How to read deleted messages on WhatsApp: Tips, tricks, and what works

WhatsApp is the most popular chatting application in the world, which has privacy-related features, such as "Delete for Everyone”. As much as this move saves lives of senders, the receivers can easily be confused at what they were told in the deleted message. WhatsApp has no direct ability to see deleted messages, but some native functions and functionality hacks can be used to reveal those deleted messages, at least on Android. Read to know the tips and tricks that may work for you to read the deleted WhatsApp messages.

How to read deleted messages on WhatsApp: Are deleted messages so mysterious?

When a person clicks on “Delete for Everyone”, the messages disappear on both sides of the dialog and are substituted with the message “This message was deleted”. This may trigger curiosity or panic among recipients and get them to seek means of exposing the sent information. As a privacy consideration, WhatsApp does not have a built-in delete message recovery feature, but there are ways of doing it based on the operating system and backup plans in certain situations.

How to read deleted messages on WhatsApp?

Here are some steps to help you read deleted messages on whatsApp.

Use notification history on Android

Android phones are now equipped with a notification history feature. This, when turned on, leaves a history of everything you receive in the form of notifications, WhatsApp messages included, before you read or delete it. When a sender removes his/her message once they are displayed in your notification, the original will still be seen in this log within a specified time period.

How to enable and use notification history:

• Open your device's Settings.

• Tap Notifications or Apps and Notifications.

• Find Notification History (on some phones, it can be in Advanced Settings).

• Toggle Use notification history to ON.

It will store all WhatsApp messages in this list, even deleted, once this is enabled. 

Disclaimer: This log typically retains messages for no more than 24 hours; longer messages may be trimmed, and media files are not saved.

Restore deleted messages with backup (iPhone & Android)

In case you have saved your conversations, you may attempt to recover your WhatsApp backup to get access to messages that were deleted since the time when you last did the backup.

For Android:

• Uninstall WhatsApp and install it back from Play Store.

• Enter and log in and select restore.

For iPhone:

• iCloud Backup chats through WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.

• Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, and restore the app in case of necessity, using iCloud.

Limitations: This can only be used under the condition that the deleted message had been added in the last backup which can result in a loss of the new messages.

How to read deleted messages on WhatsApp: Can you use third-party apps?

Applications such as the Notisave and the Notification History Log can also record notifications, which can be used to recover deleted text. The tools however need permissions and might be of concern to the privacy of a person and hence should be used with caution and by trusted developers.

• Models of notification history and logs fail to include erased media (images, videos).

• They do not capture messages that come in the form of notifications- messages not received and read immediately within the app.

• Be sensitive to privacy: because you have deleted a message does not mean that you should always attempt to get the message back.

Although there is no official WhatsApp feature of restoring deleted messages, such workarounds as Notification History on Android and the recovery of chat backups are helpful. Enabling necessary settings in advance and considering using third-party apps later is always a good idea, as it pertains to privacy concerns. Keep in mind that in certain cases the most appropriate reaction to the erased message is the possibility to leave the mystery to be.

One should keep in mind that none of these hacks to read deleted messages on WhatsApp is entirely accurate and reliable. WhatsApp has been privacy focused and after one deletes a message, it is supposed to be deleted forever so as to honor the privacy of users even when the latest update is applied, deleted messages are still deleted in quoted messages and chat backups. 

Some text may be recreated by using a notification history tool or by a backup restore, and there is no guarantee that the tool will capture all or even the most recent information, but media files cannot be restored using this method. In addition, there is a risk of privacy and ethical issues in an attempt to recover messages that were deleted. You can test these tips to find what suits you, but do not ignore the intent of the sender of the message to be deleted and keep the privacy of everyone.

Disclaimer: The information regarding the gadgets/devices listed in the table and article has been sourced from various secondary sources. For detailed product specifications, please refer to the brand sources.