How can WhatsApp delete a photo from mobile when sender says delete for everyone?

When someone sends a photo on WhatsApp, the photo is usually stored inside the app itself rather than directly in your phone’s main gallery. So when the sender taps “Delete for Everyone,” WhatsApp sends a message to all phones in that chat telling the app to remove that specific message and its photo. Your WhatsApp then simply deletes it from the chat and from its own storage or cache.

If the photo was only viewed inside WhatsApp, it will disappear completely. But if you already saved it to your gallery, forwarded it, or took a screenshot, WhatsApp can’t remove those copies; it can only delete the one inside the app.

@priyamehta I hope that gives a clear explanation.