Over the years, new features have improved the app: audio messages, location sharing, document sharing, and now artificial intelligence and transcription of voice messages. Among these innovative features, the ability to delete a message already sent has become very useful for those who have sent a message to the wrong person, shared incorrect or potentially embarrassing information. By holding down the message in question, you have the option to delete it for all members of the conversation. If, on the other hand, you have received a deleted message, know that it is sometimes possible to recover it and satisfy your curiosity.
A first option: WhatsApp backups
The most direct and generally most reliable method for recovering deleted WhatsApp messages is based on the backup feature integrated into the application. WhatsApp offers the possibility of regularly backing up your conversations and media to cloud storage services associated with your system: iCloud for iPhone users and Google Drive for those using Android. If you prefer, it's also possible to make local backups on your phone's hard drive, without using a cloud storage service.
If a backup was made before deleting the messages, it should normally be possible to view it by reinstalling the app.
The first step is to uninstall WhatsApp, then download the app again. During installation, the app will detect your backup and ask if you want to restore your chat history. You can continue by choosing to restore the backed up conversations, and the deleted messages should appear.
The limitations of this technique: Restoring from a backup only allows you to recover the very last backup made. Any messages sent or received after this last backup will unfortunately be lost. First of all, try to check whether the message you want to recover was deleted before or after the backup. If it was deleted before, it probably won't appear during the restore.
An Alternative Method on Android
For Android users, there is a way to try to recover deleted WhatsApp messages, even without a recent backup. With the notification history, some messages can be discovered under certain conditions.
Android phones, especially those running Android 11 or newer, offer a history or log of recent notifications. By accessing this history, it is possible to view the contents of deleted WhatsApp messages after they have been sent. Here's how to access the history:
- Go to the phone's settings, then navigate to the notifications section. Then, look for an option called "Notification History" or "Notification Log".
- If the feature isn't already enabled, enable it. You can then browse the history and find the WhatsApp notifications received.
This method only works if the notification history was enabled before deleting the message. Without the option enabled, the history will not find previous notifications. Furthermore, it does not always recover all the contents of a message and generally limits itself to text content, which may also be truncated. Media files such as photos or videos are unfortunately not available via the history.
Are third-party apps worth it?
A number of third-party apps, such as WAMR and Get Deleted Messages, claim to be able to recover deleted WhatsApp messages by monitoring incoming notifications on your Android device.
WAMR: This app works by recording WhatsApp notifications as soon as they arrive on your phone. If a message is subsequently deleted by the sender, WAMR can potentially display the contents of that saved notification, including texts, photos, videos, and voicemails. Some users are satisfied, but many complain that the app doesn't work properly and can't recover messages.
Get Deleted Messages: This other app offers a similar functionality to WAMR by saving incoming WhatsApp notifications. Unfortunately, reviews are even more mixed than for WAMR, so there's no magic solution when it comes to third-party apps. These can work, but results vary greatly.
Using such apps raises significant privacy concerns, as they require extensive permissions to access user data. For example, you must allow WAMR to access your notifications and media files in order for the app to recover your messages and media files.
In short, there's no magic solution for recovering a message deleted by the other party. Backups can help you restore a conversation, but the process is tedious since it requires reinstalling the app. And if you decide to explore these third-party apps, stay vigilant and research the program's publisher and user reviews. Remember, your data is much more valuable than a lost message!
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