How to delete a sent WhatsApp message for everyone if a lot of time has passed on Android - briefly?
Deleting a sent WhatsApp message for everyone after a significant amount of time has passed is not possible on Android. The feature to delete messages for everyone expires after 1 hour and 8 minutes.
How to delete a sent WhatsApp message for everyone if a lot of time has passed on Android - in detail?
Deleting a sent WhatsApp message for everyone can be challenging, especially when a significant amount of time has elapsed since the message was initially sent. However, there are a few methods you can try to delete the message from your contacts' devices on Android.
Method 1: Using the Delete for Everyone Feature
WhatsApp offers a built-in feature called "Delete for Everyone" that allows you to delete messages from both your device and the recipient's device within seven minutes of sending them. Here’s how to use it:
- Open WhatsApp on your Android device.
- Navigate to the chat where the message you want to delete is located.
- Long-press the message you wish to delete until a menu appears at the top of the screen.
- Tap on the trash can icon (Delete) in the menu that pops up.
- Confirm your action by tapping "Delete for Everyone" if the option is available.
Please note that this feature only works within seven minutes of sending the message. If more time has passed, you might not see the "Delete for Everyone" option.
Method 2: Using WhatsApp Web
If the standard method does not work because too much time has passed, you can try using WhatsApp Web as an alternative approach:
- Open WhatsApp Web on your computer by going to web.whatsapp.com and scanning the QR code with your phone.
- Navigate to the chat where the message is located.
- Right-click on the message you want to delete and select "Delete for Everyone" if it’s available.
Method 3: Revoking Message Delivery
Another method involves revoking message delivery, although this is less reliable and may not always work:
- Turn off your Wi-Fi and mobile data on your Android device to prevent WhatsApp from sending or receiving messages.
- Open WhatsApp and navigate to the chat with the message you want to delete.
- Long-press the message and select "Delete" from the menu that appears.
- Confirm the deletion.
- Turn your Wi-Fi and mobile data back on.
Important Considerations
- Time Constraint: The "Delete for Everyone" feature is only available within seven minutes of sending the message. After this time, WhatsApp does not provide a direct way to delete messages from recipients' devices.
- Recipient Awareness: Recipients will still see a notification that a message was deleted, even if they can no longer view its content.
- Backup: Deleted messages are removed from the recipient’s chat history but not from their backups.
Conclusion
While WhatsApp provides limited functionality for deleting sent messages after a significant amount of time has passed, utilizing the "Delete for Everyone" feature within seven minutes is the most reliable method. For messages older than seven minutes, using WhatsApp Web or revoking message delivery are alternative approaches, though success is not guaranteed.