WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows easy communication through text, audio, video and document sharing. However, sometimes you may send a message that you later regret or that you didn’t intend for the recipient to keep. Thankfully, WhatsApp provides a way to delete messages after they’ve been sent, without the other person being notified.
Can the other person know if you delete a WhatsApp message?
By default, when you delete a message for yourself on WhatsApp, the app does not notify the recipient that the message has been removed. So if you delete a message you sent, the other person will not know it has been deleted unless they had already seen and read the message before you deleted it. Some key points:
- If a message is successfully deleted, it will be removed completely from the recipient’s chat window. There will be no sign it was ever there.
- Deleting for yourself only removes the message from your end of the conversation. The recipient can still see it in their chat window until it is deleted.
- You can only delete messages for everyone if it’s been less than 1 hour 8 minutes and 16 seconds since the message was sent.
- After this time period, you can only delete messages for yourself. The recipient will still be able to see the message if they had already read it.
So in summary, you can secretly retract messages on WhatsApp as long as the recipient hasn’t already seen them. But this only hides them from your end – the other person will still be able to view messages you delete until the time limit passes.
How to delete a WhatsApp message you sent
If you need to remove a message you sent on WhatsApp, the process is straightforward whether you use iPhone or Android. Here are the step-by-step instructions for both:
iPhone
- Open the WhatsApp chat containing the message you want to delete.
- Tap and hold the message you want to delete to select it.
- This will highlight the message and display the delete icon.
- Tap the trash can icon to delete the message.
- Confirm whether you want to delete for yourself or for everyone.
Android
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the message.
- Long press on the message to select it.
- This will show the delete icon at the top of the screen.
- Tap the trash can icon to delete the message.
- Confirm if you want to delete for yourself or everyone.
And that’s all there is to it! The process is exactly the same whether you are deleting a text message, photo, video or any other file you sent. The recipient will not get a notification or any indication the message has been removed.
How to delete WhatsApp messages for everyone
What if you notice an embarrassing or unwanted message only after the recipient has already seen it? Is there any way to erase it completely from the conversation so that it’s gone from both ends?
Fortunately, WhatsApp gives you a short window of opportunity to delete messages for everyone, even after they’ve been seen. Here are the key facts about this feature:
- You can delete a message for everyone if it was sent less than 1 hour 8 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
- This will fully delete the message from both your and the recipient’s chat window.
- A note will show saying “This message was deleted” in place of the deleted message.
- You can delete multiple messages at once by selecting a whole conversation thread.
To delete a WhatsApp message for everyone:
- Open the chat and tap and hold the message you want to delete.
- This will highlight the delete option – tap the trash can icon.
- Now tap “Delete for everyone” when prompted.
- The message will be replaced with “This message was deleted” for you and the recipient.
However, you can only delete messages for everyone within 1 hour 8 minutes from sending. After this, deleting will only remove messages from your side of the chat.
How to delete WhatsApp messages automatically
Rather than deleting messages one by one, you may want your WhatsApp messages to disappear automatically after being seen. This removes the risk of forgetting to delete something sensitive or embarrassing later on.
WhatsApp has a disappearing messages feature that lets you set all new messages in a chat to delete themselves after a set time period. Here is how to enable it:
- Open the WhatsApp chat.
- Tap the contact’s name at the top to open chat settings.
- Tap Disappearing messages.
- Select a duration – 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days.
Now all new messages sent or received in that chat will be deleted after the chosen duration automatically. You can disable this at any time by returning to chat settings.
A few important points about disappearing messages:
- Enabling this does not delete previous messages – only newly sent ones.
- Quoted messages might still remain in a chat after deletion.
- If a user backs up their chat before messages disappear, they will remain in the backup.
- You will be notified if the other user takes a screenshot of a disappearing message.
So in summary, enabling disappearing messages can help keep your WhatsApp chats more private going forward. But it’s not foolproof – recipients can find ways around it.
How to hide WhatsApp chat history from recipient
In addition to deleting individual messages, you can choose to clear your message history entirely or hide all traces of a chat from the recipient’s view. Here are two ways to do this:
Delete Chat History
This will wipe the entire chat history clean of messages on your side, but keep the chat thread itself intact:
- Open the WhatsApp chat.
- Tap the contact name to open chat settings.
- Tap Clear chat history.
- Confirm clearing the messages.
This will delete the entire chat history on your device. The other person will still see all messages in the chat on their end.
Delete Chat
If you want to erase all trace of a chat, you can delete the whole conversation thread. This removes it completely from your WhatsApp:
- Open the WhatsApp chat.
- Tap and hold the conversation you want to delete.
- Tap the trash can icon at the top of the screen.
- Confirm deleting the chat.
This will delete the chat thread and all messages exchanged from your WhatsApp. However, it does not affect the recipient’s chat – they will still see the full history.
How to recover and retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages
If you’ve deleted a crucial message or conversation by mistake, you may be wondering if you can retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages. Here are some ways you may be able to recover deleted WhatsApp data:
From WhatsApp backup
If you have enabled WhatsApp backups, you can restore messages from a previous backup containing the deleted information. Just uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, then restore from the backup when prompted during setup.
From Google Drive or iCloud backup
Your phone’s Google Drive or iCloud backup may also have stored WhatsApp message data that you can restore. Just restore your device from the backup point before the messages were deleted.
Via data recovery software
If you act quickly, specialized third party Android and iPhone data recovery apps may be able to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages and attachments by scanning your phone’s storage.
From file manager or cloud storage
If you backed up your WhatsApp media files to cloud storage or your computer, you may be able to recover deleted photos, videos and documents from there.
However, recovering deleted WhatsApp messages is not always possible. The sooner you act after deletion, the better chance you have of restoring your lost data.
Can WhatsApp notify you if someone deletes messages?
Some WhatsApp users want a way to know if someone else has deleted messages they sent or received in a chat. However, there is no built-in WhatsApp feature that alerts you about message deletions.
Even if you have chat backup enabled, WhatsApp will not notify you when message history changes. Your backup only reflects the chat data saved at the time of backup.
Some ways you may be able to detect if messages were deleted include:
- Noticing gaps in the conversation history
- Seeing generic “This message was deleted” placeholders
- Spotting changes by restoring from a saved chat backup
But there are no guarantees. The only way to definitively see deleted messages is if you had already viewed them before they were removed. WhatsApp provides no direct notifications.
Ethical concerns around deleting WhatsApp messages
While WhatsApp allows deleting messages for privacy, there are some ethical issues to consider:
- Transparency – Deleting messages without the other person knowing could be viewed as deceptive in some situations.
- Consent – The recipient may not have consented to the message being permanently deleted.
- Accountability – It could allow evading responsibility for harmful messages.
- Openness – Relationships may suffer if deletion causes mistrust about past messages.
Some best practices to delete WhatsApp messages ethically include:
- Informing the recipient if you intend to delete a sensitive message that was meant just for you.
- Being judicious in deleting messages from work or important group conversations.
- Not deleting evidence if involved in a dispute where the messages are relevant.
- Considering how it may affect your relationship before deleting without the other person’s knowledge.
Deleting WhatsApp messages can be useful but should be done with care and consideration, not to deceive or intentionally hide your tracks.
What happens when you delete a WhatsApp message?
| When message is deleted… | On your device | On recipient’s device |
|---|---|---|
| Before it is read | Disappears fully | No change, recipient can still see it |
| Up to 1 hour 8 minutes after sending | Replaced with “This message was deleted” | Replaced with “This message was deleted” |
| After 1 hour 8 minutes | Disappears from view | No change, recipient can still see it |
This summarizes what happens on both the sender’s and recipient’s device when a WhatsApp message is deleted, based on the timing.
Conclusion
WhatsApp can be useful for retracting messages you regret sending, as recipients are not directly notified when you delete messages. However, this only fully erases messages from the conversation if done quickly – within 1 hour 8 minutes of sending.
To recap, you can secretly delete WhatsApp messages for yourself by simply deleting from your device chat. However, for the other person to not see them, you must act within minutes and delete for everyone when prompted. Enabling disappearing messages also makes future messages delete automatically.
While removing messages can be convenient, always consider whether it’s ethical and how it may impact your relationships before deleting without the other person knowing. When used appropriately, these WhatsApp deletion features can help improve your privacy.