How do you delete a number on WhatsApp without them knowing?

WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It’s easy to send messages, photos, videos and more to your contacts on WhatsApp. But what if you want to delete a contact’s number from WhatsApp without notifying them?

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Why Would You Want to Delete a Contact Without Them Knowing?

There are a few reasons why you may want to delete a contact from WhatsApp without them being notified:

You no longer want them to see your WhatsApp activity status or when you’re last online.

You don’t want them to be able to message or call you on WhatsApp anymore.
You want to cut off contact with that person.
Their number is wrongly saved in your contacts and you want to delete it.

You accidentally added the wrong number and want to remove it.

Whatever the reason, deleting a contact from WhatsApp without their knowledge is possible with some simple steps.

How WhatsApp Notifies Contacts When You Delete Them

Normally when you delete a contact from your WhatsApp contacts list, they will receive a notification saying “You deleted this contact” or “You changed the privacy settings for this contact”. This alerts them that you’ve removed them from your contacts.

To avoid this, you need to delete the contact in a way that prevents WhatsApp from notifying them. Here are the main methods to do this:

Delete Contact and Block Them

One of the simplest ways is to first delete the contact from your phone’s address book. Then open WhatsApp, go to the chat for that number, tap on their name at the top and select Block Contact.

This will simultaneously delete them from your WhatsApp contacts and block them. They won’t know you’ve deleted them because blocked contacts can’t tell if you’ve deleted them.

Delete Chat History

You can also just delete the entire chat history with that contact. Open the chat, tap on the contact name, select More > Clear Chat History. This will erase all messages and media you’ve ever exchanged without deleting the number itself.

To complete the process, you need to also block them so they don’t see you come online or your status updates.

Create WhatsApp Business Account

WhatsApp Business accounts have a useful feature where you can delete a contact’s chat history without notifying them. Just link the business account to your normal WhatsApp account.

Then use the business account to clear the chat history with that contact. They won’t be notified since business accounts have separate privacy settings.

Step-by-Step Guide to Deleting a WhatsApp Contact Without Them Knowing

Follow these steps to secretly remove a contact from your WhatsApp:

Open your phone’s Contacts app and delete the contact you want to remove from WhatsApp.

Open WhatsApp and go to the chat window for that number.
Tap on the contact name at the top and select Block Contact.
This will immediately block them and delete them from your WhatsApp.

You can also report the contact before blocking for extra protection.
Open WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy and uncheck ‘Read Receipts’ so they can’t tell if you’ve read their messages.
Disable the ‘Last Seen’ privacy setting so they can’t see when you were last online.

With this method, the contact is deleted, blocked and unable to message you without getting any notification that you removed them.

Using WhatsApp Business Accounts

Here is how to use a WhatsApp Business account to stealthily delete a contact:

Install WhatsApp Business and link it to your regular WhatsApp account.

Open the business account and go to the chat for the contact you want to delete.
Tap on their name, then tap Clear Chat History.
This will delete the entire chat without notifying them since business accounts have separate privacy settings.

Block the contact in your business account to prevent them messaging you.
Disable Last Seen and Read Receipts in your business account for extra protection.

The key advantage of using a business account is they will have no idea you’ve cleared your chat history with them or blocked them.

Does Deleting Messages Notify the Contact?

If you only want to delete certain messages with a contact rather than your entire chat history, this will notify them.

When you delete specific messages, the other person will see “This message was deleted” in place of the deleted texts or media.

So if you want to remove messages without the other person knowing, you need to clear your entire chat history with them, not just specific messages.

Does Archiving a Chat Notify Them?

Archiving a chat hides it from your main chats screen but doesn’t delete any messages. You can still find archived chats by tapping Archived Chats at the top of your chats list.

Archiving a chat does not notify the contact in any way or change their experience. So it can be a temporary way to reduce clutter if you don’t want to delete the chat entirely.

Can Contacts Tell if You’ve Deleted Them?

If you delete a contact normally, they will definitely be notified through an automated WhatsApp message. The only way to prevent this is to first delete their number from your phone’s contacts, then block them on WhatsApp.

Blocking the contact prevents WhatsApp from alerting them about the deletion. You can also disable Last Seen and Read Receipts for extra protection.

Does Deleting Chats On WhatsApp Delete The Messages?

Deleting your chat history on WhatsApp only removes the messages from your view – the messages still continue to exist in WhatsApp’s database.

According to WhatsApp’s FAQ, “Deleting a chat history will only delete the messages from your phone and not the recipient’s phone. The messages will still continue to exist in WhatsApp’s database.”

So clearing your chat history with a contact merely removes access to the messages from your side. The messages could still be retrieved from WhatsApp’s servers if required.

Can Deleted WhatsApp Chats Be Recovered?

Yes, it is possible to recover deleted WhatsApp messages in some cases:

If the messages were deleted less than 30 days ago, you can restore them from a third-party Android backup not stored on Google Drive.

Using data recovery apps to scan your phone and find residual traces of deleted messages that may not have been fully overwritten.
Requesting WhatsApp to provide a data export containing your archived messages if compelled by a legal request.

But if too much time has passed, the messages are likely irretrievable even by WhatsApp itself.

Does Deleting WhatsApp Delete Media Files Sent?

When you delete a WhatsApp chat, any media files like photos, videos, documents or audio you exchanged will also be deleted from your phone’s storage.

However, any media the contact sent you will still be present on their phone. And if you sent them any files, they will still have those files saved even if you delete the chat.

So clearing your chat history only erases media from your side, not the contact’s side unless they also delete the chat.

Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Media Files?

If you accidentally deleted a media file sent over WhatsApp, it may be possible to recover it:

Using a file recovery app to scan your phone’s storage and restore recently deleted media files before they are overwritten.
Enabling Google Photos to auto-backup your media, then you can restore deleted files from Google Photos cloud storage.

Using a Mac data recovery app like PhoneRescue if you had an iOS backup containing the lost media files.

But beyond 30 days, the likelihood of file recovery decreases as the storage space is reused by other data. So act quickly if you need to retrieve deleted media.

Does WhatsApp Keep Deleted Messages Stored Somewhere?

Yes, it’s important to note that WhatsApp does not immediately delete messages when you clear your chats. The deleted messages continue being stored in WhatsApp’s servers for up to 30 days.

According to WhatsApp, this 30-day retention period allows users to recover recently deleted messages if needed. The messages may also be stored longer if required for legal purposes.

But after the retention period, the deleted messages are permanently removed from WhatsApp’s databases and there is no way to recover them.

Can Police Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages?

Police have the same ability as WhatsApp users to recover deleted messages from the app. If the messages were deleted in the last 30 days, police can:

Obtain a legal order compelling WhatsApp to provide deleted messages retrieved from its servers.
Use advanced mobile forensics tools to scan a confiscated device and find traces of deleted messages not fully overwritten.
Retrieve messages from iCloud or Google Drive backups if available.

However, after 30 days the messages are permanently deleted by WhatsApp and generally irretrievable even by law enforcement.

Conclusion

Deleting WhatsApp contacts or chats is not a guaranteed way to permanently erase messages or prevent contact. Unless done carefully, the other user will be notified.

To fully delete a chat without notification, first delete the contact, block them on WhatsApp, disable privacy settings like Last Seen and Read Receipts, and clear your chat history using a WhatsApp Business account if possible.

Keep in mind deleted chats can potentially be recovered within 30 days. But beyond that the messages are likely gone forever barring very advanced forensic data recovery attempts.