If you delete messages in WhatsApp on your device, are they deleted for everyone - briefly?
If you delete messages in WhatsApp on your device, they are only deleted from your personal view and not from the recipients' views. To ensure messages are deleted for everyone, use the "Delete for Everyone" feature within seven minutes of sending the message.
If you delete messages in WhatsApp on your device, are they deleted for everyone - in detail?
When a user deletes messages in WhatsApp from their device, it is important to understand the nuances of how this action affects other participants in the conversation. The behavior of message deletion depends on whether the "Delete for Everyone" feature is used or if the messages are deleted locally from the user's device only.
If a user chooses to delete a message using the "Delete for Everyone" option, WhatsApp will remove the message from both the sender's and recipient's devices. This action effectively erases the message from all participants' chat histories. However, it is crucial to note that this feature has a time constraint: users have approximately 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds after sending a message to initiate the "Delete for Everyone" option. If this time window elapses, the feature will no longer be available, and the message can only be deleted locally from the user's device.
Deleting messages locally from the user's device does not remove them from other participants' chat histories. Instead, these messages remain visible to all recipients. This means that even if a sender deletes a message from their own device, it will still appear in the chats of those who received it. Therefore, for complete removal of a message from all devices involved in a conversation, the "Delete for Everyone" feature must be employed within the specified time frame.
In summary, the action of deleting messages in WhatsApp on one's device does not inherently delete them for everyone. The decision to use the "Delete for Everyone" option is pivotal and determines whether a message will be erased from all participants' chat histories or remain visible despite being deleted locally by the sender.