WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is the ability to send pictures and videos to your contacts. However, a common question many users have is: If I delete a picture or video that I sent to someone on WhatsApp, will it delete that media from their phone as well? The short answer is no, deleting a picture or video you sent via WhatsApp does not delete it from the recipient’s phone.
How WhatsApp Media Sharing Works
When you send a photo or video on WhatsApp, the media is sent as an attachment to the message. The recipient’s WhatsApp client downloads and saves this attachment to the local storage on their device. This means there are now two copies of the media – the one on your phone and the one on the recipient’s phone.
Deleting the media from your phone does not communicate to WhatsApp to delete the copy you sent from the recipient’s phone. So even if you delete the media from your WhatsApp, the sent attachment still resides on the other person’s device.
Technical Reasons
There are a few technical reasons why deleting media you sent on WhatsApp does not delete the copy on the recipient’s device:
- WhatsApp has no way to communicate the delete action across devices. There is no delete request mechanism between WhatsApp clients.
- Media attachments sent via WhatsApp are saved locally on each device’s file storage. WhatsApp servers do not maintain copies of sent media.
- Deleting local media files requires access to the recipient’s device storage. WhatsApp does not have access to delete files on remote devices.
So in summary, once media is sent via WhatsApp, the app treats that content as belonging to the recipient and having no tie back to the sender.
Does Deleting Media on WhatsApp Notify the Recipient?
When you delete media that you previously sent on WhatsApp, the app does not notify the recipient of the delete action. So from the recipient’s perspective, the sent media will still be visible in the chat thread with no indication it was deleted by the sender.
The only way the recipient would know the media was deleted is if they try to view it again from the chat and see an unavailable or expired media placeholder image instead. But there is no proactive notification to the recipient that the sender deleted the media.
Why No Notification?
Again, there are some technical constraints on why WhatsApp cannot notify the recipient when previously sent media is deleted:
- There is no reverse communication channel from recipient to sender for sent messages.
- Chat threads are peer-to-peer encrypted end-to-end.
- Media attachments are sent as standalone end-to-end encrypted payloads.
- WhatsApp servers are not involved in sending, storing or deleting media.
With end-to-end encryption, only the communicating devices have insight into the content of messages. So WhatsApp has no capability to know when media is deleted after sending and notify the recipient.
Does the Sender Retain the Media?
When you send a photo or video on WhatsApp, your device retains the original media in its local storage even after sending. Deleting the media from WhatsApp only deletes your local copy of that file, but has no impact on the recipient’s copy.
Some key points:
- Media sent on WhatsApp is copied from your device storage to the chat.
- The original media file remains in your phone’s storage after sending.
- Deleting from WhatsApp only removes the copy linked to the chat.
- Your original media file still exists locally unless manually deleted.
So the sender retains the original media on their device even after deleting it from WhatsApp. The only way for the sender to delete their copy is to manually delete it from local phone storage.
How to Delete Media You Sent on WhatsApp
If you want to delete a photo, video or any media you previously sent someone on WhatsApp, here are the steps:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the recipient.
- Tap and hold on the media you want to delete.
- This will show a popup menu – tap on ‘Delete’.
- Confirm deletion in the prompt.
This will only delete your copy of that media from the WhatsApp chat. The recipient’s copy will remain unchanged.
Other Ways to Delete Sent Media
Some other ways to delete media you sent on WhatsApp:
- From the chat, tap the 3 dots menu > Media > Select the item to delete > Trash icon.
- From your phone’s Files app, go to WhatsApp Media folder and delete the media.
- Use a file manager app to find and delete the media file from internal storage.
But again, none of these methods will delete or notify the recipient. The sent media will still be available on their device.
Does the Recipient’s Delete Action Affect the Sender’s Copy?
Similarly, if the recipient deletes media you sent them on WhatsApp, it does not delete the media from your device storage or chat thread.
When the recipient deletes media you sent:
- Only their local copy of the media is removed.
- Your original media remains unchanged in your phone’s storage.
- You will still see the media visible in the chat thread with that person.
- No notification is sent to you about the recipient’s delete action.
So the recipient deleting media you sent only deletes their own local copy. Your version is retained.
How to Prevent Deleted Media from Being Viewed
While deleting media you sent on WhatsApp does not remove the recipient’s copy, there are some precautions you can take:
- Be careful sharing sensitive/private media, even with trusted contacts.
- Enable disappearing messages option to make media expire after a duration.
- Ask the recipient to delete sensitive media after viewing.
- Delete media from your device gallery after sending on WhatsApp.
However, there is no foolproof way to guarantee deletion of media you already sent via WhatsApp. The recipient ultimately has control over their local copy of the media.
Summary
- Deleting media you sent via WhatsApp does NOT delete the recipient’s copy.
- No notification is sent to the recipient when you delete sent media.
- You retain the original media in your phone storage after deleting from WhatsApp.
- If the recipient deletes media you sent, your original copy is not affected.
- There is no way to force deletion of media after sending via WhatsApp.
So in conclusion, while WhatsApp gives you control over media in your chats, you cannot remotely delete or revoke access to any photos, videos or files already sent and downloaded by the recipient. The recipient has full control over their local copy of the media.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete a WhatsApp message after it is read?
No, you cannot delete a WhatsApp message for the recipient after it has been sent and read. You can only delete it from your own chat thread, but the recipient will still see the message in their chat history.
Does deleting a chat delete the media exchanged in that chat?
Deleting an entire chat thread will delete media you exchanged within that chat from your device. However, the recipient still retains the media you sent them previously within that chat.
Can I retrieve media I deleted from WhatsApp?
If you have a backup of your WhatsApp chats, you may be able to restore deleted media from it. However, media deleted directly from your phone’s storage cannot be retrieved.
What happens if I delete my WhatsApp account?
Deleting your WhatsApp account deletes all WhatsApp data including entire chat threads and media from your device. However, any media you previously sent to recipients will still be retained on their devices.
How can I tell if someone deleted media they sent me?
You cannot directly tell if someone deleted media they sent you. The only indication would be if the media shows as unavailable when you try to view it from the chat.
| Action | Sender’s Copy | Recipient’s Copy |
|---|---|---|
| Sender deletes sent media | Deleted from chat | Still retained |
| Recipient deletes received media | Still retained | Deleted |
This summarizes what happens to the sender’s and recipient’s copies when either party deletes media sent on WhatsApp. The key takeaway is that deleting media only removes your local copy, not the recipient’s.