Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has finally rolled out the most sought-after feature “Delete for Everyone.” After a very long wait, WhatsApp’s recall message feature aka Delete for Everyone is finally here. As the name suggests, the feature allows users to revoke their messages in case they sent those to a wrong person or a group.
It means that now any drunk text to an ex or a rant to your boss can be deleted by the users. But there is a catch to it. According to WaBetaInfo, Users can only delete or revoke the sent message within seven minutes. Any text beyond the set time limit will not be allowed to be revoked or deleted.
“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,” the micro-blogging platform said.
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. Another interesting fact about the new feature is that multiple messages can be revoked at once, added the report.
However, it is a slow rollout and will take time to reach to over one billion Whatsapp users. If your phone is compatible with the feature then you will soon receive the update notification. The feature works for GIFs, texts, images, voice messages, locations, stickers (in future), contact cards, quoted messages and status updates.
“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,” WhatsApp informs users through an FAQ.
How Does it Work?
1. Open WhatsApp and go to the chat containing the message you wish to delete.
2. Tap and hold the message and choose Delete from the menu.
3. Optionally, select more messages to delete multiple messages at once.
4. Then tap “Delete for Everyone”.
“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,” WhatsApp said. Recipients may see your message before it’s deleted or if the deletion was not successful.
The Delete for Everyone feature doesn’t work for:
1. Message contained in a quoted message cannot be revoked.
2. It’s not possible to delete for everyone messages sent in a Broadcast List.
3. Messages can be recalled only within 7 minutes of time frame after which you cannot recall or revoke it.
4. The feature works only if both sender and receiver are using the updated version of WhatsApp. WhatsApp will enable the delete for everyone feature working for older versions too, but obviously not for a very old version where Delete for Everyone hasn’t been implemented yet.
5. The feature does not work for Symbian OS.