WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is its end-to-end encryption, which is supposed to keep messages secure and private. However, many WhatsApp users have concerns over whether their chats are actually deleted when they choose to delete them. So, are WhatsApp chats deleted for good when you delete them?
How WhatsApp deletes chats
When you delete a WhatsApp chat on your device, the messages are removed from your device’s storage. However, they may still exist on WhatsApp’s servers until they are overwritten by new data. Here’s a more detailed look at how WhatsApp handles deleted chats:
- When you delete a chat, it is removed immediately from your device’s storage. This frees up space on your phone.
- The deleted messages remain on WhatsApp’s servers until they are overwritten by new data after an unspecified amount of time. WhatsApp does not specify how long this takes.
- If the messages have not been overwritten on WhatsApp’s servers, they can still be recovered if you restore your chat history from a recent backup.
- WhatsApp backs up your chat history regularly to your device’s storage or Google Drive, depending on your settings. So if you restore your chats from a backup created before you deleted the messages, they will reappear.
- Deleting a chat also does not delete it from the phones of the people you were chatting with. The chat remains on their devices until they also choose to delete it.
So in summary, deleting a WhatsApp chat only removes it from your device’s storage immediately. The messages may continue to exist on WhatsApp’s servers until overwritten, and in chat backups you have not deleted. For true deletion, the chat must also be deleted by all participants.
When are deleted WhatsApp chats permanently deleted?
There is no specific timeframe provided by WhatsApp for when deleted chats are permanently deleted from their servers. WhatsApp only states that deleted data is overwritten as new data comes in once the space is required.
Some factors that may affect how long deleted WhatsApp chats persist include:
- How frequently you use WhatsApp – The more messages sent, the faster old deleted messages will be overwritten.
- Number of WhatsApp users – More users means more data and faster overwriting of deleted messages.
- Storage space on WhatsApp’s servers – More storage space means deleted data may persist longer before being overwritten.
There is no way to know for certain when a deleted WhatsApp chat is permanently erased from WhatsApp’s servers. In general, the more actively you continue using WhatsApp after deleting messages, the shorter the window there is for deleted chats to be restored from the server.
Can deleted WhatsApp chats be recovered?
In many cases, yes, deleted WhatsApp chats can be recovered, even if they have been erased from your device’s storage. Here are some scenarios where deleted WhatsApp messages can be retrieved:
- From a recent backup – WhatsApp backs up your chats to your device storage or Google Drive on a regular basis. If you restore chat history from a backup created before you deleted the messages, they will reappear.
- From the sender’s phone – The messages will still be available on the phones of anyone you were chatting with until they also delete them.
- From WhatsApp’s server – There is a chance the messages have not been overwritten on WhatsApp’s server and could be recovered with specialized data recovery tools.
- From your phone’s local storage – With certain third-party apps, it may be possible to find residual traces of deleted WhatsApp chats that were not fully erased.
However, the further back in time you try to recover deleted WhatsApp messages, the lower the chances of successfully retrieving them. Remote data recovery from WhatsApp’s servers is also difficult without help from WhatsApp.
How to permanently delete WhatsApp chats
If you want to delete a WhatsApp chat forever so that it cannot be recovered, here are the steps you need to take:
- Delete the chat history from your WhatsApp app on all devices by going into the chat, tapping More > Delete chat.
- Go into WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat backup and turn off backups. This will stop the deleted messages from being added to a new backup.
- Delete all previous WhatsApp backups saved either Locally on your phone’s storage or on Google Drive. This removes all copies of the chat from backups.
- Confirm that the person you were chatting with has also deleted the conversation from their device.
- Continue actively using WhatsApp – Sending new messages will help overwrite any deleted chats on WhatsApp’s server.
Following these steps minimizes the risk of the deleted chat history being restored through backup or found on WhatsApp’s servers. However, there is still a slim chance data fragments could remain somewhere in WhatsApp’s systems. For 100% guaranteed deletion, stop using WhatsApp completely.
WhatsApp chat deletion: iOS vs Android
There are some differences in how WhatsApp chat deletion works on iOS vs Android devices:
| Platform | Chat Deletion Process |
|---|---|
| iOS |
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| Android |
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The key takeaway is that on both platforms, disabling chat backups is necessary to prevent deleted chats from being restored from iCloud or Google Drive.
Third-party WhatsApp chat recovery apps
There are various third-party apps that claim to allow recovery of deleted WhatsApp messages, even after they are erased from your phone’s storage. Some examples include:
- iMyFone D-Back
- EaseUS MobiSaver
- FonePaw Android Data Recovery
- Dr.Fone – WhatsApp Recovery
However, the effectiveness of these apps varies greatly. Some may only allow restoring chats from backups, while others claim to retrieve deleted chats from phone storage or even WhatsApp’s servers directly. Recovery success rates will depend on factors like:
- Time elapsed since message deletion
- Whether device data has been overwritten
- Device operating system (iOS vs Android)
In general, the sooner you run data recovery after deleting WhatsApp messages, the better your chances of retrieving them with third-party software. But there are no guarantees of recovering deleted chats from WhatsApp’s servers.
Pros and cons of WhatsApp recovery apps
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
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WhatsApp recovery apps provide an option for retrieving recently deleted chats from your device storage before it gets overwritten. But their abilities are still limited, especially on iOS, and they cannot directly recover chats from WhatsApp’s servers.
How WhatsApp chat deletion compares to other messaging apps
Here is a comparison of how some other top messaging apps handle chat deletion compared to WhatsApp:
| App | Chat Deletion Process |
|---|---|
|
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| Signal |
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| Telegram |
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| Facebook Messenger |
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| iMessage |
|
No major messaging platform can reliably prevent recovery of deleted chats from backups or other sources immediately after deletion. But apps like Signal offer much more irreversible deletion than WhatsApp.
Conclusion
To summarize:
- WhatsApp chats are instantly deleted from your device’s storage when you delete them.
- However, deleted chats may continue to exist in WhatsApp’s server backups and other devices until those copies are deleted.
- There is usually a way to recover recently deleted WhatsApp chats from backups or phone storage unless recovery is prevented.
- To permanently delete a WhatsApp chat forever, you need to delete it from all devices and disable backups.
- Even then, there is a small chance of data fragments persisting somewhere in WhatsApp’s systems.
WhatsApp does not actually guarantee permanent chat deletion or make it easy to achieve. Other messaging apps like Signal are more focused on irreversibly erasing chat data immediately after deletion. But WhatsApp’s strong encryption still keeps your chats secure from anyone other than the participants while they exist.