If you clear a chat in WhatsApp, what happens - briefly?
If you clear a chat in WhatsApp, all messages in that conversation will be permanently deleted from your device. However, the other participants in the chat will still have access to the messages and can continue the conversation without interruption.
If you clear a chat in WhatsApp, what happens - in detail?
When you clear a chat in WhatsApp, several actions take place, affecting both the content and functionality of your conversation. Here's a detailed breakdown:
- Message Deletion: All messages within the selected chat are permanently deleted from your device. This includes texts, images, videos, documents, and any other media shared in that conversation. It is important to note that this action only clears messages on your end; they remain visible on the other participant's device unless they have also cleared their chat.
- Contact Information: Clearing a chat does not delete the contact information associated with that chat. The contact details, such as name, phone number, and profile picture, will still be saved in your phone book. You can continue to communicate with the same person through a new message or call.
- Chat History: The chat history is removed from your device’s local storage. This means that you will no longer have access to any past conversations within that particular chat thread. If you need to refer back to older messages, make sure to backup or export the conversation before clearing it.
- Media Files: Photos, videos, and other media files exchanged in the chat are also deleted from your device’s storage. However, if these files were saved to your device's gallery or downloads folder separately, they will remain there.
- Notifications: Any notifications related to that chat will be cleared as well. This includes unread message counters and push notifications. You will no longer receive alerts for new messages in the cleared chat until a new message is sent.
- Group Chats: If you clear a group chat, all group members will still see their own chat history with the group. Your actions only affect your local view of the conversation. Other participants can continue to view and participate in the group chat as usual.
- Backup and Restore: If WhatsApp Backup is enabled on your device, clearing a chat does not affect the backed-up data. You can restore the chat from the backup if needed. However, keep in mind that restoring a chat will overwrite any new messages received after the backup was created.
In summary, clearing a chat in WhatsApp removes all local traces of that conversation from your device while leaving the contact information intact. It is an irreversible action on your end, but other participants' views and backups remain unaffected.