What really happens when you delete a text?

March 11, 2025

By Kim Komando

We’ve all had those texts we want to delete — from bad jokes and typos, to (gulp) sending something sensitive to the wrong contact. Can you really ever remove a text from your life? Is a deleted text really deleted for good? It’s complicated.

🍎 Team Apple

Press and hold on a text in a conversation, then tap More and the trash can to delete it. But you’re not done yet. It sits in your Recently Deleted folder for 30 days. Clear it from there, too. 

If you use iCloud Messages, deleting the text from Recently Deleted removes it from all your Apple devices and iCloud.

Anyone you sent the text to will still have it on their iPhone unless you do one thing within two minutes of sending it. Tap and hold and then choose Undo Send.

🤖 Team Android

In Google Messages, tap and hold a text, then tap the trash can. It’s gone for you, but not for the recipient. There is no undo like on an iPhone.

In Samsung Messages, do the same, but don’t forget to clear it from the Trash folder. And once it’s sent, it’s out there.

If your messages are backed up to Google Drive or Samsung Cloud, deleting them from your phone doesn’t remove them from the cloud. You’ll need to delete the backup separately to fully erase them.

📱 Other apps

WhatsApp users: Press and hold a message, tap the trash can, and choose Delete for me to erase your copy or Delete for everyone to remove it for all. That super-useful second option is only available for an hour after you’ve sent the message.

Facebook Messenger: Deleting is called unsending. Tap and hold a message, then select More > Unsend. Choose Unsend for you to remove it from your chat or Unsend for everyone to erase it for all. No time limit!

🚔 What about law enforcement?

Deleted texts aren’t always gone. Police can get them with a court order either from your phone carrier (for SMS) or from cloud backups if they aren’t encrypted.

Now, I know you might be curious, so for true privacy, use iMessage with Advanced Data Protection on iPhone or WhatsApp with backup encryption on any device. Without these, your messages could still be recovered. With them, not even Apple, WhatsApp or the government can access your texts.