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 see when a message has been delivered and read through its tick system. A single tick means the message has been sent, two ticks mean it has been delivered, and two blue ticks indicate the message has been read.
But what happens if you regret sending a message and decide to delete it before the recipient has seen it? Will the message still be visible to them? The short answer is no, deleting a WhatsApp message before it receives two ticks ensures it is erased for everyone. However, there are some important caveats to understand about how message deletion works on WhatsApp.
How WhatsApp’s Tick System Works
To understand what happens when deleting a message, it’s important to first comprehend WhatsApp’s tick delivery system:
- One gray tick – The message has been successfully sent from your device.
- Two gray ticks – The message has reached the recipient’s device.
- Two blue ticks – The recipient has opened and read your message.
The two gray ticks indicate your message has been delivered to the recipient’s phone. This means it is now stored on their device, even if they haven’t opened WhatsApp to view it yet.
Deleting Messages Before Two Gray Ticks
When you delete a WhatsApp message on your device before it receives two gray ticks, it will be deleted from WhatsApp’s servers and will no longer send to the recipient’s phone. So if you regret sending a message, deleting it at this stage ensures no one will ever see it.
Effectively, this means there is a small window between sending the message and the two gray ticks of delivery where you can permanently erase the message for all parties.
Example Scenario
For example, let’s say you accidentally send an embarrassing message to a friend. If you realize your mistake and delete the message before the two gray ticks appear, your friend will never receive the message. It will be erased from WhatsApp’s servers like it never existed.
Deleting After Two Gray Ticks
However, once your message receives two gray ticks, deleting it will only remove it from your device and WhatsApp’s servers. Since the message has already been delivered and stored on your friend’s phone, they will still be able to see the message in their chat history, even though it’s deleted on your end.
So if you delete an embarrassing message after it’s been delivered, the recipient will still see the message on their end. You cannot delete it from their phone retroactively.
Example Scenario
For example, let’s say you text your boss complaining about a coworker. If you delete the message after it has been delivered with two gray ticks, your boss will still see the complaint on their phone and chat history, even though it’s now deleted on your end. There is no way to erase the message from their device after delivery.
Deleting Before Two Blue Ticks
WhatsApp has a third tick stage called two blue ticks that indicate the recipient has read your message. If you delete a message after delivery but before the two blue ticks, the recipient will still see the message on their device and chat screen.
However, they will see the notice “This message was deleted” instead of the message content itself. So deleting at this stage prevents the actual message text from being read even though delivery was successful.
Example Scenario
For instance, let’s say you send your friend a message with private information. If you delete it after delivery but before your friend opens WhatsApp to read it, they will only see “This message was deleted” in your chat. They won’t be able to read the actual deleted message.
Does WhatsApp Notify the Recipient of Deleted Messages?
WhatsApp does not directly notify someone if you delete a message. The recipient will only realize a message was deleted if:
- They see the “This message was deleted” notice in place of the message text.
- Your chat suddenly skips from Message 1 to Message 3, indicating Message 2 was deleted.
- You tell them you deleted a message you previously sent.
Other than these scenarios, WhatsApp provides no notifications when a message is deleted before being read. The recipient may never know unless there is an obvious gap in the chat history.
Can You Recover a Deleted WhatsApp Message?
No, there is no way to retrieve a deleted WhatsApp message on either your device or the recipient’s device. Once deleted, the message is permanently erased from WhatsApp’s servers and phones.
Recovery is only possible if you backed up your WhatsApp messages to an external source like iCloud or Google Drive before deleting the message. But there is no native WhatsApp feature to retrieve deleted messages.
Does Deleting a WhatsApp Message Delete It for Group Chats?
For group chats, deleting a WhatsApp message will delete it from the group for you, but not others. So if you delete a message you sent to a group, other members will still see and have access to that message in the group chat history.
You can only delete a message for everyone in a WhatsApp group chat if you are the group admin. Group admins have the ability to delete any message for all group participants.
Can Someone Detect if You Screenshot a Deleted WhatsApp Message?
There is no way for someone to detect if you took a screenshot of a WhatsApp message before it was deleted. WhatsApp’s screenshot detection only works for active messages that have not been deleted.
So if you view and screenshot a message before the sender deletes it, they will have no indication you captured the deleted message via screenshot. Screenshot detection only applies to live messages.
Conclusion
To summarize, deleting a WhatsApp message is only permanent if done before the two gray ticks of delivery. Once delivered, a message can only be deleted for you – the recipient will still have access to deleted messages in their chat history. There is no way to retrieve a deleted WhatsApp message unless you previously backed it up elsewhere.
The key takeaways are:
- Delete before two gray ticks = message erased for everyone
- Delete after delivery = recipient keeps message
- No notification when you delete a message
- No way to recover deleted WhatsApp messages
Understanding the nuances of when and how WhatsApp deletes messages can prevent embarrassing mistakes. Always delete quickly if you have second thoughts about sending a message.