WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the app’s key features is that it allows users to delete messages after they have been sent. While this can be useful in some cases, it can also be frustrating if you want to keep a record of conversations. So how do you stop WhatsApp messages from being deleted by the sender?
There are a few different approaches you can take, each with their own pros and cons:
Disable ‘Delete for Everyone’ Option
The most direct way is to disable the ‘Delete for everyone’ option entirely. This prevents anyone from deleting messages after they have been sent. To do this:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Select Account > Privacy.
- Turn off ‘Delete messages’ option.
The advantage of this is it completely stops messages being deleted. However, it applies to all your chats and you won’t be able to delete any of your own messages either.
Use a Third Party App
Another option is to use a third party app that can back up your WhatsApp messages externally. There are various apps available like WAMR and Notification History that regularly backup your messages to the cloud.
Even if a message is deleted from WhatsApp, the external backup will preserve a copy. To restore deleted messages, simply uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, then restore conversations from the backup.
The drawback is you need to install another app and remember to regularly backup conversations. But it gives you more control over which chats are backed up.
Take Screenshots
A manual approach is to simply take screenshots of important messages or conversations before they can be deleted. All mobile devices allow you to capture screenshots by pressing a combination of buttons.
Screenshots only take moments to capture and can be saved or shared externally. However, it can be easy to forget to screenshot conversations and you’ll need to remember to do it for every important message.
Change Notification Settings
You can also adjust your WhatsApp notification settings to help you notice when messages are deleted:
- Enable notifications for message deletions – this creates a notification when someone deletes a message.
- Turn on message previews in notifications – this gives you a preview of the message content before opening the chat.
With message previews and deletion alerts enabled, you’re more likely to see message content before it can be deleted. The main limitation is you need to notice and act on the notifications.
When Can Messages be Deleted?
Knowing WhatsApp’s rules around message deletion can also help you understand how to counter or work around it. Some key points:
- Messages can only be deleted for everyone within 1 hour 8 minutes and 16 seconds of sending.
- After this time period, deletions only delete the message for the sender.
- Deleted messages are replaced by “This message was deleted” placeholders.
- Messages deleted for everyone are permanently deleted and can’t be recovered.
- Deleted media (photos, videos etc) are removed from recipients’ phones.
So if you act quickly, you can take screenshots or backups of messages before the deletion window expires. For media files, saving them immediately means you’ll retain copies if the sender later deletes them.
Use WhatsApp Web
WhatsApp Web, the browser-based version of WhatsApp, can also help you retain messages. WhatsApp Web mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device.
So even if a message is deleted on your phone, WhatsApp Web will retain a copy of it as long as the browser tab remains open. To safeguard important messages:
- Open web.whatsapp.com in your desktop browser.
- Use your phone to scan the QR code and link your account.
- Keep the browser tab open to preserve message history.
The limitation is that closing the tab or losing the computer will remove the backup. You’ll also need to remember to keep the tab open proactively before messages are deleted.
Use WhatsApp Business API
WhatsApp Business API is a paid enterprise platform that allows businesses to integrate WhatsApp with their own systems. It provides an official API for managing WhatsApp messages programatically.
With the WhatsApp Business API, businesses can build apps and tools that automatically back up sent and received messages to their own servers. This acts as an independent repository immune to message deletions.
However, the WhatsApp Business API is primarily intended for larger businesses. It may be prohibitively expensive or complex for personal usage.
Use Alternative Messengers
If you regularly need to retain message history, using an alternative messenger may be preferable. Many WhatsApp alternatives do not allow message deletions:
- Telegram – Does not have a message delete option.
- Signal – Only allows deleting your own messages.
- Line – Messages can only be unsent for 2 minutes after sending.
- Facebook Messenger – Has a 10 minute window for unsending messages.
Switching messenger app altogether may be the simplest way to prevent unwanted message deletions. However, you’ll need to get your contacts to switch over as well.
Use Two WhatsApp Accounts
Another workaround is using two separate WhatsApp accounts – one regular account and one for backups. When you need to retain messages:
- Forward or copy important messages to your backup account chat.
- The messages will remain intact even if deleted in the main chat.
It takes a bit more effort to maintain two accounts. But messages remain retrievable in the backup account without having to disable deletions completely.
Retrieve Deleted WhatsApp Messages
If important messages have already been deleted, is it still possible to retrieve them?
Unfortunately once a message is deleted for everyone, it is unlikely you’ll be able to recover it. However, here are some last ditch methods that may work:
Try a Data Recovery App
Data recovery apps like Dr.Fone and Fonelab can scan your phone and extract residual data like WhatsApp media and messages that were previously deleted.
They attempt to recover deleted data from your phone’s internal storage. This works best on unencrypted local backups, but you may get lucky recovering recently deleted messages.
Contact Your Phone Company
On some networks, your cell phone company will have access to message data as it passes through their systems. They may be able to recover deleted messages, especially recent ones.
However, many providers only retain message data temporarily and won’t share it without a legal request. But for very important deleted messages, it’s worth asking just in case.
Ask Recipients to Forward You the Message
If the message was deleted in a group chat or sent to multiple recipients, ask other participants if they can forward you a copy from their own chat history.
Since the deletion only applies to your instance of the chat, their versions remain intact. This relies on someone else still having access and being willing to share.
Retrieve From Notification History
On Android devices, WhatsApp notifications remain in the notification history. From Settings > Apps & Notifications > Notifications you can view historical notifications.
If you act quickly, the message contents may still be available even if deleted from WhatsApp itself. Tapping the notification will display the message again.
However, this is only available within the 1 hour deletion window and varies across Android devices.
Prevent Future Message Deletions
While you may not always be able to recover past deletions, you can take steps to better retain message history moving forward:
- Act quickly to screenshot, export or backup important messages.
- Consider using a secondary messenger account for backups.
- Enable deletion and preview notifications.
- Regularly backup your chats via Google Drive or other apps.
- Keep WhatsApp Web open to passively retain messages.
Proactive backups combined with quickly reacting to deletion notifications is the most robust approach to minimize future message losses.
Conclusion
While WhatsApp deletions can seem permanent, there are ways to retain, recover or prevent losing important message history. The most effective approach depends on your specific needs:
- Disabling deletions works best for managing all chats.
- Backups are ideal for selectively retaining conversations.
- Alternative messengers prevent deletion entirely.
- Acting quickly can allow you to retrieve recently deleted messages.
Consider which chats are most important, how often you need to retain history, and how much effort you can invest to manage backups and notifications.
With the right preparation, you can have confidence your message history is protected even if others choose to delete their sent messages.