WhatsApp introduces ‘Accidental Delete’ to retrieve messages from the grave

We’ve all been there. You accidentally send some heartfelt message — meant for your spouse – to your boss. Or you send a nasty message to the right person, but come to your senses a couple of seconds later. You panic, searching for the familiar little bin icon at the top of your screen. But there’s a problem. You’ve accidentally clicked ‘Delete for Me’. That message is still there, waiting to be read.

That won’t be the case any longer. At least, it won’t be after WhatsApp finishes rolling out its new ‘Accidental Delete’ feature.

5-second rule

The head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, announced the feature on WhatsApp, saying there would soon be a way to undo the ‘Delete for Me’ function, allowing users to go back and choose the originally sought-after ‘Delete for Everyone’ button.

We’ve added the option to undo ‘Delete for me’ for those times when you mean to delete for everyone but accidentally deleted for just yourself. pic.twitter.com/Ec0RCJKWio

— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) December 19, 2022

You won’t have very long to correct your mistake, however. Once you’ve clicked ‘Delete for Me’, an ‘undo’ prompt will appear for all of five seconds. Click it, and your message will rise up from the dead, celebrating its return before being sent back into the deepest depths of hell. Where it belonged in the first place.

Read More: iOS to get what Android’s had on WhatsApp video calls, adds more group call features

After the feature has spent some time in the hands of real users, WhatsApp may consider extending the time limit for retrieving lost messages.

The feature has already been released. At least, it has on our Android device. Don’t fret if you can’t access it though. There may be a delay in the rollout for some. Just keep your WhatsApp up to date, and the feature should appear shortly.

Source: WABetaInfo