It can be frustrating when messages you’ve sent on WhatsApp get reported as spam by the recipient, especially if it was a mistake. When a message gets flagged as spam, it gets deleted for both the sender and receiver. So how do you recover those messages that were wrongly reported as spam?
The short answer is – you can’t recover deleted messages on WhatsApp if they were reported as spam. Once a message is flagged as spam and deleted, it’s gone from WhatsApp’s servers and there’s no way to retrieve it.
However, there are a few things you can try to avoid or deal with messages being incorrectly flagged as spam in the future:
Why Messages Get Flagged as Spam
Before going into the solutions, it helps to understand why WhatsApp messages get flagged as spam in the first place:
- Sending a lot of similar messages to one recipient in a short time.
- Sending the same message to multiple recipients (mass messaging).
- Sending links or clickbait content.
- Messaging someone you don’t know well or isn’t in your contacts.
- Your account got compromised and used to send spam by someone else.
WhatsApp has automatic spam detection that looks for these kinds of patterns. If it detects anything suspicious, the message will get flagged as spam automatically without the recipient having to report it.
However, sometimes messages get incorrectly flagged as spam even if you didn’t intend them to be. The recipient may also report a message as spam by accident. So what should you do?
Prevent Messages From Being Flagged as Spam
Here are some tips to avoid having your WhatsApp messages reported as spam:
1. Don’t Mass Message
Avoid sending the same message to too many contacts at once, even if you know them. WhatsApp limits how many times the same message can be forwarded to discourage spamming.
2. Don’t Message Strangers
Don’t send unsolicited messages to people who are not in your contacts, especially links or ads. This will likely get flagged as spam.
3. Add a Custom Notification
You can add a custom notification at the top of long messages, like “Please read this important announcement from [Your Name]”. This gives context to why you are messaging.
4. Avoid Clickbait and Suspicious Links
Don’t forward messages with over-sensationalized headlines or untrustworthy links. These are red flags for spam.
5. Spread Out Your Messages
If you need to send multiple similar messages, space them out instead of sending them all at once. This looks less like spamming.
6. Ask Recipients to Mark Your Messages as Not Spam
If recipients you know get your messages marked as spam, ask them to mark you as a trusted contact so it doesn’t happen again.
Following these best practices for messaging should help prevent issues with legitimate messages getting caught by WhatsApp’s spam detection. But sometimes mistakes still happen.
What To Do If Your Message Is Flagged as Spam
If you find out a message you sent was reported as spam, here are some things you can try:
1. Ask the Recipient to Unreport the Message
If the recipient reported your message as spam by mistake, ask them to long-press on the message and select “Report Spam”. This will undo the spam report.
2. Ask the Recipient to Forward the Message Back to You
If the recipient can still see the message in their spam notifications, ask them to forward it back to you so you have a copy.
3. Restore From a Recent Backup
If you have a recent backup of your WhatsApp messages, you may find the deleted message in there and be able to recover it.
4. Use a Third Party App (Limited Success)
Some apps claim they can recover deleted WhatsApp messages, like iMyFone D-Back and Fonelab. But this does not work if the message was deleted from WhatsApp’s servers.
5. Send the Message Again
As a last resort, you can send the message again if it’s still relevant. Explain to the recipient what happened to avoid confusion.
While you can’t directly recover a message marked as spam, taking preventative steps can help avoid issues in the future. Be mindful of what might look like spam, and ask recipients to unreport you if they make a mistake.
Can Messages Deleted by Recipient Be Recovered?
What about recovering a WhatsApp message that was deleted specifically by the recipient, rather than being flagged as spam? Unfortunately, it’s the same situation:
- Once a recipient deletes a message you sent, it’s gone from WhatsApp’s servers and can’t be retrieved.
- Backups may have a copy of the deleted message you can restore.
- Third party apps offer limited success in recovering deleted messages.
- You can resend a message if needed, but won’t recover the original deleted copy.
The message is deleted from the recipient’s device and your chat history. You have no way to recover it directly through WhatsApp.
How to Back Up WhatsApp Messages
Since backups provide the only hope for recovering deleted WhatsApp messages, it’s essential to regularly back up your chats. Here are the ways to back up your messages:
Android Backup Options
- Local Backup: Android backups messages to local storage automatically. But this backup is overwritten frequently.
- Google Drive Backup: You can configure WhatsApp to backup your messages to Google Drive. This provides long-term cloud storage.
To set up Google Drive backup:
- Open WhatsApp > Tap More Options > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Backup to Google Drive and select a backup frequency (daily, weekly etc).
iPhone Backup Options
- iCloud Backup: WhatsApp messages are included in iCloud backups as long as you have iCloud backup enabled in Settings.
- iTunes Backup: Connect your iPhone to a computer and backup to iTunes to include WhatsApp messages.
Make sure to back up your messages regularly so you have a way to recover deleted and spam-flagged messages if needed.
Conclusion
To summarize the key points:
- Messages deleted after being flagged as spam cannot be recovered directly within WhatsApp.
- Avoid mass messaging and other behaviors that may trigger spam detection.
- Ask recipients to unreport you if they mistakenly marked your messages as spam.
- Back up your chats frequently using Google Drive or iCloud.
- Third party apps offer limited success in recovering deleted messages from backups.
While accidentally losing messages is frustrating, being careful about how you message and regularly backing up conversations are the best ways to protect your chat history on WhatsApp. With the right precautions, you can avoid having important messages erroneously flagged and deleted as spam.