WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to send messages, photos, videos, documents and voice messages to other users. When a photo is sent on WhatsApp, it may contain private or sensitive information that the sender wants to delete later on.
Many WhatsApp users wonder how long they have to delete a photo after sending it. WhatsApp provides a time limit for deleting messages, but does this also apply to photos? Here is a detailed look at how the delete feature works for photos on WhatsApp.
How WhatsApp Delete Feature Works
When you send a message on WhatsApp, the app stores that message on its servers until it is successfully delivered to the recipient’s device. Once delivered, the message is stored locally on the recipient’s device.
This gives you a limited window of time to delete a message after sending it. WhatsApp allows you to delete messages up to 7 minutes after sending. This will delete the message from your device, the recipient’s device and WhatsApp servers.
However, this 7 minute deletion window only applies to text messages. For photos, videos and other media, WhatsApp does not provide a time limit for deletion.
No Time Limit for Deleting Photos
There is no time limit for deleting photos, videos or other media files on WhatsApp. As long as the recipient has not viewed the photo or video, you can delete it from their device and WhatsApp servers.
This gives you unlimited time to delete a photo or video, as long as the recipient has not opened the chat and seen the media file. Once viewed by the recipient, media files cannot be deleted from their device.
How to Delete Photos on WhatsApp
Here are the steps to delete a photo you’ve sent on WhatsApp:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the recipient
- Tap and hold on the photo you want to delete
- Tap the trash can icon to delete
- Confirm deleting the photo from the pop-up
This will instantly delete the photo for both you and the recipient, as long as they have not already viewed it. The photo will be deleted from your device, the recipient’s device and WhatsApp servers.
How to Delete Photos for Everyone
WhatsApp also provides a “Delete for everyone” feature when deleting photos. This allows you to delete a photo from a chat for all participants, even if the recipient has already viewed it.
To use this feature:
- Open the WhatsApp chat
- Tap and hold on the photo
- Tap the trash can icon
- Select “Delete for everyone” when prompted
This will instantly delete the photo from the chat for both you and the recipient. However, there is a major catch to this feature.
Time Limit for “Delete for Everyone”
WhatsApp only allows you to delete photos for everyone within 1 hour 8 minutes and 16 seconds after sending them. This means the photo must be deleted from the chat within this time frame.
If you exceed this 1 hour 8 minute window, the “Delete for everyone” option will no longer be available. You can still delete the photo from your device, but it will remain on the recipient’s device.
Does Deleting Prevent Photo Backups?
When you delete a photo on WhatsApp, it is removed from your device, the recipient’s device and WhatsApp’s servers. However, there are cases where the photo may still exist in a backup:
- iCloud Backup – Photos sent on iPhone are included in iCloud backups. If the recipient has iCloud backup enabled, the deleted photo may still be in their backup.
- Google Photos Backup – Android photos are often backed up to Google Photos. The deleted photo may exist in the recipient’s Google Photos storage.
- Third-party backups – Backups from apps like iExplorer and Google Takeout could also retain deleted WhatsApp photos.
Therefore, while deleting a photo prevents it from existing in the WhatsApp chat, backups are not always deleted. The recipient would have to manually delete the photo from their backups after it is deleted from WhatsApp.
Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Photos?
If you accidentally deleted a photo on WhatsApp, is it possible to recover it? Here are some options for WhatsApp photo recovery:
Restore from Backup
If you have a recent backup of your WhatsApp data either on iCloud or Google Drive, you may be able to restore deleted photos from it. Just be sure to backup WhatsApp before attempting to recover deleted photos.
Use Data Recovery Apps
There are dedicated apps available for Android and iOS that can scan your device storage and find deleted WhatsApp files. Some examples include iMyFone D-Back and EaseUS MobiSaver.
Retrieve from Device Storage
With the right data recovery tools, it may be possible to directly scan your iPhone or Android internal storage to find deleted WhatsApp photo files, provided they have not been overwritten.
Retrieve from SD Card
If the deleted WhatsApp photos were stored on an external SD card, remove the card and use photo recovery software to scan and restore deleted files from it.
How to Prevent Deletion of WhatsApp Photos
To ensure you do not lose important WhatsApp photos, here are some tips:
- Frequently backup your WhatsApp data on iCloud or Google Drive.
- Use a third party app like iExplorer to backup WhatsApp media files to your computer.
- Save important photos to your phone’s local storage before sending on WhatsApp.
- Use a secure photo vault app to store private WhatsApp photos.
- Turn on the Save to Camera Roll option in WhatsApp settings to store all media.
Conclusion
WhatsApp provides unlimited time to delete photos, as long as the recipient has not viewed them. You get 1 hour 8 minutes to delete photos for everyone after sending. However, backups may still retain deleted WhatsApp photos. Frequently backing up your WhatsApp media and saving important photos locally can prevent losing them if accidentally deleted.