WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of its key features is the ability to send and receive voice messages, making communication quick and easy. However, sometimes you may regret sending a voice message or want to delete it after the recipient has listened to it. So, an important question arises – when you delete a voice message on WhatsApp, can the recipient still see it?
The short answer is no. When you delete a voice message that you’ve sent on WhatsApp, it gets deleted from the server and the recipient’s phone. So once it’s deleted, the recipient can no longer access or see that voice message. The steps to delete a voice message on WhatsApp are quite simple. Here is a quick rundown:
On Android:
- Open the individual or group chat where you have sent the voice message.
- Long press on the voice message that you want to delete.
- This will open up options – tap on the trash icon to delete it.
- Confirm the delete action by tapping on ‘Delete for me’ or ‘Delete for everyone’ option.
On iPhone:
- Open the chat and tap and hold on the voice message.
- Tap on the trash icon on the top left corner.
- Confirm the delete action by tapping on ‘Delete for Me’ or ‘Delete for Everyone’.
That’s it! The voice message will be permanently deleted from the chat and neither you nor the recipient will be able to retrieve it.
Technical Details on How Deletion Works
To understand why a deleted voice message disappears entirely from the recipient’s phone, we need to look at how WhatsApp handles voice messages technically:
- When you send a voice message on WhatsApp, it gets uploaded to WhatsApp’s servers and then downloaded to the recipient’s device when they receive it.
- The voice message does not get saved on the recipient’s device initially. It gets streamed from WhatsApp’s server whenever they hit play.
- Only when the recipient listens to the full voice message does it get saved locally on their device’s storage.
- So if you delete the voice message before the recipient has listened to the full thing, it gets deleted from WhatsApp’s server itself.
- As a result, the recipient’s app is unable to retrieve the voice message for streaming or download as it no longer exists on the server.
- The same thing happens if you delete after the recipient has heard the full message. The locally saved copy on their device also gets deleted.
Therefore, it does not matter at what point you delete the voice message – before or after the recipient has played it. Either way, it will be unavailable and deleted entirely for the recipient once you delete it on your end. The encrypted nature of WhatsApp communications ensures this level of control and privacy.
Points to Note
While deleted voice messages are permanently gone, here are some points that are worth noting:
- If you delete a voice message that you forwarded from another chat, it only gets deleted from the forward recipient’s chat. The original recipient will still have it.
- Delete for everyone has a limited time frame. You can only delete a message for everyone within 1 hour 8 minutes and 16 seconds of sending it.
- If you choose to delete for yourself, the recipient may have already saved a copy which they will still have access to.
- Deleted voice messages don’t go to any trash folder. They are purged from WhatsApp’s servers.
- Accidental deletes can’t be undone. There is no way to retrieve deleted voice messages.
So in summary – yes, when you delete a voice message you’ve sent on WhatsApp, it completely disappears for the recipient with no way to get it back.
Why Does WhatsApp Allow Deletion of Sent Voice Messages?
This leads to the broader question – why does WhatsApp give senders the ability to delete messages, including voice messages, after they have been listened to by the recipients? Here are some key reasons:
- Mistakes happen – you may share something unintended in the heat of the moment that you regret later. Deletion provides a quick remedy.
- Helps maintain privacy – you have control over what you have shared and can remove it if you change your mind later.
- Useful for sensitive, confidential or time-bound conversations.
- Gives users flexibility to manage their communications and history.
- Aligns with WhatsApp’s emphasis on privacy and encrypted messaging.
- Prevents messages from being taken out of context if shared wider.
Therefore, while controversial in some aspects, the delete feature overall aligns with user expectations around messaging apps like WhatsApp.
How to be Sure a Voice Message is Deleted on WhatsApp
Wondering how you can confirm if a sent voice message is surely deleted and gone for the recipient? Here are some simple steps:
- Delete the voice message from your end using the steps outlined earlier.
- Check your phone’s WhatsApp storage settings to see the space freed up.
- Open the individual or group chat and verify the voice message bubble is gone.
- Ask the recipient to confirm deletion or double check their phone.
- Lastly, log out and back in to WhatsApp to sync and verify deletion.
As long as the voice message disappears from your end of the chat, you can rest assured it has been deleted from the recipient’s phone as well. There are no known ways to retrieve deleted voice messages on WhatsApp due to its end-to-end encryption.
Mistakes to Avoid When Deleting Voice Messages
While WhatsApp makes it easy to delete sent voice messages, there are some mistakes that could compromise your goal:
- Don’t wait too long – try to delete sensitive chats soon after sending.
- Avoid third-party deletion apps – they break WhatsApp’s encryption.
- Don’t delete only for yourself – recipient may have backups.
- Don’t expect deletes to work in group chats – someone may have saved it.
- Enable security options like 2-step verification and Touch/Face ID to protect against unauthorized access.
Being mindful of these aspects will ensure your voice messages are permanently deleted in a secure manner on WhatsApp when required.
How Voice Message Deletion Works on Other Apps
The ability to delete sent voice messages is not unique to WhatsApp. Let’s see how it works on some other popular messaging apps:
Telegram
- Lets you delete voice messages for all participants in private chats.
- Can selectively delete in groups – for yourself or for everyone.
- Deleted voice messages are removed from Telegram’s cloud.
Signal
- Offers delete for everyone and for yourself options.
- Deleted voice messages are permanently erased and not stored.
- Allows you to delete voice messages from recipient’s phone even if heard.
Facebook Messenger
- Sent voice messages sit in Messenger’s servers and not saved to phone.
- Deleting for you or recipient removes from servers so inaccessible.
- But recipients may take backups which they’ll retain locally.
So in summary, the common theme is that deleting voice messages makes them inaccessible to recipients across popular secure messaging apps. But backups or platform differences may allow traces to remain in some cases.
Conclusion
To conclude, when you delete a voice message on WhatsApp, it completely disappears from the recipient’s phone as well as your end with no way to retrieve it. This happens thanks to WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption and because voice messages are streamed from servers rather than stored locally. So you can rest assured that any deleted voice message is permanently gone from the app and inaccessible to the recipient. Just be mindful of any potential backups on the receiver’s end. Overall, the ability to delete voice messages allows WhatsApp users control over their communications and privacy.