How to Delete a WhatsApp Message Before You Read It

Easy ways to delete WhatsApp messages on different devices

Last Updated: November 4, 2024

Deleting a Chat on Android

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Deleting a Chat on iPhone

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Deleting a Message Without Sending a Read Receipt

If you don't want the sender to see that you've read their message, this wikiHow will teach you how to delete a WhatsApp message without sending a read receipt as well as how to delete a WhatsApp message by deleting the entire chat. By deleting the chat, you can delete the message without seeing it.

Deleting a Chat on WhatsApp

To delete a message on WhatsApp on Android, tap chats, tap and hold down the chat that you want to delete, and tap the trash button in the top right corner. To delete a WhatsApp message on iPhone, tap chats, swipe left on the chat you want to delete, tap More, and tap delete chat.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Deleting a Chat on Android

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This app icon looks like a telephone receiver inside a green speech bubble that you can find on one of your Home screens, in the app drawer, or by searching.
You might be here by default. The "Chats" tab will be along the top of your screen.

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The chat will be selected and you'll see some editing options appear.
4
Tap

. You'll see this trashcan icon towards the top right corner of your screen.
- You might need to tap Delete again to confirm your action. ^{[1]
  X
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Deleting a Chat on iPhone

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This app icon looks like a telephone receiver inside a green speech bubble that you can find on one of your Home screens.
You might be here by default. The "Chats" tab will be along the top of your screen.
A menu will slide from the right when you swipe.
You'll see this on the right side of the screen.
You'll need to tap Delete Chat again to confirm your action. ^{[2]
X
Research source}

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Deleting a Message Without Sending a Read Receipt

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1
Disable sending read receipts. If you don't want to delete the entire chat history, you should disable read receipts so you can open the chat and delete the individual message.
- For iPhones, tap the Settings icon in the bottom right corner of your screen and tap Privacy then tap to disable Read Receipts . The slider icon should turn white to indicate the feature is disabled.
- For Androids, tap ⋮ in the top right corner of your screen and tap Settings from the drop-down menu. Then tap Account > Privacy and then tap to disable Read receipts . The slider icon should turn grey to indicate that the feature is disabled.
From the "Chats" tab, you'll be able to see all the chats you're in.
When you delete a message, you can either delete it for yourself or for the entire chat. If you delete the message for the entire chat (including the other members), they'll see "This message was deleted."
If you are prompted, tap ••• first.
This will delete the message on your end. Since you have disabled read receipts, the sender of the message will not see that you have opened the chat loaded the message.