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Backup and delete your Whatsapp account

Angus
Updated

iCloud backup for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

To make a manual backup of your chats at any time, go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and tap Back Up Now. You can also enable automatic, scheduled backups by tapping Auto Backup and then choosing your backup frequency. This will back up your chats and media to your iCloud account; you can choose to include or exclude videos from the backup. The iCloud backup process can take a while to complete, depending on your Internet connection and backup size.

Requirements:

  • You must have iOS 7 or later.
  • You must be signed into iCloud (iPhone Settings > iCloud).
  • For iOS 7: Documents & Data (iPhone Settings > iCloud > Documents & Data) must be set to ON. 
    For iOS 8 and later: iCloud Drive (iPhone Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive) must be set to ON.
  • There must be enough free space on both your iCloud and your iPhone.

Using iCloud on cellular data

If you are concerned about your cellular data usage, we recommend that you limit your iCloud to only back up on Wi-Fi. To disable iCloud while on cellular data, go to iPhone Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive for iOS 8 and later or iPhone Settings > iCloud > Documents & Data for iOS 7 turn Use Cellular Data off.

Learn more about iPhone backups for Whatsapp

Google Drive backup for Android

You can back up your chats and media to Google Drive, so if you switch Android phones or get a new one, your chats and media are transferrable.

How to back up to Google Drive

  1. Open WhatsApp.
  2. Tap the Menu Button > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
  3. Here you can tap Back Up to create an immediate backup, and you can also tap Back up to Google Drive to set up a backup frequency.
  4. If you do not have a Google account already set up, tap Add account when prompted.
  5. Tap Back up over to choose the network you wish to use for backing up. Please note that backing up over cellular may result in additional data charges.

Learn more about Android backups for Whatsapp.

Deleting messages

You can delete messages for everyone or just for yourself.

To delete messages for everyone

Deleting messages for everyone allows you to delete specific messages you have sent to either a group or an individual chat. This is particularly useful if you sent a message to the wrong chat or if the message you sent contains a mistake.

Messages you successfully delete for everyone will be replaced with "This message was deleted" in your recipients' chats (*). Similarly, if you see "This message was deleted" in a chat, it means that the sender deleted their message for everyone.

To delete messages for everyone:

  1. Open WhatsApp and go to the chat containing the message you wish to delete.
  2. Tap and hold the message. Optionally, tap more messages to delete multiple messages at once.
  3. Tap Delete  at the top of the screen > Delete for everyone.

Note:

  • In order for messages to be successfully deleted for everyone, both you and your recipient must be using the latest version of WhatsApp for Android, iPhone or Windows Phone.
  • (*) If you or your recipient are not using the latest version of WhatsApp for Android, iPhone or Windows Phone, this feature will not be supported.
  • Recipients may see your message before it's deleted or if deletion was not successful.
  • You will not be notified if deleting for everyone was not successful.

To delete messages for yourself

Deleting messages for yourself allows you to delete your copy of messages you've sent or received from your phone. This has no effect on your recipients' chats. Your recipients will still see the messages in their chat screen. To delete messages for yourself:

  1. Open WhatsApp and go to the chat containing the message you wish to delete.
  2. Tap and hold the message. Optionally, tap more messages to delete multiple messages at once.
  3. Tap Delete  at the top of the screen > Delete for me.

Learn how to delete messages on: iPhone | Windows Phone 

Deleting your account

You can delete your account from within WhatsApp. Deleting your account is an irreversible process, which we cannot revert even if you perform it by accident.

To delete your account

  1. Open WhatsApp.
  2. Tap the Menu Button > Settings > Account > Delete my account.
  3. Enter your phone number in full international format and tap Delete my account.
Deleting your account will
  • Delete your account from WhatsApp.
  • Erase your message history.
  • Delete you from all of your WhatsApp groups.
  • Delete your Google Drive backup.

Note: Only you can delete your account.

Learn how to delete your account on: iPhone | Windows Phone | Nokia S40

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