How do you delete whatsapp chats

How to Delete a WhatsApp Message for Yourself or Others

You can delete a message on WhatsApp if you no longer want it to appear in a chat.
Deleting messages on WhatsApp is permanent, and they can not be accessed once deleted.
This story is a part of Business Insider's Guide to WhatsApp.

With millions of people worldwide using WhatsApp daily, chances are you may chat with people multiple times a day via the messaging app yourself.

However, this constant communication also means that it's super easy to end up saying something you didn't mean to, or that's no longer relevant to the conversation.

Thankfully, deleting WhatsApp messages is simple and only takes a few swipes. You can choose to delete messages just for yourself, or delete a message for everyone within an approximately one-hour time limit, meaning that they'll disappear from the other person in the chats inbox as well.

Here's how to do both.

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How to delete a WhatsApp message

1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone or Android device.

2. In the "Chats" menu, tap the chat containing the message that you want to delete.

3. Press and hold down on your screen on the message that you want to delete to reveal a list of options.

4. Tap "Delete" to delete the message.

Tap "Delete." Jennifer Still/Business Insider

5. An edit screen will appear with the message you want to delete selected. Select more messages if you'd like, then tap the trash can icon on your screen to proceed.

Tap the trash can icon. Jennifer Still/Business Insider

6. Tap "Delete for Me" to confirm deletion. The message will then disappear from the chat.

To delete the message for everyone tap "Delete for Everyone" instead of "Delete for Me" to remove the message for everyone involved in the conversation. Note that this option will only be available for roughly an hour after the message has been sent.

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How to delete a WhatsApp contact on your mobile device

Jennifer Still

Jennifer is a writer and editor from Brooklyn, New York, who spends her time traveling, drinking iced coffee, and watching way too much TV. She has bylines in Vanity Fair, Glamour, Decider, Mic, and many more. You can find her on Twitter at @jenniferlstill.

5 Free Way to Delete WhatsApp Chat History Permanently

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July 5, 2017 (Updated: July 29, 2022)

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Whatsapp is the most commonly used chat tool in our daily life, it greatly facilitates people's contact. However, this also caused a lot of potential risks.

Increases the risk of privacy leaks.
Someone could snoop through your WhatsApp Chat History.
Takes up too much space cause the phone running problem.

But one thing you should know is that deleting WhatsApp chats from App doesn't mean you have permanently erased them. The chats can be stored in a backup or Google account.

In this article, I will explore the most useful method to you to delete the WhatsApp chat history permanently for free!? Let's get started!

We can delete our WhatsApp Message History with the methods below:

Method 1: Delete WhatsApp Messages from Chat
Method 2: Delete WhatsApp Messages Permanently from Both Sides
Method 3: Delete WhatsApp Messages from Backup
Method 4: Delete WhatsApp Messages from the Google Account
Method 5: Delete WhatsApp Chat History Permanently (100% Unrecoverable)
Related FAQs about Permanently WhatsApp Deleting

Method 1: Delete WhatsApp Messages from Chat

Both for iPhones and Android Phones

The most direct way to delete WhatsApp messages is in the app itself. You can delete individual messages, conversations, groups, or your entire chat history by following the steps below. Deleted messages are permanently deleted from your phone.

To delete individual messages from a conversation

Open WhatsApp and go to the chat window with the message you want to delete.
Tap and hold on the message.
Tap Delete > Delete for me.

To delete group chat

To delete a group chat, you first need to exit the group.

In the main Chats screen, tap and hold on the chat you wish to delete.
Tap more options from the right pane.
Exit group > EXIT
Tap and hold the group chat again, then tap the delete icon to Delete.

To delete or clear your entire chat history

Go to WhatsApp > Settings (Swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Settings) > Chat >Chat History.
Scroll to the bottom and tap Delete all chats:

Note

Using "Delete All Conversations" or "Clear All Conversations" will not remove you from any groups. Clear All Conversations will delete all messages but leave the conversations in the Chats list.

Method 2:Delete WhatsApp Messages Permanently for Both iPhone & Android

Both for iPhones and Android Phones

Deleting messages for everyone allows you to delete specific messages you’ve sent to an individual or group chat. But here are some preconditions you should be noted:

Make sure the recipients is using the latest version of WhatsApp.
Recipients using WhatsApp for iOS may still have media you sent saved to their Photos, even after the message is deleted from the WhatsApp chat.
You won't be notified with a message if deleting wasn't successful.
You only have about an hour after you've sent a message to request to Delete for Everyone.

Now, follow the guide on how to delete WhatsApp messages from both sides.

Open WhatsApp and go to the chat containing the message you want to delete.
Tap and hold the message. Optionally, select more messages to delete multiple messages at once.
Tap Delete > Delete for everyone.

Method 3: Permanently Delete WhatsApp Messages from Backup

For Android Phones

We know that WhatsApp have the feature to back up data in specific time. So, if you want to delete WhatsApp chats permanently then you should delete the backups by following the instructions below.

Before you begin, consider the following:

Your chat history backup files are saved in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/ folder.
You cannot open these folders outside of WhatsApp.
You will need a file manager to delete these files.

To delete your backups:

Launch your File Manager.
Tap the WhatsApp folder, a list of all WhatsApp sub-folders will appear.
Tap and hold the Databases file.
Select Delete.

Method 4.Delete WhatsApp Messages from the Google Account

For Android Devices

You need to access Google Drive from a computer by visiting drive.google.com. You can find all of the WhatsApp storage backups here (the backups will be here only if you accepted this when installing WhatsApp).

To disable the automatic backup option we have to go to Settings icon >> Settings >> Chats >> Chat backup >> Back up to Google Drive >> Never.

If you followed correctly the steps above, then you should have deleted the WhatsApp conversations for good. Remember, you will not be able to recover the conversations after following these steps.

Method 5: Delete WhatsApp Chat History Permanently with the Third-party

For iPhone

How do you make WhatsApp chat history unrecoverable, then? Here we recommended a WhatsApp eraser App to you - iMyFone Umate Pro. Not only can it help to delete your WhatsApp chat history forever but all kinds of other private data from iPhone/iPad/iPod touch also! Moreover, the data erased by Umate Pro won't be recovered by any data recovery tool.

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Benefit A Lot from Umate Pro:

Preview and select WhatsApp messages, photos, videos, attachments, and other private data to completely erase.
Wipe private WhatsApp fragments that the app leaves behind, which are also for Snapchat, WeChat, Line, Viber, and 10+ third-party apps.
Find out and permanently delete data that you previously deleted, including deleted WhatsApp messages.

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Video about How to Permanently Delete iPhone Whatsapp Message

Steps to Delete WhatsApp Chat History via Umate Pro

Step 1: Download and install iMyFone WhatsApp Eraser on your computer. Open it and connect your iPhone with a cable.
Step 2: Click “Erase Private Data.” And let it scan your iPhone.

Note: You can also choose "Erase Deleted Files" to scan previously deleted WhatsApp data or select "Erase Private Fragments" to wipe third-party app traces.

Step 3: When scanning done, it will show up all the private data of your iPhone. You can preview and select WhatsApp chat history.

Step 4: After that, you can click on "Erase Now" and then confirm to begin.

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iMyFone WhatsApp Eraser was highly spoken of for secure erasure by getintopc. com, MacWorld, APPKED and 100+ more professional software review sites.

FAQ about WhatsApp Messages Deleting

1 Will uninstalling & reinstalling WhatsApp delete chat history?

Will I lose chats if I uninstall WhatsApp? Not absolutely. Your WhatsApp chats are automatically backed up and saved daily to your phone's memory. If you uninstall WhatsApp from your phone, but don't want to lose any of your messages, be sure to manually back up your chats before uninstalling.

2 Are deleted WhatsApp chat history gone forever?

If you don’t care that someone could use a third-party tool to recover your conversations from your phone, then maybe it is indeed "enough". However, anyone who is even a little bit technically savvy could easily recover your private conversations. If you exchanged any important information, they could even use sensitive information to steal your identity in a worst-case scenario.

So what we can do to protect sensitive data from being leaked is to completely erase WhatsApp chats from our own iPhone instead of leaving deleted chats recoverable. iMyFone Umate Pro - WhatsApp Eraser is the only iPhone eraser that supports third-party apps, you should give it a try.

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How to delete messages and chats?

You can delete individual messages, conversations, groups, or your entire chat history by following the steps below. Deleted messages cannot be recovered. Read this article for information about backing up and restoring deleted chats.

Instead of deleting or clearing your chat history, you can hide conversations using the "Archive" feature.

To remove individual messages and media from a chat

Launch WhatsApp and open a chat with the message or media you want to delete.
Press and hold a message or media file.
Select menu delete .
Confirm by pressing delete .

To delete multiple messages or media from a chat

Launch WhatsApp and open the chat with the message or media you want to delete.
Click on the left edge of any message or media in a chat.
Select messages or media by checking the boxes (you can scroll up and down).
Click on the trash can at the bottom of the screen to delete.

You can also delete multiple messages or media by clicking on More > select messages > click on the trash can at the bottom of the screen to delete.

To delete an individual chat

Launch WhatsApp.
On the screen chats press and hold the chat you want to delete.
Select menu delete .
Confirm by pressing delete .

To delete a group chat

Before you can delete a group chat, you must leave the group. Warning : This means that the group administrator will have to add you if you want to join this group chat again. If you just want to clear this chat history, please see the paragraph below.

Launch WhatsApp.
On the chats screen, press and hold the group chat you want to delete.
From the menu select leave group and confirm by pressing exit .
Press and hold the group chat again and select delete .
Confirm by pressing delete .

To delete chat history

Launch WhatsApp and open the chat you want to delete.
Click on More > info for an individual chat or group info for a group chat.
Click on Advanced > clear chat history .
Select option delete all messages or delete all except favorites .

Warning : This action not will delete the chat with the contact or group, but will clear the contents of the chat history.

It is currently not possible to clear or delete all chat history on Windows Phone.

Good luck,
WhatsApp support

How to delete a WhatsApp chat on your phone, computer

Any correspondence must be cleaned periodically - both for security reasons and just to maintain some order in conversations. How to delete a chat in WhatsApp on Android, iPhone and from a computer - each device has its own ways. Below we present them all.

On a smartphone (iPhone and Android)

Despite their similarities, WhatsApp versions for iPhone and Android have slight differences in control. Therefore, below we will give two separate instructions on how to delete Whatsapp chat on these devices. There will be individual and group conversations.

iPhone

Before you get started, a word of warning: deleted Whatsapp chats can only be restored from local backups - you'll need any of them from the day before the one you purged..

For individual dialogues in WhatsApp:

Open the tab with correspondence, look in it for the one you want to get rid of.
Without opening, drag it to the left until a small menu appears. In it, click on "More".
Next, select "Delete Chat" and again "Delete Chat".

The second option: in the same place, in the tab with correspondence, click on “Edit” (upper left corner of the screen). Then select the chat you want to remove from the list, click "Delete" and confirm the action.

Deleting a Whatsapp group chat:

Find the desired group in the list and drag it to the left.
Click “More → Leave group → Leave group”.
Drag the community name to the left again.
Click “More → Delete group”. Confirm the action.

Please note: for group conversations, the only option is to exit the conversation first, and only then remove it from the list. You can't skip exit.

Android

How to delete an individual chat in WhatsApp:

Open the general list of dialogs and find the one you are going to remove in it.
Mark it with a long press
Click on the "Trash" icon and then on "Delete".

To remove several dialogs at once, first long press to mark one, and then put marks on other correspondence (the necessary functionality will be on the screen). After that, click on the "Trash" and on "Delete".

For group chats:

Find a group in the list and select it with a long press.
Menu (button in the upper right corner) → Exit group → Exit.

Select the same group with a long press → Trash → Delete.

If you want to remove several communities at once, just mark them all at once, as described for individual chats.

On the computer

Here, too, everything is very simple. how to delete an individual chat in whatsapp from a computer:

Open the messenger window and go to the dialog you want to remove.
There is a Menu button in the upper right corner of the WhatsApp window. Click on it.
In the small window that appears on top of the main one, select "Delete chat" and then confirm the action.

You can also do the following: without opening the WhatsApp chat, right-click on its name, and in the menu that appears, click on “Delete chat”, and then confirm the action.