fix the common error surrounding this folder. If you need any help or guidance with anything related to this topic, please leave it in the comments below.
Cheers!