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 delete sent messages using the “Delete for everyone” option, which deletes the message for both the sender and receiver.
However, sometimes users may delete a message by accident or wish they could retrieve a message they deleted. So a common question is – can you recover a message deleted using “Delete for everyone” in WhatsApp?
How Does Delete for Everyone Work in WhatsApp?
When you delete a message for everyone, WhatsApp immediately deletes it from its servers and notifies the recipient’s device to delete the message. However, there is a short time window between when you delete it and when the recipient’s device gets notified.
During this time, the message may still be on the recipient’s device but marked for deletion. Once their device is online and gets the deletion notification, the message is removed. So if you are quick, there are some ways you may be able to recover recently deleted messages.
Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages on Android?
If you use WhatsApp on an Android device, there are a few methods you can try to retrieve deleted messages:
Using WhatsApp Notification Log
WhatsApp stores notifications for recently deleted messages on Android. To view them:
- Go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced Settings
- Look for WhatsApp messages marked “Deleted Message”
- The notification preview may show the message text
However, this only shows the last few deleted messages. Older deletions won’t be available.
Using Local Database Files
WhatsApp stores your chat history in an encrypted local database on your device. You can access it using Android’s backup utilities or certain third-party apps like Dr.Fone.
This method provides access to your archived chats and lets you extract deleted messages as long as they haven’t been removed from your device’s local storage.
Using Google Drive Backups
WhatsApp gives you the option to backup your chats to Google Drive. If enabled, you can restore archived chats and messages, including deletions, from these backups.
However, this only works if –
- You have Google Drive backups enabled
- The message was deleted after the last backup
Backups are only done periodically so recently deleted messages may not be recoverable this way.
Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages on iPhone?
On iOS devices, recovering deleted WhatsApp messages is trickier but not impossible in some cases. Here are some options:
Using iTunes or Finder Backups
iTunes (or Finder on newer Macs) can be used to backup and restore your iPhone data. If WhatsApp chats are included in the backup, you can restore earlier versions to access deleted messages.
However, iTunes backups do not happen automatically. You need to connect your phone and manually take backups periodically to increase chances of finding deleted messages in time.
Using iCloud Backups
If you have iCloud backups enabled, you may be able to recover deleted WhatsApp messages from there. The process is similar to using iTunes backups.
For recently deleted messages, you can immediately take an iCloud backup after the deletion, then restore from it.
Using Third-party Tools
Some third-party iOS data recovery software claim to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages by extracting local app data from device backups. However, results may vary due to WhatsApp’s encryption.
Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages on Web/Desktop?
Due to how WhatsApp Web/Desktop works, it is unlikely you’ll be able to recover deleted messages here. When you delete a chat on mobile, it gets deleted on linked Web/Desktop versions too.
However, one workaround is –
- Open Web/Desktop before the message is deleted from your phone.
- The deleted message may still be visible there temporarily even after deletion from mobile.
- You can quickly copy or screenshot the message on Web/Desktop before it disappears.
Apart from this, recovering deleted WhatsApp messages directly on Web or Desktop is not possible currently.
Tips to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages
Based on the above methods, here are some tips to help you recover deleted WhatsApp messages:
- Act quickly – Your chances are highest to recover recently deleted messages before they get removed from all locations.
- Have backups enabled – Regular local or cloud backups make recovery more likely.
- Use multiple methods – Try notification log, local files, backups and third-party tools for best results.
- Don’t overwrite backups – If the message was deleted after your last backup, create a new backup first before restoring older one.
- Export chats regularly – Manually exporting chats to storage periodically means you’ll have more archived copies to retrieve deletions from.
Why Deleted WhatsApp Messages Can’t Always be Recovered
While the above methods may work in some cases, there are a few reasons why recovering deleted WhatsApp messages is unreliable or impossible in most cases:
- End-to-end encryption – Messages are encrypted before sending, so only the sender and recipient have the keys to decrypt.
- Metadata deletions – WhatsApp deletes message details from databases after retention periods.
- Asynchronous nature – Lag between deletion and device notification makes recovery time-sensitive.
- Frequent backups needed – Backups must be recent enough to contain message before deletion.
- Limited preview data – Notification logs and previews show limited message data.
Due to these factors, there is no foolproof method to recover deleted WhatsApp messages reliably in every case. The best prevention is to avoid deleting important messages in the first place.
Conclusion
While possible in some cases, recovering deleted WhatsApp messages is not straightforward, especially after significant time has passed. Trying methods like notification logs, local backups and cloud restores might work to retrieve recently deleted messages if you act fast.
But ultimately, there is no guaranteed way to recover any WhatsApp message deleted for everyone. Once the deletion syncs across devices, the message is essentially gone for good in most cases. So the only sure-shot way to preserve important conversations is to back them up or export them before deleting.
| Platform | Recovery Methods | Reliability |
|---|---|---|
| Android | Notification Log, Local Database, Google Drive Backup | Medium – Good for recent deletions if backups are available |
| iPhone | iTunes/Finder Backup, iCloud Backup, Third-party tools | Low – Reliant on recent backups, which are not always available |
| Web/Desktop | Open chat before deletion, no direct recovery | Low – Web/Desktop deletion is synchronized |