WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion active users. It allows people to easily communicate with friends, family, coworkers, and more through text, voice notes, video calls, and other features.
However, there may come a time when someone decides they want to permanently delete their WhatsApp account and all of its data. This could be for privacy reasons, to take a break from the app, or if they are getting a new phone number not tied to their account. Whatever the reason, deleting a WhatsApp account is possible but there are some key things to keep in mind.
Why Would You Want to Delete WhatsApp?
Here are some of the most common reasons someone may want to delete their WhatsApp account:
- Privacy and security concerns – WhatsApp collects a significant amount of data from its users including contacts, messages, location, etc. Some may wish to delete this data.
- Change of phone number – If you get a new phone number you may wish to delete your old WhatsApp account tied to your previous number.
- Temporary break from the app – Some people may wish to take a break from WhatsApp but don’t want to lose their data.
- Switching to a different messaging app – You may wish to move over to a different messaging platform and therefore no longer need your WhatsApp.
- Too distracting – For some, WhatsApp can be distracting or encourage too much screen time, so deleting it can help reduce distractions.
What Data is Deleted When You Delete WhatsApp?
When you choose to permanently delete your WhatsApp account, the following data will be erased:
- Your account info and profile data
- All of your groups you created or were a member of
- Your entire WhatsApp message history and media files sent/received
- Any backups associated with your account
- Your contact list from WhatsApp
Essentially, all personal data tied to your specific account will be deleted off WhatsApp’s servers. However, there are a couple of exceptions:
- Messages you sent to another user will still be visible in their chat history.
- If you were added to a group by another user, that group will still exist without you.
- If any of your media files were saved to another user’s device, they will still have them.
How to Permanently Delete Your WhatsApp Account
To permanently delete your WhatsApp account, follow these steps:
- Open WhatsApp on your device
- Go to Settings > Account > Delete My Account
- You will be prompted to enter your phone number in full format (country code + number)
- Tap on the Delete My Account button at the bottom of the screen
- A popup will ask you to confirm deleting your account – tap Delete
Once you complete the steps above, your account will be scheduled for deletion. Due to the nature of distributed systems, your data may still remain on WhatsApp servers for up to 90 days before being fully erased. You will not be able to reactivate your account once you delete it.
What Happens When You Delete WhatsApp?
Here are the key things that will happen when you choose to permanently delete your WhatsApp account:
- You will immediately be logged out of WhatsApp on your device.
- Your account will be deactivated and scheduled for deletion from WhatsApp’s servers.
- All of your groups will be deleted.
- Your entire chat history will be erased.
- You will disappear from all group chats you were a part of.
- Your contacts will no longer see your profile photo, status, or any information about you.
- You will not receive any new messages or be able to send messages.
- Re-registering your phone number to WhatsApp will create a brand new account.
In summary, all personal data and traces of your account will eventually be completely removed from WhatsApp’s systems. Your friends or group members will no longer see you on the app.
What Happens to Your WhatsApp Data and Chats?
When you delete your WhatsApp account, all of the data associated with your account will be erased over time by WhatsApp. This includes:
- Your message history – All previous chats will be deleted and disappear.
- Your groups – Any groups you created will be erased. You will also be removed from any groups you were added to.
- Your media – Photos, videos, voice messages, documents etc. you sent or received will be deleted.
- Your contacts – Your WhatsApp contacts will be erased.
- Your account info – Profile photo, last seen status, about info etc. will be removed.
However, there are a few cases where some of your data may still exist:
- If you sent an individual chat message to someone, that message will remain in their chat history.
- If you sent a media file to someone and they saved it to their device storage, they will still have that file.
- If someone else in a group chat you were in quotes your message, their quote will remain but not your original message.
- If someone else has your phone number in their contacts, their WhatsApp contact info for you will remain but become unlinked.
So while almost all traces of your account will eventually be deleted, fragments of your data may still remain in places if it was shared with others. The key is your personal account and associated data will be gone.
Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Data?
Unfortunately, if you choose to permanently delete your WhatsApp account, recovering your deleted data is extremely difficult and unlikely:
- WhatsApp does not provide any way to retrieve your deleted account or data after account deletion.
- There is no “trash” or “recently deleted” section where your account information is stored temporarily.
- Your chat history cannot be restored through WhatsApp once your account is deleted.
- It is not possible to use data recovery software to salvage deleted WhatsApp data due to encryption.
Your only option is if you previously created a Google Drive or iCloud backup of your WhatsApp data. You could then restore your backup to a new account. But without an existing backup, your deleted WhatsApp data and account are likely gone forever.
What If You Change Your Mind After Deleting WhatsApp?
Once you make the decision to delete your WhatsApp account, it is permanent and very difficult to undo. But what if you change your mind later on?
Unfortunately, WhatsApp does not allow you to recover a deleted account. However, all hope is not completely lost:
- If it is within 30 days of deleting your account, you may be able to restore certain data if you had Google Drive or iCloud backups enabled.
- You can create a brand new WhatsApp account using the same phone number. However, none of your previous chats or groups will remain.
- You can try reaching out to WhatsApp support to see if they can recover your account, but chances are very slim.
- With enough effort, you may be able to manually recreate your chats by asking people to send you chat history they have with you.
But overall, once your WhatsApp account is deleted, consider it gone forever unless you had backups enabled. So be 100% sure before proceeding with permanent deletion.
Does Deleting WhatsApp Delete it From Your Phone?
When you delete your WhatsApp account through the app, it does not automatically delete or uninstall the WhatsApp app from your device. The WhatsApp app itself will still remain installed and functional.
However, when you delete your account the app will become unusable until you register with a new account. You will be logged out and unable to access any of your old chats or account info. All personal data will be wiped from both the app and WhatsApp’s servers.
If you wish to do a complete removal of WhatsApp from your phone or computer, you will need to uninstall the app manually after deleting your account. The account deletion just disconnects your account from the app – it does not remove the app itself.
Can Someone Else Re-Register Your Number After You Delete WhatsApp?
An important consideration when deleting your WhatsApp account is that someone else can potentially take over your phone number and create a new WhatsApp account with it. Here is what to know:
- Once your WhatsApp account is deleted, the phone number it was registered to becomes available for anyone else to register.
- Someone else could take over your old phone number and create a new WhatsApp account with it.
- They would then have access to your previous contacts and chat history still associated with that number.
- The only way to prevent this is keeping your phone number active so no one else can obtain it.
Therefore, if you want to guarantee no one else has access to your number on WhatsApp, you need to keep that phone number active by transferring it to a new device after deleting your account.
Conclusion
Deleting your WhatsApp account is a permanent decision that will eventually erase all of your personal chats, groups, media, and data from WhatsApp’s servers. While fragments of your data may remain in isolated cases, you will completely lose access to your account and chat history.
If you change your mind after deleting your account, recovery is extremely difficult and unlikely unless you had previous backups. You will need to create an entirely new account and start fresh. Be 100% certain you want to delete your WhatsApp before proceeding.
Overall, deleting your WhatsApp account means saying goodbye to your personal data and message history for good. Make sure you fully understand the implications before going through with permanent account deletion.