WhatsApp Gives You More Than Hour to Recall a Message

You now have 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds to delete specific WhatsApp messages.

Having textual regret? If you sent your message via WhatsApp, you’ll now have more than an hour to recall it.

According to WhatsApp-focused WABetaInfo, WhatsApp recently rolled out app updates that increase the message recall time limit from just 8 minutes and 32 seconds to more than an hour. You now have 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds to delete specific WhatsApp messages, the site reported.

In an email to PCMag, WhatsApp confirmed it has made this change, but declined to comment on why the limit is so specific. Meanwhile, rival messaging app Telegram gives users 48 hours to unsend messages.

WhatsApp first introduced its message recall feature in October, noting it’s “particularly useful if you sent a message to the wrong chat or if the message you sent contains a mistake.”

To try it out, tap and hold the message you want to erase and choose Delete from the menu, then select Delete for Everyone. You can also select several messages at a time if you need to get rid of a bunch of them at once.

“Messages you successfully delete for everyone will be replaced with ‘This message was deleted’ in your recipients’ chats,” WhatsApp explains on a FAQ page about the feature. “Similarly, if you see ‘This message was deleted’ in a chat, it means that the sender deleted their message for everyone.”

Just note that if the recipient is using an older version of the app that doesn’t support this feature they’ll still see the offending message, and you won’t be notified that the delete was unsuccessful.

WhatsApp also recently released a new Android app called WhatsApp Business, which aims to “make it easier for companies to connect with customers, and more convenient for our 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them.”

By Angela Moscaritolo