When you delete WhatsApp, other users will no longer see your profile photo, status, or last seen time. However, your chats will remain on their phones. Deleting WhatsApp does not delete your chats or remove you from any groups you are part of.
What happens when you delete WhatsApp?
Here is what happens when you delete WhatsApp from your device:
Your account is deactivated
Deleting WhatsApp deactivates your account. This means you will be logged out of WhatsApp across all devices. Your profile, groups, and settings will no longer be accessible.
Your chats remain on other users’ phones
When you delete WhatsApp, all your individual and group chats remain intact on the phones of the people you were chatting with. The entire chat history remains visible to them.
You are removed from all WhatsApp groups
Once you delete WhatsApp, you are automatically removed from all WhatsApp groups you were a part of. The groups will continue to function without you.
Your contacts no longer see your profile photo or last seen
Your profile photo, last seen, status, and any other profile info is no longer visible to your contacts when you delete WhatsApp. Essentially, it appears as if you no longer have WhatsApp installed.
What exactly do your contacts see when you delete WhatsApp?
Here is a detailed look at what your contacts will see if you delete WhatsApp from your device:
| WhatsApp Feature | Visible to your contacts after deleting WhatsApp? |
|---|---|
| Profile Photo | No |
| About Info | No |
| Last Seen | No |
| Status Updates | No |
| Individual Chats | Yes |
| Group Chats | Yes |
As you can see, while your chats remain visible, all your profile information is hidden from your contacts after deleting WhatsApp.
Your contacts will see a blank grey default profile photo in places where your profile photo previously showed up. They will no longer be able to view your last seen or online status.
What happens to your chat history when you delete WhatsApp?
Your entire chat history remains intact and visible to your contacts when you delete WhatsApp. This includes:
- All individual chats
- All group chats
- Media files you have sent and received
- Voice messages
- Call history
There is no way to selectively delete chats before removing WhatsApp. Your full history remains available to all your contacts.
The chat history remains visible on their phones indefinitely. It does not get deleted after a certain time period.
Your contacts can continue to view, search and scroll through your old chats. They can also copy, forward or export the chats if they want.
So in summary, your entire WhatsApp chat history remains fully intact and accessible to all your contacts when you delete your account.
Can you recover deleted WhatsApp chats?
Since your chats remain available on your contacts’ phones, here are two ways you can recover deleted WhatsApp chats:
Method 1: Request contacts to send you chats
You can individually message your WhatsApp contacts and request them to send back important chats that you need.
For group chats, you can ask an existing group member to add you back to the group so you can access the chat history again.
The downside is that not everyone may be willing to cooperate and share chats with you, especially long personal chats.
Method 2: Restore from Google Drive backup
WhatsApp automatically backs up chats to Google Drive daily when connected to WiFi. So if you had chat backup enabled, you can:
- Reinstall WhatsApp
- Restore chats from Google Drive backup during setup
This will restore all your old chats so you can access them again.
Do note that chat history is only backed up for the last 7 days after deleting your account. So beyond 7 days, you may permanently lose access to old chats.
If you reinstall WhatsApp, will your contacts see your profile again?
If you reinstall WhatsApp after deleting it, your profile and last seen status will be visible to your contacts again.
Your profile photo, last seen time, about info etc will automatically show up for your contacts when you reinstall WhatsApp and activate your account.
From your contacts’ point of view, it will appear as if you are back on WhatsApp again.
However, there are two scenarios when reinstalling WhatsApp:
Reinstall within 30 days
If you reinstall WhatsApp within 30 days of deleting your account, your old account is regained with your chat history intact.
Your contacts will see your profile information again as it was before.
Reinstall after 30 days
If you rejoin WhatsApp after 30 days, it will be considered a new account. Your chat history will be reset.
You will have to build your profile information from scratch. Your contacts may not immediately recognize your new profile.
Does deleting WhatsApp delete your number from contacts?
No, deleting WhatsApp does not remove your phone number from your contacts’ address books.
Your phone number remains saved in their contacts list on their phones.
Their WhatsApp contact list is separate from the phone’s main contacts list. So even if you delete WhatsApp, your number remains in their contacts.
Can you find out if someone has deleted their WhatsApp?
There are a few signs that suggest a contact may have deleted their WhatsApp account:
- Their last seen changes to a long time ago
- Their profile photo is replaced by a default icon
- Their about info is erased
- Your messages to them remain undelivered
- They disappear from all common WhatsApp groups
However, you cannot definitively confirm if someone has deleted WhatsApp unless they tell you directly. There is no built-in way for WhatsApp to notify users if a contact deletes their account.
The account deletion process is designed to be discreet and give users privacy when leaving WhatsApp.
What happens to WhatsApp Business accounts when deleted?
The same rules apply when deleting a WhatsApp Business account:
- The account is deactivated
- Profile info and status are hidden
- Existing chats remain visible to customers
- Removed from any WhatsApp groups
However, one key difference is that if the business reinstalls WhatsApp after 30 days, they do not regain their old business account and chat history.
They have to sign up for a new business account from scratch. This can lead to loss of existing customers and conversations.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Your chat history stays visible to all contacts when you delete WhatsApp
- You disappear from groups and your profile info is hidden
- Contacts can restore your chats if you reinstall within 30 days
- Your phone number stays saved in your contacts’ address book
- There is no built-in way to get notified if a contact deletes WhatsApp
So in most cases, deleting WhatsApp provides privacy by hiding your profile and last seen time from others. However, it does not erase the chat history or remove your number from your contacts’ phones.