Will messages be deleted for the other person if I delete them in WhatsApp - briefly?
When you delete messages from your side of a WhatsApp conversation, they are not removed from the recipient's device. The messages will remain visible to the other person unless they also choose to delete them.
Will messages be deleted for the other person if I delete them in WhatsApp - in detail?
When a user deletes a message in WhatsApp, the action is primarily aimed at removing the message from their own device. However, it's important to understand that this does not automatically delete the same message for the recipient. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what happens:
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Local Deletion: When you delete a message on your end, WhatsApp removes the message from your local device and the associated backup (if enabled). This means the message will no longer be visible in your chat history or any local backups you may have set up.
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Recipient’s View: The deletion of a message on your end does not affect the recipient's view of the conversation. They will continue to see the message in their chat history unless they manually delete it from their own device. WhatsApp does not provide an option for users to remotely delete messages from other people’s devices.
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Message Notification: If you decide to delete a message within the 1-hour, 8-minute, 30-second timeframe (for both individual and group chats), WhatsApp will replace the message with a "This message was deleted" notification in the recipient's chat. This applies whether the recipient has read the message or not. However, the content of the original message remains accessible to the recipient until they manually delete it from their device.
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Group Chats: In group chats, when a user deletes a message, all participants will see the "This message was deleted" notification. Similar to individual chats, the actual content of the message is not removed from other participants' devices; it’s only hidden from view.
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Backup Considerations: It's crucial to note that if you have backups enabled (either on iCloud for iOS or Google Drive for Android), deleted messages may still be present in those backups until the backup is updated. This means that even though a message is deleted locally, it could still exist in cloud storage.
In summary, deleting a message in WhatsApp only removes it from your device and associated backups. The recipient will continue to see the message unless they manually delete it from their own device. The "This message was deleted" notification serves as an indicator that something has been removed but does not actually erase the content from the recipient's view.