WhatsApp ‘Delete for Everyone’ Feature May Get Extension From One Hour to Two Days

Meta-owned instant messaging software WhatsApp is working on expanding the time limit for deleting a message "for everyone." Currently, you can delete a message in one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds on WhatsApp. According to a recent source, this might be expanded to a maximum of two days and 12 hours.

Currently, WhatsApp allows you to "Delete For Everyone" after 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds. According to WABetaInfo, "WhatsApp is currently proposing to utilize a different limit when you delete a message for everyone: 2 days and 12 hours!"

So, if you send a message to a contact on WhatsApp at exactly 12:05 on Monday morning, the "Delete For Everyone" will no longer be effective until 18:05 on Wednesday evening: exactly two and a half days.

WhatsApp had previously stated that it was trying to expand the aforementioned feature to seven days and eight minutes. This was also confirmed by WABetaInfo in a November 2017 update. "In a future version, WhatsApp plans to increase the time restriction to 7 days and 8 minutes!"

According to WABetaInfo, the extension of more than seven days appears to be unjust, as most users would not want to erase a message received more than a week ago. However, it is unclear whether WhatsApp would make the new time limit permanent or make some changes before making it public. The new update will roll out through the Google Play Beta Program, and WhatsApp says it’s bringing the version up to 2.22.4.10. 

The Instant messaging service currently has two features that allow users to delete messages after they are sent. Unlike ‘Delete For Everyone, this second option, something WhatsApp calls “Disappearing messages”, can only be enabled (in the privacy settings) before it can work. Turning disappearing messages ‘on’ will enable you to send messages that disappear after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days depending on your settings.