If you’ve been using WhatsApp for a while, you know how handy the Delete Message feature is, unless well, you run out of time to delete an unwanted text. WhatsApp only offered users exactly one hour to delete old messages and if it was past that time limit, users were able to only delete a message for themselves, instead of deleting it for everyone in a one-on-one or group chat.
That changes now. WhatsApp is giving all users a longer time limit to delete messages, a little over two days. WhatsApp announced the change in a recent tweet after the feature was under beta testing for over a month.
💭 Rethinking your message? Now you’ll have a little over 2 days to delete your messages from your chats after you hit send.
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) August 8, 2022
A comment by trustworthy WhatsApp leaker WABetaInfo also suggests that the exact limit will be two days and 12 hours.
2 days, 12 hours 🤫
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) August 8, 2022
Also note that the new feature will be implemented right away for all users, but only if you and the other party have updated to the latest version of the app. If you delete a message for everyone after one hour has elapsed, it may not get reflected for users who have not updated to the latest version of the app.
Also, there’s no way for you to actually know if the deleted message has been deleted for everyone.
To update WhatsApp, simply go to the Google Play Store and search for WhatsApp. If you see an ‘Update’ button on the WhatsApp page, simply click on it to update to the latest version. If you don’t see an ‘Update’ button, you’re already on the latest version.