How to Delete WhatsApp Messages: Tips for Android & iPhone

Clear your WhatsApp chats quickly using this simple guide

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: July 25, 2024 Fact Checked

Trying to delete those old messages on WhatsApp? Fortunately, you can delete messages within 2 days of sending the message, which gives you much more time than previous versions of WhatsApp (like, you only had an hour to delete a message). Read on to learn how to delete that old message from your smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer.

Delete Messages on WhatsApp

Open WhatsApp and go to the message that you want to delete. Tap and hold on the message, then select the trashcan icon and tap Delete for Everyone or Delete for me. You can also use the three-dot menu at the top of your screen to select multiple messages.

Steps

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1
Open WhatsApp. It's a green app with a white phone and speech bubble icon.^{[1]
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- Use this method to delete a message you've sent in a group or one-on-one chat within the last two days. You can do this with Android, iOS, KaiOS, Web and Desktop, Windows, and Mac.
2
Tap Chats. It's either at the bottom of the screen (iPhone) or the top of the screen (Android).
- If WhatsApp opens to a conversation, you'll first tap the "Back" button in the top-left corner of the screen.
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Doing so will open it.
This will prompt a pop-up bar of options either directly above the message (iPhone) or at the top of the screen (Android).^{[2]
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5
Tap
. This trash can icon is on the right side of the pop-up bar.^{[3]
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- On iPhone, tap More with the three-dot menu icon before tapping Delete.^{[4]
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- Also on an iPhone, you can tap multiple messages to select them.
6
Tap Delete for Everyone. After you get a confirmation that "This message was deleted," the message (or messages) will be deleted from the conversation.^{[5]
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- In order for the message to be deleted, you and everyone else in the group must be using the latest version of Whatsapp.
- Though you're deleting the message, the other people you're conversing with might have seen or screenshotted the message before it was deleted.
- You can tap Delete for Me if you don't want to delete the message for everyone in the conversation.
- Everyone in the conversation will see "Message Deleted" in place of your message.

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Tips

The older method of changing the time on your phone used to provide a workaround for deleting messages older than the time limit, but that no longer works.

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