Consequences of Clearing Chat on WhatsApp
- All messages in the cleared chat are deleted from your device, and you can’t see the conversation history for that chat.
- If new messages are received after clearing the chat, you will get notifications for them as usual, and they will appear in the chat when you open it.
- Clearing the chat will not delete media files downloaded and saved to your device’s gallery. However, the chat window will remove media that was not downloaded (or not set to download automatically).
- Cleared messages will no longer appear in search results within WhatsApp.
Differences Between Clear Chat and Delete Chat
When you clear a chat on WhatsApp, all the messages from the conversation are deleted. However, you can still see the main page’s chat thread (it remains empty until you receive or send a new message).
When you delete a chat thread, WhatsApp removes all the messages and threads from the home page. You must go to the contacts menu to compose a new message.
How to Clear Chat on WhatsApp
On Android
Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your Android phone.
Step 2: Select a chat and tap the three-dot menu at the top right.
Step 3: Click More and tap Clear chat.
Step 4: In the confirmation pop-up, tap Clear chat.
WhatsApp for Android also lets you delete media received in the chat from the device gallery. This is a handy trick for deleting unnecessary photos and videos from your phone’s storage.
On iOS
Step 1: Launch WhatsApp on your iPhone.
Step 2: When you come across an irrelevant chat, swipe left on it.
Step 3: Tap More and select Clear Chat.
Step 4: Confirm the same.
You can clear chat from the contact info menu, too; continue reading.
Step 1: Open any conversation on WhatsApp.
Step 2: Tap the contact name at the top.
Step 3: Scroll to Clear Chat and delete all messages.
Also Read: How to delete, deactivate, or exit WhatsApp Community
On Desktop
The steps are the same for both Windows and Mac. However, for demonstration purposes, we are using Windows.
Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your Windows desktop.
Step 2: Right-click on a chat you want to clear and choose Clear messages.
Note: For Mac, right-click on the chat > choose More > Clear chat.
Step 3: In the pop-up, click Confirm.
FAQs
No, it doesn’t. WhatsApp only clears messages on your side. The same messages remain visible on the recipient’s phone.
There is no direct way to recover messages after clearing a chat on WhatsApp, and the company doesn’t offer an undo button to reverse the decision. However, there is a workaround. Before WhatsApp performs the next backup on Google Drive or iCloud, you can restore the previous backup file and get your messages back.
You can permanently delete WhatsApp messages from both sides within 48 hours. After that, you will only see an option to delete messages on your phone.
Note: If a specific account spams you with messages, consider blocking the account.
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Last updated on 01 August, 2024
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What should I do to make all my old and new messages simply disappear from all conversations and groups?
I want to completely clear them so that my friends also lose all my messages, along with photos.
To make all your messages, including photos, disappear from all conversations and groups on WhatsApp, you need to delete your messages within 48 hours using the “Delete for Everyone” feature. However, this only works within the time limit, and your friends may still have a copy if they were quick to back up or save the chat.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to forcefully remove messages from someone else’s phone after the time window has passed.