What does deleting a chat in WhatsApp mean and how is it different from clearing it - briefly?
Deleting a chat in WhatsApp removes the entire conversation history, including messages, photos, videos, and other shared content, from both your device and the recipient's device. On the other hand, clearing a chat only deletes the messages and media from your device but leaves them intact on the recipient's device.
What does deleting a chat in WhatsApp mean and how is it different from clearing it - in detail?
Deleting a chat in WhatsApp involves permanently removing the conversation from your device, while clearing a chat only removes the messages locally but keeps them on the server. Here's a detailed breakdown of the differences:
When you delete a chat:
- Permanent Removal: The entire conversation is removed from your device and cannot be restored unless backed up before deletion.
- Backup Impact: If WhatsApp Backup is enabled, deleted chats will not be included in future backups. However, if you restore a backup created before deleting the chat, the chat will reappear on your device.
- Server Impact: The chat history is also removed from WhatsApp's servers, meaning it won't be accessible even to WhatsApp.
- Group Chats: If you delete a group chat, all participants will see that the chat has been deleted and can no longer access it.
- Media Files: All media files (images, videos, documents) associated with the chat are also permanently deleted from your device's storage.
When you clear a chat:
- Local Removal Only: Messages are only removed from your device and not from WhatsApp's servers. Other participants in the conversation will still see the messages on their devices.
- Backup Impact: Cleared chats will be included in future backups, allowing you to restore them if needed.
- Server Retention: The chat history remains on WhatsApp's servers and can be accessed by other participants or through a backup restoration process.
- Group Chats: Clearing a group chat only removes the messages from your device; other participants will still see them.
- Media Files: Media files associated with cleared messages remain on your device until you manually delete them.
In summary, deleting a chat in WhatsApp is a more extreme action that permanently removes the conversation from both your device and WhatsApp's servers, while clearing a chat simply removes the messages locally without affecting the server-stored history.