How to See Deleted Messages on WhatsApp: Methods for Android and iPhone

When you delete a WhatsApp message, it isn’t immediately erased from storage. Instead, it gets marked as “deleted” in the database, making it invisible to users but still recoverable until new data overwrites it.

To see deleted messages on WhatsApp, you can use several methods:

• check the linked device;
• use the notification history feature on Android;
• restore chats from a WhatsApp backup;
• use a parental control app like mSpy to monitor a child’s WhatsApp.

Different methods for retrieving deleted WhatsApp messages yield different results. It depends on whether you or the sender deleted them.

You may want to recover WhatsApp messages if you accidentally delete important messages or entire chats. Mistakes happen, and so do misunderstandings.

Every so often, a sender takes back their message before you have a chance to read it.

And there’s nothing more terrifying than when a parent picks up their child’s phone to check their WhatsApp chats and sees that suspicious ‘Message Deleted’.

No more worries. Here’s what you can retrieve from WhatsApp using different methods:

1. Quick Hint: Check a Linked Device

Effectiveness: 100% Able to See Deleted Messages

If you use WhatsApp web or have linked WhatsApp on another device, such as another phone, tablet, or desktop, you may find the deleted messages before the devices sync.

To view deleted messages on a linked device, open WhatsApp Messenger on the connected device without turning on Wi-Fi or mobile data. The app allows you to read all messages that were synced before you deleted them on the main phone.

2. See WhatsApp Notification History on Android

Effectiveness: Sees Received Messages Only

Android phones running on Android 11 and higher have a notification log feature. This feature keeps the notification history of all previewed messages in the pop-up menu. Thus, you can use it to see “deleted for everyone” WhatsApp messages.

The notification history feature should be enabled previously in the WhatsApp settings for this method to work.

How to enable WhatsApp Notification History:

1. Open the Settings app and go to Notifications.
   
2. Select Advanced Settings, then Notifications History. Tap the toggle beside Notification History to enable it.
   

When you enable this feature, it starts storing previews of messages from different apps, including WhatsApp.

Then you will be able to see even deleted WhatsApp messages by going through the same way: Settings > Notifications > Advanced Settings > Notification history > WhatsApp.

Note: you can only see the logged previews. If the deleted messages are too long, you won’t be able to recover the entire message. In addition, you can only view messages from a sender, not the ones you’ve sent.

3. Restore WhatsApp Chat Backup

Effectiveness: Depends on available chats from the last backup

WhatsApp Chat Backup is a feature that allows users to save copies of their chat history, including messages, photos, videos, and other media, so they can restore them later if needed.

Google Drive Backup for Android

In Android phones, WhatsApp automatically backs up chats to Google Drive, unless you’ve turned off the feature. Hence, if the app backed up your messages before you deleted them, you can retrieve them from that backup.

If you check your WhatsApp chat backup settings, you’ll find that it can back up messages daily, weekly, and monthly or when you tap the backup button.

Moreover, with the Google storage backup turned off, WhatsApp still does local backup every day and keeps it on your device for the last 7 days.

To check backup settings:

1. Open WhatsApp and tap on the three dots in the upper-right corner.
   
2. Tap on Settings > Chats.
3. Scroll down to Chat backup.
   
4. In the Chat backup tab, click on Frequency and choose Daily.
   

The best frequency to always have a backup to go to is minimal — daily. This way, you can retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages when the need arises. Nonetheless, this method will not work for messages that the sender deleted.

How to Retrieve Deleted WhatsApp Messages from Backup:

1. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp:
   1. Go to Settings > Apps > WhatsApp > Uninstall. You can delete the app through the Google Play Store or by pressing the app icon long and selecting Delete/Uninstall.
      Be careful and don’t choose the option to keep the available app data, as it overlays the previous one with deleted chats.
      
   2. Reinstall WhatsApp from the Google Play Store.
      
2. Open WhatsApp, agree to the WhatsApp Terms of Service, and enter the same phone number as the one on the deleted WhatsApp messages.
   
3. Allow WhatsApp to access your contacts, photos, and other media.
   
4. WhatsApp will detect a backup and open the Restore Backup screen. Tap Restore to restore WhatsApp messages from Google Drive.
   

Once WhatsApp restores the chats, you can read the messages that have been retrieved. If you’re the admin, WhatsApp will display the messages and media you sent and received, including media files from WhatsApp channels.

However, if the messages were deleted after the last backup, they will not be recovered.

Check iCloud Backup

For iOS users, you can restore deleted WhatsApp messages from iCloud backup. Similar to Android, it is possible only if the phone backs up data before you delete WhatsApp messages.

Before restoring WhatsApp messages from iCloud, ensure that there’s a backup. Open the WhatsApp messenger > tab Settings > Chats > Chat backup.

You will see the date and time of your latest backup. iCloud only keeps the last backup. If there’s one, do not use the “Backup now” option since it will override the previous data.

How to Recover Deleted Messages from iCloud Backup:

1. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. To achieve this, press the app icon and choose Delete/Uninstall. You can also find WhatsApp on the Apple Store to uninstall and reinstall it.
   
2. Then, open reinstalled WhatsApp, enter your phone number and verify your Apple ID.
   
3. Tap Restore Chat History when prompted.
   

WhatsApp will restore all messages sent and received during the last iCloud backup. It will include messages and media received in individual chats and communities. However, it will not restore media from WhatsApp channels unless you are the admin.

Restore from Ex-iTunes Backup on PC

Previously, iOS users could use iTunes backup to restore the lost data. But with the release of macOS Catalina (version 10.15) in October 2019, Apple discontinued iTunes on Mac computers.

The functionalities previously handled by iTunes were divided among several new apps. For iPhone backup and restoration, these tasks were integrated into the Finder application. This means that on Macs running macOS Catalina or later, you should use Finder to back up or restore your iPhone.

On Windows PCs, iTunes remained the primary application for iPhone management until February 2024. At that time, Apple introduced separate apps for Windows, including Apple Devices for backing up and restoring iPhones on Windows computers.

Note: Backup through PC takes aback of your entire device, so to use it to restore WhatsApp chats, you have to overwrite the whole current phone data.

To restore WhatsApp messages via PC:

1. Connect your phone to a PC or laptop using a USB cable.
2. Click your phone’s icon or your device’s name through Apple Devices on a Windows PC or Finder on a Mac.
3. Under General > Backups, choose Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac.
4. Click Manage Backups to see the available copies. If there is one you need, return to the previous window and tap Restore Backup.

Your phone will restart, and you will find the lost WhatsApp chats if they were backed up in the latest backup that your phone had.

4. Use mSpy WhatsApp Tracker

Effectiveness: 100% Capable of Seeing Deleted WhatsApp Messages

If you need to see deleted messages on WhatsApp regularly, like on your child’s phone, use mSpy WhatsApp Tracker.

This phone monitoring app tracks a phone’s activities, including WhatsApp chats. mSpy takes screenshots of all WhatsApp messages when they were received or sent. This makes it possible to see even the deleted WhatsApp messages from a device.

mSpy can be useful if you’re worried about who your child is chatting with on the messenger. The app will keep WhatsApp chat history, including the photos and the videos they send or receive.

How to Use mSpy WhatsApp Tracker to Check Deleted Messages:

1. Install mSpy on your child’s device:
   • you will need physical access for Android device;
   • for iOS, you require their iCloud credentials to get data from iCloud.
2. When you configure the app, mSpy will provide you with access to an online dashboard. Here, you will see the synced data and read deleted WhatsApp messages.

Try mSpy

mSpy shows you the list of chats and the time and date for each message. Thus, you can see a clear timeline if there are gaps in your teen’s phone messages.

Note: mSpy uploads data every 15 minutes on Android (much more often than backup!) and every 24 hours on iPhone. Nonetheless, it stores the data for as long as the app is installed on a target device. Therefore, you can always retrieve deleted WhatsApp chats.

You cannot use mSpy to recover deleted WhatsApp chats on the monitored device. The app works to upload data from a device, but it cannot restore deleted chats on the phone on which you’ve installed mSpy.

Conclusion

Seeing a message deleted on WhatsApp is frustrating, but not the end of the world. No magic is required; there are solutions.

The notification log is great for “deleted for everyone” messages, while a backup can restore entire WhatsApp chats.

Meanwhile, you can stay ahead of message deletion on a child’s device by using the mSpy WhatsApp tracker.

With these methods, it’s possible to recover some, if not all, deleted WhatsApp messages.