13 Shocking Things People Found on Their Partner’s Gadgets That They Weren’t Ready For

They thought they knew everything about their partner—until they stumbled upon something on their gadget that completely changed their perspective. From unexpected confessions to jaw-dropping secrets, these real-life discoveries are sure to make you rethink what’s really going on behind closed screens.

• Left her laptop open, and I saw a folder called “secret stuff.” Momentary panic followed, and I couldn’t help myself. It was literally just thousands of pictures of our dogs 😂😂 © Tech_Noir_1984 / Reddit

• Proof that she was cheating. Took a video with my own phone of all the proof. Then I confronted her. I told her I knew she was cheating, but didn’t tell her how.
  She confessed to cheating with an entirely different person than what I had proof of. Wild times. © discountb******b / Reddit

• His messenger chats with my mom. He joked with my mom a lot and would always ask about me, what I was like as a kid, why I am so full of energy, and how to take care of me. My mom had cancer and passed away in 2023, but their last messages to each other were him assuring her he’d take care of me the way she wanted to. © Chispiken / Reddit

• She left a Facebook Messenger conversation between her and her friend open on her computer. It was her complaining about how much time I spent at her apartment and that I was smothering her by always being around. I was surprised by this, as she’d have a breakdown and accuse me of abandoning her when I’d leave to stay at my own place for a few days. © spookycamphero / Reddit

• There was a photo album of nothing but pictures of me and our son titled “My Perfect Men.” There were pictures in there I didn’t even know about—him helping me wash my car, us lying on the couch, him teaching me Minecraft, me helping him ride a bike, etc.
  I was a mess for a while. Ugly crying. Happy tears, but ugly crying. I had no idea I was loved so deeply by her.
  My wife is quiet and introverted and didn’t grow up in an environment that was outwardly loving. I wasn’t snooping at all, but I asked her to share some recent pictures of our son after a sports day at his school. I saw her in a different light after that. Our already good marriage hit a level I didn’t even know was possible. © fameone098 / Reddit

• Notes keeping track of how long since we last had a fight, when to pick the next one if we haven’t had one by then, and potential things to pick a fight about. She didn’t believe in a relationship going more than 4 weeks without a fight.
  Also, a list of my passwords she’d managed to uncover. © admles / Reddit

• My fiancé and I have a really chill relationship. We respect that phones are private, so we don’t snoop, but we use each other’s phones all the time for stuff like a torch when we grab whatever’s nearest or to Google a number.
  I was asking about something, and he said, “Look it up,” and passed his phone. I went to Google, and it opened his last tab... He was looking at engagement rings. I clicked on another tab and searched on that instead to try to hide that I’d seen it. I never confessed I’d seen it.
  I knew pretty early on I wanted to spend my life with him, and we’d had casual conversations, but I’m a natural skeptic. To see that just really solidified in my little worried brain that he wasn’t lying when he said he loved me. © Bubbly_North_2180 / Reddit

• Been together since ‘17. Had a gut feeling to check his phone, but he was always guarded when it came to it.
  He fell asleep one day with YouTube open, looked through his Instagram, and for the past six months, he was in a group chat with two other people, sending each other videos of using the restroom in diapers and exchanging feet pics. All for amounts of money that never exceeded $10. No idea how to even approach this. © FishermanDelicious26 / Reddit

• A few years ago, I was adding some items to the Notes app grocery list on my wife’s phone. The app opened to the most recent list, which was a copy of her wedding vows with the promises she made to me (things like supporting my dreams and being my partner in crazy adventures).
  Besides, each one was a list of ideas to match, including some things we had done recently. We were going through a rough patch at the time, and seeing that list doubled my resolve to work through it. © timothywilliams2017 / Reddit

• I went through my partner’s phone after he passed away from cancer last year. I had to find contact numbers for a few friends not on the funeral list we made.
  In his Notes app, I found phrases he used in his letters to me, as we often wrote to each other when he was in the hospital and visiting times were short. English was not his first language, and I hadn’t realized how hard he had practiced in order to say what he wanted to say. I sent myself a copy of those notes and look at them often. © charlie1701 / Reddit

• Not partner, but family. We have a family group on WhatsApp. One day, I realized that people stopped talking as much. They didn’t stop fully, but it was way less. I thought it was life getting busy and people just not using WhatsApp as much anymore.
  One day, my aunt asked me to fix something on her phone. I took a peek and saw that they created another group without me, and it was full of recent messages. © backwards_watch / Reddit

• A year after my husband died, I was clearing his tablet of stuff and saw he had a Twitter account. I was reading through his posts and hit one that had me in tears for the rest of the day. He actually had responded to some thread about keeping women in their place, or some such garbage.
  Husband had posted a long rant about how being married for 35 years to a woman who never tired of learning, who never let things stop her, and who stayed interested in new things was the best thing in his life, and that a smart, thinking woman kept his life interesting and exciting.
  I always knew he felt this way, but seeing him say this to a total internet stranger in a forum he thought I would never see was just kind of overwhelming for a few days. We were friends for 45 years, best friends for 43 years, and married for 37 years. He died 3 1/2 years ago, and the hole in my life is just as big as the day he died. © hooyah54 / Reddit

• This was before phones, but my girlfriend at the time had her email left open on her desktop. Saw an email to her best friend about me while she was in the shower. I tried really hard not to be nosy, but I saw my name, so I read the email, as I was really insecure due to past trauma. I’m glad my instinct to check was right.
  Some of my friends had warned me this girl was “too pretty” for me. What I read shocked me. This girl (now my ex-girlfriend) was gushing to her friend about how she fell in love for the first time...blah blah blah. She went on and on about how I was perfect for her, and she’d never felt so safe and understood, and I was the “one.”
  But she said I lacked confidence (I knew she had dated a model before dating slightly above average me), but she was going to deal with that fear, she expounded to her friend.
  Long story short, she’s my ex-fiancée and now wife of 21 years. Never told her I saw that email, but man, that and her actions have made me the most confident husband and happy person. © MessImpossible13 / Reddit

These stories highlight just how much remains hidden behind screens, even in the closest relationships. Much like the unexpected truths uncovered in friendships, too. Here, 12 people share what broke their lifelong friendship beyond repair.