Whatsapp is one of the most popular instant messaging apps in the world. Sure, it doesn’t quite have the same popularity in the US as it does in Europe, but it still has millions of users benefiting from the extremely high level of privacy that Whatsapp offers its users. Plus, who can say no to ‘free’ SMS and phone calls?
WhatsApp offers a wealth of features for their users. One of these features allows users to unsend messages after they’ve been sent. In fact, you’ve got up to two days after you send a message to ‘unsend’ it. This is great if you’re regretting a message, or you want to correct a mistake. Although, remember that there are a few limitations in place.
For example, you have that 2-day limit. The recipient will also know you’ve unsend a message. If you’ve sent a photo to an iPhone, it may also remain saved on the recipient’s device, even if you unsend the message. However, assuming the recipient has yet to read the message, once you unsend it, they’ll never be able to read it.
Let’s tell you how this all works.
Can You Unsend Messages on WhatsApp?
Yes. You can unsend messages on WhatsApp. Once you unsend a message, nobody in the chat will be able to read that message again. There are a few ‘limitations’ in place, though.
Firstly, you must select the ‘Delete for Everyone’ option when deleting a message. If you don’t, it’ll only unsend it for you, and once that happens, you won’t be able to delete the message again. So, be careful when that little pop-up appears.
Originally, WhatsApp required that you unsend a message within 7 minutes. This ‘rule’ was later extended to 60 minutes. It is now capped at two days. However, the longer you leave it to delete the message, the more chance the recipient has of reading it.
It is also important that both the sender and the recipient are using the latest version of WhatsApp too. However we’ve found that this isn’t really a ‘hard and fast’ rule, since a lot of the time, the messages get unsent even if there is a mismatch in versions. Although, this is not something that you can rely on 100%.
You should also remember that if you’ve sent a photo to an iPhone user, their iPhone may save the photo before you’ve got a chance to unsend that message. If that happens, there’s nothing that you can do.
Finally, the recipient will also see when you unsend a message. They can’t see the content, and there is no way for them to retrieve the content. However, they will get a notification saying what you did.
To be honest, all of those ‘rules’ above are not too different from other social messaging apps. The only different part is that there is a time limit in place, however, let’s be honest, Whatsapp has a high time limit. You’ll know within minutes if you want to delete a message.
How to Unsend Messages on WhatsApp: Step-by-Step Guide
If you want to unsend a message on WhatsApp, the process isn’t too tricky. Remember, you can only do all this within two days of sending the message. Although, the faster you act, the less chance there is of the intended recipient seeing the message:
- Press and hold the message you wish to delete. A pop-up will appear.
- Select the ‘trash’ icon.
- Select ‘Delete for Everyone’. It is essential that you make sure that you’re selecting the correct option here. If you do not, you may end up only deleting the message for yourself. If you do that, it is impossible to delete it for everybody else later on. So, don’t misclick!
That’s really all that needs to be done. The process is very quick, and you can unsend a message on WhatsApp in just a couple of seconds.
Remember, once the message has been deleted, both you and the recipient/s can see that the message has been deleted. There will be a placeholder that says ‘This message was deleted’. The only way to clear that message, at least for yourself, is to delete the whole chat.
Limitations of WhatsApp’s ‘Delete for Everyone’ Feature
As we said, there are some limitations to the ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature. This means that, in rare cases, you might not be able to hide the message how you wish:
- There is a limit of 2 days to delete the message. WhatsApp has been known to change this limit before, but they’ve always pushed it up rather than done. But, still, always delete the message as quickly as possible if you want to guarantee that it will disappear properly.
- The recipient will receive a notification when you send a message via WhatsApp. Even if you delete the message, this notification may remain. This means that the recipient may still be able to read the message after deletion.
- Whatsapp backups can retain the message, although this is rare if you’ve deleted your message quickly.
- The recipient can see that you’ve deleted a message.
As we said, the limitations are not too different from most other social networking platforms.
Can You Unsend Media Files or Attachments?
There are no limitations on the type of message that you can unsend on WhatsApp. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a photo, video, or a file. If you meet the requirements listed above, that message can be deleted. However, there is a major caveat here.
If the recipient has already saved the media file or attachment to their device, they’ll continue to have access to it. Even if the message is removed, that file remains. You don’t have the ability to remove files from somebody else’s device, after all. This is another reason why you need to act quickly. You don’t want the other person to have the opportunity to download the attachment.
You should, however, remember that there are some devices that will download a media file automatically once received. iPhones, for instance. So, even if you do act quickly, you might not act quickly enough.
Long story short – try to avoid sending attachments to a person unless you’re 100% sure you want to send that attachment. There’s no guarantee they won’t have access to it after.
Recovering Deleted Messages: Is It Possible?
No. When you unsend a message using the ‘Delete for Everyone’ action, that message cannot be restored under any circumstances. It is gone.
There is a feature that allows deleted messages to be restored. You must switch on ‘backup recovery’ on WhatsApp. However, this feature will only restore messages deleted on your end. It cannot undo a ‘Delete for Everyone’ message at all. Once a message has been labeled as ‘Delete for Everyone’, it’s gone forever. There is no coming back from that.
How Family Orbit Helps Monitor WhatsApp Messages
Family Orbit is a tool that allows parents to monitor all sent, received, and deleted WhatsApp messages on their child’s device. However, Family Orbit cannot reverse or unsend messages. Once those messages are deleted on WhatsApp, they really are gone forever. What Family Orbit can do, however, is keep a log of messages once they’ve been sent/received. So, even if a message is removed on WhatsApp, parents can still see what is happening.
Basically, Family Orbit makes it a whole lot easier to monitor the communication of your children. Nothing will be hidden. It makes using WhatsApp a lot safer for your children.
Tips for Using the ‘Delete for Everyone’ Feature Effectively
Let’s wrap up with a few tips for using the ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature properly:
- Always act as quickly as you can when selecting the ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature. While you do have two days to delete a message, the longer you wait, the more chance there is of the other person reading the message.
- You should be aware that no matter how quickly you delete a message, there is always a chance that the recipient may still see the message under their notifications. There is nothing you can do about this.
- If you use the unsend feature, it may be good practice to let the other person know why you did it. It can be quite annoying to see a lot of removed messages without knowing the reason why.
- It is always best to avoid needing to unsend a message in the first place. So, before you send a message, always double-check you’re sending it to the right person/group. Always check that you really want to send the message too. Reading through a message before sending means there is less chance that you’ll need to unsend it and less chance of somebody reading something you don’t want them to read.
Conclusion
WhatsApp’s ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature allows you to unsend messages to people. If you have sent a message to the wrong person, or regret what you said (perhaps due to a spelling mistake), then use the ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature within 2 days, and that message will be removed from all chat logs with no way to restore it. However, there are limitations. If there is an attachment that has been sent, the recipient may retain a copy. A person can also read a message before it is deleted. Unfortunately, there is no way around that.
If you are a parent worried that your child may be deleting messages using this feature, we recommend Family Orbit. Family Orbit is a valuable tool for monitoring your child’s WhatsApp usage, helping to protect them from people with malicious intentions, or just so you can keep a closer tab on what your children are doing. While Family Orbit cannot undelete messages removed by ‘Delete for Everyone’, it can still keep a log of these messages.
- Monitor Calls & Text Messages
- View Photos and Videos
- Location Tracking & Geofence
- Monitor WhatsApp & Kik
- Detect & Alert for Inappropriate Activities
- Monitor Websites Visited
- Compatible with Android and iOS
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