WhatsApp's delete messages for everyone feature gets major refresh; Recipient limit introduced

WhatsApp delete messages for everyone feature is getting a major refresh which is a way to stop users from deleting messages sent weeks, months or years ago. WhatsApp Recipient limit hasn’t rolled out yet.

WhatsApp's delete messages for everyone was one of the most demanded features and allowed users to delete a sent message within 68 minutes, if it was sent to a wrong recipient. The feature initially came with a time limit of just seven minutes which clearly wasn't enough and WhatsApp later raised the time limit to over an hour. Now, WhatsApp's delete message for everyone is getting a major refresh and this time it isn't on the sender side but for recipient.

WhatsApp is expected to add an all-new recipient limit feature which means if the recipient hasn't received a revoke message from sender until a specified time then the delivered message will not be deleted on the recipient side. WABetainfo, which keeps a track on upcoming WhatsApp features, has spotted the feature in testing.

According to the new Recipient limit feature, if the sender deletes a message for everyone but the recipient hasn't received the revoke request within 13 hours, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds then the sent message won't be revoked or deleted. This can happen because the recipient phone was switched off for the entire duration and once the time limit is over then the revoke message feature won't work for recipient. It's unclear as of now whether the sender will be notified that the revoke message request was turned down because of the time limit.

It's worth noting that the new feature hasn't been rolled out yet but WABetainfo hints that this may be added in future updates. Notably, the new Recipient limit feature is being added to stop users from deleting older delivered messages which they could do by tweaking mobile system settings.

WABetainfo points out that WhatsApp users were deleting messages that were sent weeks, months, and years ago and the new feature will basically put an end to this hack.

For regular users, the new Recipient limit doesn't change anything and they can opt for delete messages for everyone which can be done within 68 minutes.

How to use WhatsApp ‘Delete For Everyone’ feature

Open the WhatsApp homepage

Navigate to the chat which you want to delete

Tap and hold on the message

Choose Delete from the menu at the top of the display

Optionally, you can select multiple messages in order to delete several chats at once

Tap on Delete > Delete for Everyone