WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is the ability to send messages, photos, videos and files to other users quickly and easily.
However, after sending a message you may have regretted sending something or wanted to delete a message for other reasons. A common question for WhatsApp users is – can I delete a WhatsApp message after it has been sent?
Can You Delete WhatsApp Messages After Sending?
The short answer is yes, you can delete WhatsApp messages after sending them, but only if done soon enough. WhatsApp gives you a brief window of time to delete messages you have sent to other users.
There are a couple of important factors that determine whether you can delete a WhatsApp message:
- Time limit – WhatsApp currently allows you to delete messages up to 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds after sending them. Any messages older than this time cannot be deleted.
- Recipient’s phone – The message must not have been read by the recipient yet on their phone for you to be able to delete it.
So in summary, if the message is less than 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds old, and the recipient has not read it yet, you can successfully delete the message from both your and their chat.
Step-by-Step Guide to Delete WhatsApp Messages
If you want to delete a WhatsApp message you have sent, here is a simple step-by-step guide:
- Open the WhatsApp chat that contains the message you want to delete.
- Tap and hold on the message you want to delete to select it.
- This will open up a menu – tap on the trash can icon to delete the message.
- A pop-up will appear confirming you want to delete the message. Tap Delete.
The message will now be deleted from your device and your recipient’s chat thread if they have not already seen it. The message will be replaced by “This message was deleted” which will be visible to both of you.
What Happens When You Delete a WhatsApp Message
When you delete a WhatsApp message within the time limit, here is what happens:
- The message is deleted from your WhatsApp chat thread on your phone.
- The message is deleted from the recipient’s WhatsApp chat if they have not already seen it.
- The message is replaced by “This message was deleted” in your chat and the recipient’s chat.
- If the recipient has already seen the message, deleting it will only remove it from your device’s chat thread.
- Deleted messages are removed from WhatsApp’s servers so they cannot be retrieved.
Essentially, the message is permanently deleted as long as the recipient did not already view it. However, the action of deleting the message is recorded so you and the recipient are aware a message was deleted.
Does Deleting a WhatsApp Message Delete it For Everyone?
As outlined above, deleting a WhatsApp message within 1 hour, 8 minutes removes it from both your chat thread and the recipient’s. But there is one important caveat.
If the recipient has already read your message before you delete it, the message will remain in their chat thread even if deleted from your end. Deleting it simply removes your copy of the message, not theirs.
So in summary:
- If a message is deleted before being read, it is deleted for both sender and recipient.
- If a message is deleted after being read, it is only deleted locally for the sender.
Can You Delete WhatsApp Messages After 1 Hour 8 Minutes?
Unfortunately, WhatsApp does not allow you to delete messages older than 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds. Once this relatively short time window has passed, there is no built-in way to delete messages you have sent.
Even if the recipient has not read the message, the delete message option will no longer be available once the time limit expires.
This is an intentional safeguard introduced by WhatsApp. It prevents abuse of the delete feature by making sure messages cannot be removed too long after sending. This promotes greater transparency and communication record keeping.
Tips for Deleting WhatsApp Messages
Here are some useful tips to keep in mind for deleting WhatsApp messages:
- Act fast – Delete messages as soon as you can if you need to remove them for both parties.
- 1 hour window – Keep track of the short 1 hour, 8 minute window you have to delete messages.
- Unread messages – Recipients keeping your message unread will allow you to delete it.
- Screenshots – Recipients can still take screenshots of your message before you delete it.
- Backup copies – Deleted messages may still be recovered from cloud backups.
Third-Party Apps to Delete Older WhatsApp Messages
While WhatsApp’s built-in feature only allows you to delete messages less than 1 hour, 8 minutes old, there are some third-party apps that claim to be able to delete older WhatsApp messages.
Examples include:
- WAMR – Delete Message for WhatsApp
- WhatsRemoved+
- Unsend for WhatsApp
These apps work by accessing your local WhatsApp database and editing or deleting the message data directly. However, this will only remove the message from your local copy of the chat. The message will still exist on the recipient’s phone if already viewed.
Deleting older WhatsApp messages with these apps is not always reliable and couldpotentially violate WhatsApp’s terms of service. Use at your own discretion.
Can You Delete WhatsApp Messages After 24 hours?
No, there is no way to directly delete WhatsApp messages older than 1 hour, 8 minutes using the built-in platform tools. This includes messages older than 24 hours.
Even third-party apps may find it difficult or impossible to reliably delete day-old WhatsApp messages from both the sender and recipient copies of the chat.
For all practical purposes, consider any WhatsApp message older than 1 hour, 8 minutes to be permanent and unable to be deleted or revoked by the sender.
Can a WhatsApp Admin Delete Messages For Everyone?
In a WhatsApp Group chat, admins have additional privileges and capabilities compared to regular group participants. However, WhatsApp does not enable even group admins to delete messages sent by others in the group.
The 1 hour, 8 minute limit applies per individual user – group admins cannot selectively delete messages past this time frame, even their own. Nobody in a WhatsApp group chat can delete messages in the group older than 1 hour, 8 minutes.
WhatsApp Message Deletion – FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about deleting messages on WhatsApp:
Can I delete a message for someone else?
No, you can only delete your own messages on WhatsApp, not messages sent by other people.
Do deleted WhatsApp messages get removed from backups?
Deleted WhatsApp messages also get removed from local iPhone and Android backups. However, third party cloud backups may still retain deleted messages.
If I delete a message, does the notification stay on the other phone?
When you delete a message within 1hr 8mins, any notifications related to that message will also be deleted on the recipient’s device.
Can I delete WhatsApp messages online?
No, messages can only be deleted using the mobile apps, not via WhatsApp Web which does not have a delete option.
Do deleted messages get removed from WhatsApp’s servers?
Yes, deleted WhatsApp messages are permanently removed from WhatsApp’s servers and cannot be retrieved.
Conclusion
In summary, WhatsApp allows you to delete sent messages, but only within 1 hour and 8 minutes of sending them. Once this relatively short time window has passed, there is no built-in way to remove or revoke messages on either your device or the recipient’s. While third party apps claim to be able to delete older WhatsApp messages, this is not officially supported by WhatsApp and may not work reliably. For all intents and purposes, any WhatsApp message older than 1 hour and 8 minutes should be considered permanent and impossible to delete by the sender.