You may have encountered a situation where someone has sent you an unwanted or inappropriate message on WhatsApp and you want to delete it or block them. The good news is – yes, you can delete or block messages and users on WhatsApp to take control of your messaging experience. Read on to understand how blocking works on WhatsApp and how to delete or block messages and users.
How does blocking work on WhatsApp?
When you block someone on WhatsApp, it prevents them from:
– Calling you or sending you messages. Any incoming calls or messages from a blocked contact will not come through.
– Seeing your last seen, online status, or any updates to your profile photo or About section.
– Adding you to groups. A blocked contact cannot add you to any WhatsApp groups.
However, blocking someone does not delete their messages or remove them from your contacts list – it simply prevents any further communication from their side. You can still see their messages and calls in your chat history, although it will show “You blocked this user” where their name would be.
Blocking is unilateral – if you block someone, they will not know they have been blocked by you. The feature is designed for your privacy and to limit unwanted communication.
How to delete a single message on WhatsApp
If you just want to delete a specific message that someone has sent you on WhatsApp, it’s easy to do so:
1. Open the individual or group chat where you received the message.
2. Long press on the message you want to delete. This will highlight it with a background color.
3. Tap the trash can icon at the top of your screen to delete that message.
4. Confirm deleting the message.
The message will be immediately deleted for you. However, it will still be visible to other participants in the chat.
You can only delete messages up to 1 hour after they have been sent. After that time period, there is no native option on WhatsApp to delete that message.
How to delete a contact’s messages
If you want to delete an entire chat history with a user, here are the steps:
1. Open the chat with that contact.
2. Tap on their name/number at the top of the chat screen.
3. Scroll down and tap “Delete chat”.
4. Confirm deleting the chat.
This will permanently erase your chat history with that user. The contact will remain in your contacts list, but your entire chat history will be deleted.
You can also delete their messages from the Chats list:
1. Go to your Chats list in WhatsApp.
2. Swipe right on the chat with the contact.
3. Tap “Delete”.
4. Confirm deleting the chat.
Again, this will erase your chat history with them but keep them in your contacts.
How to block a user
To block someone on WhatsApp so they can’t contact you again:
1. Open the chat with the contact you want to block.
2. Tap on their name/number at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll down and tap “Block contact”.
4. Confirm blocking the user.
You can also block them from the Chats list:
1. Go to your Chats list in WhatsApp.
2. Swipe right on their chat.
3. Tap “Block”.
4. Confirm blocking the contact.
This will block them as per the blocking behavior explained earlier. You will no longer receive any messages or calls from that user.
To unblock someone, follow the same steps and tap “Unblock” instead. Unblocking will allow them to message you again.
How to report unwanted messages to WhatsApp
If someone is sending abusive, threatening, or inappropriate messages, you can report the contact and their messages directly to WhatsApp:
1. Open the individual chat with the contact.
2. Tap on their name/number at the top.
3. Scroll down and tap “Report contact”.
4. Tap “Report” on the next screen.
This will send the contact’s recent messages to WhatsApp for further investigation. WhatsApp takes user reports very seriously and looks into each case thoroughly.
You can also report specific messages instead of the entire contact:
1. Long press on the message you want to report.
2. Tap “Report”.
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to send a report to WhatsApp.
Reporting objectionable content helps make WhatsApp safer for everyone. Only report others if they are genuinely harassing you or sending problematic content on the platform.
Can I retrieve deleted messages on WhatsApp?
Unfortunately, once you delete a message or chat history on WhatsApp, there is no native way to retrieve it. The messages are permanently erased from WhatsApp’s servers.
Here are some things to keep in mind about retrieving deleted WhatsApp messages:
– There is no feature within WhatsApp itself to recover deleted messages. They are completely removed from their servers.
– You cannot see deleted messages on WhatsApp even if they were backed up to Google Drive or iCloud.
– If the messages were stored in a local backup on the device, you can restore that backup to potentially retrieve deleted conversations. But this is only possible if you had backups enabled and had not created any new backups overriding the old ones.
– On Android, you may be able to use data recovery apps to scan your phone’s storage and find remnants of deleted WhatsApp data. But this is not guaranteed to work.
– If the messages were also deleted from the other person’s phone who you were chatting with, then there is almost no way to get them back.
The safest approach is to frequently back up your WhatsApp chats to cloud storage or external storage, and not delete your message history if you think you may want it later. Once deleted from WhatsApp’s servers, messages are likely gone for good.
What happens when you delete messages on WhatsApp?
Here’s a quick summary of what happens when you delete WhatsApp messages:
– When you delete a message, it is removed from your chat screen immediately. Other recipients in the chat can still see the message on their devices.
– After 30 days, even other recipients will no longer be able to see or recover that message.
– Deleted messages are permanently deleted from WhatsApp’s servers so there is no way to retrieve them after 30 days.
– Media content sent via messages like photos, videos, documents etc. is also deleted when you delete the messages.
– You can only delete messages for up to 1 hour after sending them. Older messages get an “undo” option instead of delete.
– Deleting an entire chat history will immediately remove it from your app. Other users will still have the chat history on their devices.
– Backup services like iCloud and Google Drive will retain any deleted messages until the backup is overwritten with newer data.
In summary, delete cautiously as there is limited message recovery possible once you delete chats on WhatsApp!
Frequently Asked Questions
Does blocking someone on WhatsApp delete the chat history?
No, blocking a user on WhatsApp does not automatically delete your chat history with them. It simply prevents any further communication from their side. To delete the message history, you will have to manually delete the chat before or after blocking them.
Can I recover a deleted chat history?
Unfortunately no, there is no way to recover deleted chats on WhatsApp after they have been erased. Your only option is to restore from a previous local or cloud backup if it exists. Chats deleted on WhatsApp are gone forever from their servers.
Will my messages get deleted if I delete someone else’s chat with me?
No, deleting your chat history with another user will only delete the messages from your side. Their chat history with you remains intact on their device. Only by them deleting the chat will your messages be erased from both sides.
Can I selectively delete certain messages in a chat?
Yes, you can long press on individual messages and delete them. This will remove only those messages while retaining the rest of the chat. You can delete multiple specific messages this way.
What happens if I delete a message sent to a group?
When you delete a message you sent to a WhatsApp group, other members will still be able to see that message in the group. Only you will see it as deleted. To delete for everyone, the group admin has to delete their copy of the message.
| Action | Effect on you | Effect on others |
|---|---|---|
| Delete individual message | Message deleted from your chat | Others can still see message |
| Delete full chat history | Entire chat history deleted | Others retain chat history |
| Block a user | Cannot receive their messages | They don’t know you blocked them |
| Report user or messages | Messages sent to WhatsApp for review | WhatsApp investigates user |
Conclusion
In summary, while you cannot retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages, you do have options to remove unwanted chats and messages from your app by blocking users or deleting histories. Be cautious before deleting full chats as they cannot be recovered later. For inappropriate content, make use of the reporting feature so WhatsApp can take action if needed. Back up your important chats and selectively delete messages you no longer need to take control of your WhatsApp messaging experience.