How to delete from whatsapp
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.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)
Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $899.99 at Best Buy)
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 Insider5.
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.
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.
How to share your location on WhatsApp using an iPhone or Android device
How to change the WhatsApp background in your chats to a wallpaper, color, or custom photo
How to hide your online status on WhatsApp to protect your privacy
How to video chat on WhatsApp using your iPhone or Android device
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.
Read moreRead less
Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.
How to delete WhatsApp messages you've sent (new time limit)
Pocket-lint is supported by its readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
- Home
- Apps
- App news
- WhatsApp app news
Maggie Tillman, US contributing editor
· Updated ·
Explainer Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.
- You no longer have an hour
Why you can trust Pocket-lint
(Pocket-lint) - Have you ever sent a WhatsApp message that you quickly regretted? Or maybe you second-guessed it later that day or the following week? Either way, same here. It's not a great feeling, and it really makes us wish the messaging service had some sort of undo button.
Well, did you know it does?
Starting in 2017, WhatsApp began allowing users to delete their sent messages with a feature called "Delete for everyone". There are a couple of caveats to how it works - like that you have to delete your sent message within a certain timeframe. Still, here's everything you need to know.
- 15 secret WhatsApp tricks you might not know about
- How to get Siri to read out your WhatsApp messages
How to delete your sent WhatsApp messages
Update and open the latest version of the WhatsApp app on your phone and follow these steps:
- Go to the chat with the message you wish to delete.
- Tap and hold the message, then choose Delete from the menu.
- You can also select more messages to delete multiple messages at once.
- Then, tap Delete, and then tap Delete for Everyone.
Tip: Tapping Delete for Me instead of Delete for Everyone will only delete the message for you. Your recipient will still see it.
How long do you have to delete a message?
To successfully delete a message you sent to someone on WhatsApp, you must decide to do so within the first two days. You can't delete it after that, WhatsApp explained on Twitter. Originally, WhatsApp capped the ability to delete messages to 7 minutes after they were sent, and then it extended that to an hour. The ability to delete a message within two days first started in August 2022.
Can a recipient tell if you delete a message?
Yes. Your recipient will see a "This message was deleted" notice (which won't look suspicious or anything). Seriously, though, they can also accidentally read messages you've sent before you've had a chance to delete them.
Who can delete messages?
The ability to delete messages you've sent on WhatsApp up to two days afterward is now rolling out to all WhatsApp users on Android and iPhone.
Want to know more?
Check out WhatApp's help center. Pocket-lint also has the following tutorials and how-to guides on WhatsApp if you'd like to know more about how the Facebook-owned messaging platform works in general:
- 47 secret WhatsApp tips and tricks you might not know about
- How to hide your online status on WhatsApp
- What is WhatsApp? The chat, voice and video-calling app explained
- How to transfer your WhatsApp chat history to a new phone
- How to hide your WhatsApp profile picture from individual contacts
- WhatsApp end-to-end encryption: What does it mean?
- Are WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram down? Here's how to check
- How to download and view your WhatsApp data report
Writing by Maggie Tillman.
Sections WhatsApp Apps
How to delete a contact from WhatsApp: detailed instructions for phones on Android and iOS
Contents the most basic operations in WhatsApp.
But due to the peculiarities of synchronization, not everyone knows how to do it correctly. Today we will consider all the nuances of deleting contacts in WhatsApp so that extra names do not annoy your eyes.
Features of deleting contacts in WhatsApp
WhatsApp and phone contact list is automatically synchronized.
This means that every person in your phone book who uses WhatsApp also appears in the messenger's contact list.
And vice versa - if you started chatting with a person in WhatsApp, his phone number will be recorded in your standard "Contacts".
If you delete a person with whom you have previously corresponded in WhatsApp (no matter how - in the messenger application or in the standard "Contacts"), then instead of his name in the chat there will be only a number. He will not be considered one of your contacts, but the dialogue with him will not disappear until you manually delete him.
You don't have to worry that the interlocutor will receive a notification that he was deleted.
In fact, such a message would be a breach of confidentiality - no one except you should have access to data about changes to your contact book. However, the interlocutor will no longer receive updates to your status and avatar. If you have a habit of changing them regularly, then the lack of activity can alert a person, and he will understand that you deleted it.
Instructions for Android
To delete a contact both in WhatsApp and in your phone book, you can use the standard tools (open "Address Book", find the desired name, touch "More" and select "Delete"). But if you have a lot of phone numbers recorded (sometimes even with duplicate names), then such a search can be difficult. In this case, it is easier to delete a contact through a conversation with him in WhatsApp:
- Find the conversation with the person you want to delete.
Tap More. Select View Contact.
Contact details will be displayed here Click "More" and select "Open in address book".
Tap "More" again and select "Delete".
This will remove the contact from both the general list and WhatsAppDone! Now in a WhatsApp conversation, instead of the name of the interlocutor, you will see only his number. To delete a dialog, touch and hold it until a menu appears. Select Delete Chat. This contact will no longer be displayed either in the list of recorded numbers or in the chat window.
If you select "Clear Chat", then all messages inside the chat will simply be deleted, but the dialogue itself will remain in the list (although it will be empty).
Delete contacts and conversations on iOS
The procedure for iOS is absolutely the same:
- Open the chat you need in WhatsApp.
- Tap the contact's name at the top of the screen.
- Tap Edit in the top right corner. You will be redirected to the contact card in the standard application.
Scroll the page to the end and you will see the red inscription "Delete contact". Touch it.
The button we need is at the very endNow this number is not in WhatsApp or in the standard "Contacts". However, the chat with him is still preserved. To delete it, swipe left and tap More, then select Delete Chat (red line).
As in Android, "Clear Chat" will only delete the messages inside the conversation, not the conversation itself, so "Delete Chat" must be selectedThere is a situation in which deleting a contact will not help to stop communicating with a particular user. For example, if someone writes down your number and starts a chat first, their phone number and contact will automatically appear on your phone. But in the notebook it will not be displayed and it will not be possible to delete it. If you want a person to no longer be able to write to you, there will be only one way out - to block him.
Deleting a WhatsApp contact is the same as deleting it from your regular smartphone address book. But sometimes it is much easier to find the right person through the chat window.
- Author: Lina Sergeeva
Rate this article:
(42 votes, average: 3.3 out of 5)
Share with friends!
How to delete a contact from WhatsApp on Android that cannot be deleted
Do you want to delete a contact on Android, but it says that contacts from read-only accounts will be hidden, but not deleted? On this page you will find instructions on how to delete contacts from WhatsApp on Android that cannot be deleted from the phone book.
Recently, I myself encountered such a problem when I wanted to delete a number from contacts, but it was not deleted, but only a notification appeared that contacts from accounts were read-only, but would not be deleted.
At the beginning, I could not understand what was the catch, because there is a button to delete an unnecessary number, but it is not deleted. Then, after a little thought, I realized that the contact is tied to the vatsap and needs to be deleted from there. There is a lot of different information on the Internet, unfortunately not one option has worked. And yet I found on my phone how to delete unwanted contacts from WhatsApp, see below I posted detailed instructions with pictures on how to do this. Personally, this method helped me, I hope the information will be useful for you. Below are links to related articles.
To delete a contact on WhatsApp follow these steps:
Opening the "WhatsApp" application.
In the Watsap contact list, click on the contact that we need to delete, as if we want to start writing a message to him. (We have not added this screenshot, but the rest will be below. If something is not clear, then look at the pictures attached below where I have highlighted the necessary items and buttons.
)
Now we need to open the "Menu" by clicking on the three vertical dots.
Next, in the menu that opens, select the "View contact" item.
Next, open the "Menu" again by clicking on the icon in the form of three vertical dots.
Now in the menu that appears, select the "Edit" item. (Here you can also select the item "Open in the address book", after which we get into the contacts of the phone book where you can try to delete it, but if this does not work out, then it is better to select "Change" in the menu).
Next, we can delete a contact from WhatsApp, for this we delete the number and name of the contact (we clear these items so that there are no characters left) and save the changes by clicking on the icon "Tick" .
Done! the contact from whatsapp and the phone book is deleted, close and reopen the whatsapp application to see that the contact is completely deleted.
If you need to delete contacts from your Android phone book, you can follow this link to another article.
> Android help
> Home of the site
I hope the instructions for deleting contacts from WhatsApp on Android were useful. Do not forget to leave a review and indicate the model of the device to which the info above came up or not, so that others will have useful information from you. If your device deletes unwanted WhatsApp contacts in a different way, please share the method below in the reviews. Perhaps the information you left will be the most useful. Thank you for your responsiveness!
Add feedback or share useful information about the topic of the page.
UPDATE THE REVIEW PAGEAuthor:Svetlana
13-09-2022
03 hour. 58 min.
Message:
I did everything as written. Nothing happens. How else to try?
Author:Marina
12-09-2022
06 hour. 38 min.
Message:
Helped
Author: Tatyana
28-07-2022
13 hour.
Message:
Good afternoon. A contact appeared that is not in my address book, I can’t delete it, please tell me what to do
Author: Oksana
05-07-2022
14 hour. fifteen min.
Message:
Thank you. Following your instructions, it turned out to delete the contact. Thanks again.
Author:Boris
20-04-2022
12 hour. 13 min.
Message:
Only uniforms can call WA "vatsap"))!
Author: Ivan
13-03-2022
17 hour. 37 min.
Message:
Failed on BV 6600.
Author: Serge
20-01-2022
23 hour. 48 min.
Message:
Whatsapp in the edit menu does not work to delete a contact
Author:Svetlana
17-09-2021
11 hour. 25 min.
Message:
Nothing works. An empty contact DOES NOT ALLOW to save! ZTE android 9.
Author: alex
17-03-2021
01 hour.
17 min. Message:
Thank you! The advice works)) ps A small addition: - after the "Tick" contact is not deleted, but saved as empty. And now this empty contact is deleted without problems. ZTE with Android 10
Author:Semyon
03-09-2020
15 hour. eighteen min.
Message:
is not working. I only have to read. and you can not change anything in the contact
Author: Fedor
25-01-2020
05 hour. 31 min.
Message:
At least one sensible advice. Thank you. Everything worked out
Author: Finist
16-07-2019
16 hour. 22 min.
Message:
Smartphone BQ 5201 Space, THANK YOU!!! helped, unnecessary contacts disappeared
Author: Andrey
19-06-2019
11 hour. 04 min.
Message:
Anatoly Timofeevich, if you need to delete the number of the caller from WhatsApp, go to CALLS (in the WhatsApp application) in the list of calls that opens, click on the number you want to delete and hold until a check mark appears on it, after which you will see an icon in the upper part of the screen basket view by clicking on which number will be deleted.
There is a second way, in the list of calls, simply click on the number that you want to delete from WhatsApp, then at the top of the screen, click on the menu in the form of three vertically arranged dots, in the menu that opens, select DELETE FROM CALL LOG. You can also block this number. Author: Anatoly Timofeevich
19-06-2019
07 hour. 44 min.
Message:
Hello. Please explain how to delete the number of the caller on WhatsApp. No address number
Author: Alexey
18-06-2019
09 hour. 05 min.
Message:
did not help
Author:Irina
29-05-2019
07 hour. 51 min.
Message:
Excellent author. Prestige 5522
Author:EugenWB
28-02-2019
16 hour. 12 min.
Message:
Brilliant!
Author: Dmitry
17-02-2019
17 hour. fifty min.
Message:
Didn't help.
