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Maggie Tillman, US contributing editor
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(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.
Update and open the latest version of the WhatsApp app on your phone and follow these steps:
Tip: Tapping Delete for Me instead of Delete for Everyone will only delete the message for you. Your recipient will still see it.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Writing by Maggie Tillman.
Sections WhatsApp Apps
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.
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.
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.
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.
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03/16/2018
Author: Olga Dmitrieva
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How to delete a WhatsApp message after sending and even after 68 minutes
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You can bypass the 68 minute limit and delete any message much later.
We will explain how the new WhatsApp feature works and show a life hack that makes it easy to manage the chats of the application.
68 minutes is not the limit. Delete messages at any time - we'll show you how to bypass WhatsApp rules. Hurry before the developers fix this vulnerability.
The latest app updates made it possible to delete messages sent to WhatsApp chat. And it does not depend on whether they were read or not.
By the way, if your interlocutor is offline, you cannot be sure that he did not read the message. Your friend might have seen it on their smartphone's lock screen.
Operation
How to delete data from a lost smartphone (iPhone or Android)
Theoretically, you only have 68 minutes to delete a message for both parties. But this rule can be tricked and even older messages can be deleted.
Please note that this security hole will be closed shortly. But in any case, you will have a whole 68 minutes.
Read also:
Photo: developer company, pixabay.com
Tags android
Author
Olga Dmitrieva
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Not so long ago, WhatsApp introduced the ability to delete messages from both the sender and the recipient.
To do this, click on the message, and then call up a menu in which you can choose: delete the message only for yourself or for everyone.
To delete messages from everyone:
"This option is very convenient if you sent a message to the wrong chat, or the sent message contains an error," they write on the official WhatsApp website. Instead of a deleted message, the recipient will see the inscription "This message has been deleted." You can delete a message for everyone only within seven minutes after sending.
In order to edit a message in WhatsApp, you will need to hold your finger on the corresponding message and click the "Edit" button.
After editing, the application will confirm: next to the message will be the inscription Edited ("Edited").
To delete chat history
Open WhatsApp Chats, find the one you want to clear and go to it. Click on the menu button in the form of 3 vertical dots located in the right corner of the top bar. From the list of options, select More and then Clear Chat. Confirm your actions in the request window by clicking "Clear".
If you don't want the other party to see that you've read messages but aren't replying to them, turn off the read receipt. It's easy to do: open Settings - Account - Privacy and turn off the slider opposite the Read reports item.
Recent app updates have made it possible to delete messages sent to WhatsApp chat. And it does not depend on whether they were read or not. Once you've sent a message, you have 68 minutes to delete it. … If 68 minutes has not yet passed, select "Delete for everyone".
Open WhatsApp. Click "More options" - "Settings" - "Account" - "Delete account" Enter your phone number and click "Delete account" Select the appropriate reason for deletion from the pop-up menu
In the pop-up menu (at the top of the page) click on the "bucket" (delete) icon.