If you clear a chat in WhatsApp, will the contact's messages be deleted - briefly?
If you delete a chat from your phone, it will only remove the conversation from your device and not from the recipient's device or WhatsApp servers. The contact's messages will still be available on their end and in the cloud backup of the chat.
If you clear a chat in WhatsApp, will the contact's messages be deleted - in detail?
When you clear a chat in WhatsApp, it is important to understand that this action primarily affects your local device and not the messages themselves. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what happens:
- Local Deletion: Clearing a chat on your device removes the messages from your phone's storage. This means you will no longer see those messages in your chat history on that specific device. However, this action does not delete the messages from WhatsApp’s servers or from your contact's device.
- Server Storage: WhatsApp stores all messages on its servers to facilitate message delivery and backup. When you clear a chat, the messages remain on these servers. This is why, if you reinstall WhatsApp or log in from another device, the old messages may still be available, provided they have not been permanently deleted by WhatsApp's auto-deletion policies or manually by your contact.
- Contact’s Device: The messages will also remain on your contact's device. They can continue to see and access those messages unless they take similar action to clear the chat on their end. This ensures that communication history is preserved for both parties, except in the case where one party decides to delete it locally.
- Auto-Deletion Policies: WhatsApp has policies in place for message expiration and auto-deletion. For example, media files downloaded from a chat may be automatically deleted if not viewed within 30 days. However, these policies are separate from the action of clearing a chat and do not depend on whether you have cleared your chat or not.
- Backup: If you have enabled WhatsApp backups (either via Google Drive for Android or iCloud for iOS), the messages will also be stored in these backups. Clearing a chat does not affect these backups, and you can restore your chat history from them if needed.
In summary, clearing a chat in WhatsApp deletes the messages only from your local device. The contact's messages and communication history remain intact on WhatsApp’s servers and on your contact's device until they are manually deleted or automatically expired according to WhatsApp’s policies.