WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. With so many contacts, your WhatsApp contact list can quickly become cluttered. If you need to delete a contact’s number from your WhatsApp contact list, it’s a straightforward process on both iPhone and Android devices.
Why Would You Want to Delete a WhatsApp Contact?
There are a few common reasons you may want to delete a contact from your WhatsApp contact list:
- You no longer want to be in contact with that person
- The contact has an outdated number
- You want to declutter your contact list
- You accidentally added the wrong contact
Deleting a contact only removes them from your WhatsApp contact list. It does not delete the chat history you have with that contact. You can still find old conversations by searching for that contact’s number within WhatsApp.
How to Delete a WhatsApp Contact on iPhone
If you have an iPhone and want to remove a contact from your WhatsApp contact list, follow these steps:
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the Chats tab at the bottom.
- Tap on the Contacts tab at the bottom right.
- Scroll through your contacts list and tap on the contact you want to delete.
- Tap on the contact name at the top of the screen to open their contact info.
- Scroll down and tap Delete Contact.
- Confirm the deletion by tapping Delete.
And that’s it! The contact will be removed from your WhatsApp contacts. To delete multiple contacts at once on iPhone:
- Go to the Contacts tab in WhatsApp.
- Tap Select in the top left corner.
- Tap all the contacts you want to delete.
- Tap Delete in the bottom left corner.
- Confirm the deletion.
How to Delete WhatsApp Contacts on Android
The process is very similar for deleting WhatsApp contacts on Android devices:
- Open WhatsApp and tap More options > Settings.
- Tap Contacts > Delete All Contacts.
- Tap the trash icon next to each contact you want to delete.
- Tap Delete to confirm.
To delete a single contact on Android:
- Open your phone’s Contacts app.
- Find the contact you want to delete.
- Tap the overflow menu next to the contact.
- Select Delete.
This will delete the contact from your Android phone’s contacts list, which will also remove them from WhatsApp.
How to Delete WhatsApp Contacts Using a Computer
You can also delete WhatsApp contacts by using WhatsApp Web on your computer:
- Go to web.whatsapp.com and scan the QR code with your phone to link it.
- Open your list of WhatsApp contacts.
- Hover over the contact you want to remove.
- Click Delete Contact.
- Confirm the deletion.
This will remove the contact from your phone’s WhatsApp even though you deleted it through the web version. The process is the same for both the desktop site and WhatsApp desktop app.
How to Delete Contacts Without Confirmation
By default, WhatsApp will always ask you to confirm before deleting a contact. If you want to delete contacts faster without this confirmation message, you can enable some settings to skip the confirmation.
On iPhone, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy and toggle off “Confirm Deletion.”
On Android, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Delete my account > Delete account without confirmation. Toggle this on.
Now when you delete WhatsApp contacts, it will remove them immediately without asking you to confirm.
How to Re-Add a Deleted Contact
If you delete a WhatsApp contact by mistake, it’s easy to add them back. There are two ways to do this:
- Open your phone’s Contacts app, find the contact and add their phone number back to their info. This will re-add them to WhatsApp automatically.
- On WhatsApp, tap the Calls tab > Call. Enter the contact’s phone number and tap the add icon next to their name after the call to add them back.
As long as you still have the contact’s number, you can easily restore them after accidentally deleting.
Permanently Deleting WhatsApp Contacts
When you delete a WhatsApp contact, their chat history still remains in your messages. This means you can restore the contact and access the old chats.
If you want to permanently erase all traces of a contact from WhatsApp, deleting them isn’t enough. You’ll also need to:
- Open the chat with the contact you want to permanently delete.
- Tap and hold on the chat.
- Tap More > Delete chat history.
This will wipe the entire chat history and media from that contact. Combine this with deleting the contact, and it will be as if they never existed on your WhatsApp at all!
Conclusion
Deleting WhatsApp contacts is quick and straightforward. By tapping Delete Contact on iPhone or Delete All Contacts on Android, you can easily remove contacts from your WhatsApp address book. Make sure to confirm each deletion unless you’ve disabled the confirmation setting.
Remember that deleting a contact only removes them from your contacts list – their chat history will remain available. To permanently erase all traces of a contact, you’ll need to also delete the chat history after removing them from your contacts.
With billions of users, managing your WhatsApp contacts is important. Periodically deleting old or unwanted contacts can declutter your app and streamline your messaging experience.