How To Delete WhatsApp Messages For Everyone After Long Time

WhatsApp is known for rolling out new features and capabilities for the enhanced experience of its users. While it has introduced many features such as voice and video calling, Payments and more, one of the features that has witnessed an improvement is 'Delete for Everyone'. This feature was launched with a catch as the message deletion feature will be efficient only for seven minutes of sending it.

If you sent a wrong message and you have surpassed the seven-minute timeframe, then you will not be able to delete it for everyone. However, there is a workaround that will let you delete the messages sent over seven minutes ago. With this workaround, it is possible to surpass the strict deletion time limit set by WhatsApp. This method works for Android devices and here is how you can delete messages on WhatsApp that are up to seven days old.

Delete WhatsApp Messages For Everyone Up To 7 Days

To start with this method, you need to disable both Wi-Fi and mobile data on your device and make sure it is not connected to the internet. You can do this by heading to the settings menu or quick toggles by pulling down the notification panel and turning these features off. Now, you need to go to the Apps section under Settings and look out for WhatsApp. From the list, open WhatsApp and tap on Force Stop to freeze the app and prevent it from running unless you open it.

The next step is to go to the Date & Time section under Settings and adjust it to match the day when you sent the message. Most smartphones can fetch the time automatically from the network provider, so you need to manually turn off the auto adjustment of Date & Time. After this step, you have to follow the same steps you would to delete the message for everyone.

Just press and hold the message you want to delete and it will show options such as Delete for Me, Delete for Everyone and Cancel. Here, you need to choose the second option - Delete for Everyone. Now, you can go back to the Settings menu to turn on Wi-Fi or mobile data and revert the Date and Time setting as well.

Doing so, the message you deleted will be removed on WhatsApp and it will show the caption 'This message was deleted'. You can use this method to delete the messages sent mistakenly on WhatsApp even after the seven-minute window allowed by the company.

Updates To This Feature

Recently, WhatsApp has increased the seven-minute restriction to delete messages for everyone to one hour. This comes in handy for those who want to delete messages sent to the wrong chat window for up to one hour.

Now, a recent report hinted that WhatsApp could be working towards letting users delete messages sent to a wrong contact or group for up to one or two months. It looks like the company is removing the time limit to delete messages sent mistakenly. It is speculated that only messages that are sent after the feature is rolled out will be able to get this benefit.