WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. With so many messages sent daily, you may occasionally want to remove a specific message you’ve sent or received for privacy or other reasons. Thankfully, WhatsApp provides a few different options to make messages disappear.
Delete a message for everyone
If you want to delete a message you’ve sent to an individual or group chat, you can delete it for everyone, preventing it from being seen. Here’s how:
- Open the WhatsApp chat containing the message you want to delete.
- Tap and hold the message to select it.
- Tap the trash icon to delete the message.
- Tap “Delete for everyone” to remove the message for all participants.
This will instantly delete the message for everyone in the chat. However, there are some limitations:
- You only have up to 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds to delete a message after sending it.
- Messages can’t be deleted if they are older than that time period.
- The feature won’t work if the recipient doesn’t have the latest version of WhatsApp installed.
So if you need to remove a message, be sure to do it quickly before time runs out.
Delete a message for yourself
If it’s been over 1 hour since the message was sent, or you only want to remove it from your own view, you can delete it just for yourself:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the message.
- Tap and hold to select the message.
- Tap the trash icon to delete it.
- Tap “Delete for me” to remove the message just from your view.
This will delete the message just for you. Other participants in the chat will still be able to see it. This can be useful for removing messages just from your own view after the time limit has expired.
Clear a message by using Disappearing Messages
WhatsApp also offers an option to have new messages disappear after a set time period. Here’s how to enable it:
- Open the WhatsApp chat.
- Tap the contact’s name at the top of the chat.
- Tap Disappearing Messages.
- Select a duration for how long messages should last before disappearing.
Once enabled, any new messages sent in that chat will automatically disappear after the set duration. The available durations are:
- 24 hours
- 7 days
- 90 days
- Off
This can be useful for conversations where you want assurance messages won’t linger indefinitely. Keep in mind messages may still be seen and screenshotted before disappearing.
Delete WhatsApp messages remotely
If your phone is lost, stolen, or otherwise inaccessible, you may want to delete WhatsApp messages remotely. There are a couple ways to do this:
Via WhatsApp Web
If you’ve used WhatsApp Web and have it linked to your account, you can use it to delete messages:
- On a computer, open WhatsApp Web and scan the QR code to link your account.
- Once connected, you can delete specific messages or entire conversations.
- The messages will be deleted from your linked mobile device as well.
Via account delete
If you can’t access WhatsApp Web, you can request to delete your entire WhatsApp account. This will wipe all messages from your account:
- Email [email protected] requesting account deletion.
- Include “Lost/Stolen: Delete my account” in the subject line.
- Specify your phone number in full international format.
WhatsApp will delete your account and all associated messages. However, this should only be done as a last resort, as you’ll lose your entire WhatsApp account and chat history by doing so.
Avoiding deleted message notifications
When you delete a message for everyone, a note will show for other participants notifying “This message was deleted.” To avoid this:
- Delete messages before they are seen by recipients.
- Enable Disappearing Messages to remove without a notification.
- Delete messages only for yourself to avoid notifications.
While you can’t fully prevent the notifications, deleting messages quickly reduces the chance they will appear and indicates something was removed.
Recovering deleted WhatsApp messages
Is it possible to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages? Unfortunately, there is no built-in way to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. Here are some tips to potentially restore deleted messages:
- Restore from a backup – If you have a recent backup of your messages, you may be able to restore deleted messages from it.
- Use data recovery software – Some third party apps may be able to scan your phone’s storage and find residual data from deleted messages.
- Retrieve from notification log – On Android, the notification log may show previews of recent deleted messages.
However, there is no guarantee you can recover deleted WhatsApp messages. The best policy is to backup your messages regularly in case you ever need to restore them.
Third party apps to recover deleted WhatsApp messages
While WhatsApp itself doesn’t have a build in recovery feature, some third party apps claim they can restore deleted messages. Here are some options:
| App | Platform | Features |
|---|---|---|
| FoneLab | Android, iOS | Scan device storage for residual message data |
| iMyFone D-Back | iOS | Extract iTunes and iCloud backups |
| EaseUS MobiSaver | Android | Scan device and restore found messages |
However, success is not guaranteed, depends on residual data remaining, and some apps charge fees. These should be seen as last resort options only.
Can WhatsApp notify you when someone deletes messages?
WhatsApp does not have an official feature to notify you when another participant deletes messages in your chat. The only indication is the “This message was deleted” text that appears. However, there are some workarounds:
- Enable chat backup to restore deleted messages from backup.
- Use a third party app that backups chats and notifies of message deletion.
- Frequently screenshot or copy important messages so they’re retained.
While imperfect, these approaches can help you keep a record of chat history and notice when critical messages have been removed.
Conclusion
To summarize, here are the key ways to make messages disappear on WhatsApp:
- Delete a message for everyone to remove it for all participants.
- Delete a message just for yourself if you still want others to see it.
- Turn on Disappearing Messages to set messages to clear automatically.
- Delete your account as a last resort to erase all messages remotely.
Be aware deleting messages does not prevent them from being seen prior to removal. For best privacy, enable Disappearing Messages or delete messages quickly before recipients view them. While recovering deleted messages is difficult, regular backups provide protection in case you need to restore them.