WhatsApp reveals some surprising details about the ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature

DID YOU KNOW? If you were trying to delete a message for everyone and for some reason it does not happen, WhatsApp won’t notify you.

Rely too much on WhatsApp’s Delete for Everyone feature? (HT Photo)

Many times we have ended up sending the wrong message to someone. It's funny in some cases but embarrassing in most others. However, thanks to WhatsApp's 'Delete for Everyone' feature, you have the chance to delete a message both for yourself and the person you have sent it to. WhatsApp lets you delete a message immediately if you want, you also have a one-hour time limit to delete messages. Messages sent more than an hour back cannot be deleted for everyone, you can just delete it for yourself to strike it off just your record.

While this feature is much appreciated, it comes with its set of loopholes. There are five important things WhatsApp wants you to know before you use this 'Delete for Everyone' feature and they are all listed on WhatsApp FAQ page as a special note.

Latest version of WhatsApp

To successfully delete a message for both parties, you and the person you have sent the message to must be using the latest version of WhatsApp. If either one of you is on an older version, the 'Delete for Everyone' feature is not going to work. This applies to both Android and iOS users.

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WhatsApp for iOS does not delete media on this feature

For those using WhatsApp on their Apple phones, the media sent in a message may still be saved in their Photos folder even if the message (with the media) is deleted from the chat. Deleting the message for an iOS user does not automatically delete the media sent from their Photos app. This is because Apple's privacy policy does not allow WhatsApp to access device gallery without permission. This applies to iPhone users only.

Recipients might still see your message before it is deleted

Even if you immediately delete a message you have sent, there is a possibility that the person receiving it might have seen it before you could do anything. This may happen in case the person you have sent the message to already has the chat open or checks the content via the smartphone notification or a desktop notification. In the second case, the person will realise the message has been deleted only after he/she opens the chat.

WhatsApp will not notify you if your 'Delete for Everyone' has been successful or not

If you were trying to delete a message for everyone and for some reason it does not happen, WhatsApp unfortunately does not notify you. The messaging app does not sent any intimation about failures of messages being deleted for all parties. For example, even if you have deleted a message, there is no knowing if the recipient has already seen it or not.

You have just about an hour to delete a message for everyone

WhatsApp only gives you an hour to delete a message you have sent for everyone. Earlier, WhatsApp used to give you only seven minutes to delete a message. Thankfully, the time limit has been increased to an hour.