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  • What Happens When You Uninstall WhatsApp?

    Abhishek Rawal

    Member

    Updated: Oct 27, 2024
    Views: 6.0K

    In this article, we will take a deeper look at what happens when you uninstall WhatsApp from you mobile. We’ll answer all the common questions around uninstalling WhatsApp and what happens to your chats, photos and groups.

    Summary (TLDR): WhatsApp keeps your data on their servers for about 120 days. If you uninstall and then reinstall WhatsApp, you will receive all your chats, groups and messages back.

    Q1: Will I lose everything if I uninstall WhatsApp?

    No. If you are uninstalling WhatsApp just for a few days; say to prepare for exams or an important event where you want to go distraction-free; nothing really happens to your data.

    WhatsApp says that it keeps your data on their servers for 120 days. If you do not access your account for 120 days; your account will be treated as ‘inactive’ and then deleted.

    A deleted account removes all the data, chats, photos and videos from WhatsApp servers.

    Q1a: How to recover my data in this case?

    It is important to have backups enabled on your phone. WhatsApp regularly backs up your data to your Google account. If you lose your data because your WhatsApp account was inactive for 120 days, you will be able to restore the backup.

    Note that there is no other way to do this.

    Q2. Will my contacts see me online?

    No. They will not. The online status is only shown when you are actively scrolling or looking at chats or messages on WhatsApp. Only in this case, your contacts will see your online status.

    Note that this is subject to having the privacy settings enabled to show your online status to your contacts. You can control this from:

    Three Vertical Dots → Settings → Privacy → Last Seen and Online

    When you uninstall WhatsApp, your contacts will not see your online/offline status.

    Q2a. Will my contacts see “last online” status?

    As I mentioned, they will not see your last online status. Of course you can control this setting as shown above.

    Q3. Will I lose my chats if I uninstall WhatsApp?

    No, you will not lose any of your direct chats or group conversions. You will get them back as soon as you reinstall WhatsApp.

    Keep in mind that WhatsApp has disappearing messages. These messages will vanish after a set period of time; and there is no way you can control it.

    Group chats, will also be loaded back when you install WhatsApp.

    As mentioned earlier, you must reinstall within 120 days. All inactive accounts are deleted after 120 days.

    Q4. Will I lose pictures if I uninstall WhatsApp?

    No. The photos downloaded on your phone will still be accessible from your media gallery. Also you can get all the photos and videos back as soon as you install the software.

    Q5. Is uninstalling WhatsApp same as deleting it?

    Yes, uninstalling WhatsApp is same as deleting it from your phone. However, it is not same as deleting your WhatsApp account.

    When you uninstall WhatsApp from your phone, it’s simply not available to you. However, your account continues to exist. Which means, you can still access your chats, photos, videos, group-chats through Desktop, Laptop or simply by installing on another phone with the same phone number.

    Deleting WhatsApp Account is Different

    If you want to totally delete your WhatsApp account, you need to take special steps. To delete your account go to-

    More Options → Settings → Account → Delete my account

    Enter your phone number in full international format and then tap the Delete My Account.

    If you perform this step, you will delete all your data from WhatsApp servers.

    Caution: This process cannot be reversed!

    You will lose access to your messages, photos, groups, communities. This will also delete your Google Drive backup!

    It usually takes about 90 days for Meta (the company that owns WhatsApp) to delete your WhatsApp information.

    To summarize, if you simply uninstall your WhatsApp, it will not delete your WhatsApp account.

    Q6. Can I temporarily deactivate my WhatsApp account?

    No, there is no way to temporarily deactivate your WhatsApp account. Uninstalling WhatsApp will simply make the app not available to you; but your data will still be retained on WhatsApp servers.

    There is a workaround though. You can tweak your privacy settings as shown above to be invisible to your contacts. You will still receive messages; but no one will know if you have seen them.

    Q7. What Happens if I uninstall WhatsApp for 2 months?

    If you uninstall WhatsApp for 2 months; nothing really happens to your account and data. You can still get everything back after reinstalling WhatsApp with the same phone number. Keep in mind that the data is linked to your mobile number and not the phone itself.

    If you however uninstall WhatsApp for 4 months (120 days) and do not access it from other devices like desktop or laptop or through web-interface, your account will be considered inactive and deleted.

    Q8. Can I recover my photos after uninstalling WhatsApp?

    You can recover your photos after uninstalling WhatsApp. As mentioned earlier, your downloaded photos and videos will be available in your phone’s media gallery.

    If you have uninstalled WhatsApp from your phone and also have deleted the photos and videos; you can still access them if you have WhatsApp web-access enabled. Simply load web.whatsapp.com in your chrome browser and you will receive all the photos and videos.

    Q9. Will I receive messages even when WhatsApp is uninstalled or deleted?

    Yes, you will receive messages, group chats, videos and photos even when you have deleted WhatsApp. They will simply be not available to you until you reinstall WhatsApp.

    Why?

    Because as seen earlier, deleting WhatsApp does not delete your WhatsApp account. The messages sent by others will be stored on your WhatsApp account and will be downloaded as soon as you install the app.

    Q10. How long are messages kept on WhatsApp?

    WhatsApp keeps your messages, chats, videos and photos on their servers for a period of 90 days. After that period, the data is deleted from their servers.

    If you have automatic Google Drive backup enabled, you can easily get the messages, photos, videos and chats back.

    The disappearing messages have the settings to keep messages for 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. These messages will expire after their expiry period automatically and cannot be retrieved.

    I hope this answers your questions. If you have any follow-up question, feel free to ask. I’ll be happy to answer them for you.

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  • Anoop Kumar

    Member • Jul 10, 2014

    Yes.. you will not show in contact list but your data still exist unless you choose to remove all your content from Whatsapp (as per Whatsapp declaration).
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  • beingab

    Member • Jul 10, 2014

    No... u would be visible in your friends list unless you use the option "delete my account" from Watsapp account settings. Uninstallation doesn't removes your profile. 😀
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Jul 12, 2014

    I think WhatsApp will still show up in your friends device. Friend will be able to send messages to you and they will be stored on WhatsApp (Facebook) servers for the normal life time of the messages. Afterwards, the messages will be deleted.

    Should you choose to reinstall WhatsApp, you will get all the messages. I however stand corrected.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Nov 11, 2015

    Update: Just confirming my above post. I recently sent a message to a contact and when he didn't respond; I sent an SMS. He told me that he's uninstalled WhatsApp several weeks ago. The contact however still showed up in my contact list.

    This is because WhatsApp does not sync your contact list on a central server. I think it's just okay that way. I don't want WhatsApp following all my moves.
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  • Michael Jake

    Member • Nov 12, 2015

    If I uninstall whatsapp from my phone without deleting my account, will I still be able to receive any messages or calls sent to me during the entire period which my whatsapp is uninstalled, when I reinstall my whatsapp back on my phone?
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Nov 12, 2015

    Michael Jake
    If I uninstall whatsapp from my phone without deleting my account, will I still be able to receive any messages or calls sent to me during the entire period which my whatsapp is uninstalled, when I reinstall my whatsapp back on my phone?
    As of now, you can't retrieve all those messages. It's not clear how long will WhatsApp store your messages. There are messages out there on the Internet that say whatsapp will store messages and other content for a period of 30 days. That means if you delete Whatsapp from your phone and install it at a later point in time; you will only get the messages sent to you (directly or via group) in the last 30 days.
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  • Michael Jake

    Member • Nov 15, 2015

    Kaustubh Katdare
    As of now, you can't retrieve all those messages. It's not clear how long will WhatsApp store your messages. There are messages out there on the Internet that say whatsapp will store messages and other content for a period of 30 days. That means if you delete Whatsapp from your phone and install it at a later point in time; you will only get the messages sent to you (directly or via group) in the last 30 days.
    Hi Kaustubh, thanks for your reply. However, I didn't delete my Whatsapp from my phone, I merely uninstalled the app. I understand if I delete Whatsapp, all my data might be gone. It's been 33 days since I last uninstalled my Whatsapp so going by what you said, do you mean I won't be able to receive any messages which were sent to me in the last 3 days and starting from now?
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Nov 16, 2015

    #-Link-Snipped-# - I'm not sure if one can actually delete WhatsApp account. All one can do is clean all the app data and uninstall the app from the phone. If you did that 33 days ago; you will get all the messages directed to you in the trailing 30 days. You will miss the messages sent in the first 3 days after you uninstalled the app.

    This is because WhatsApp stores messages only for 30 days. On 31st day, the message sent on day 1 would be deleted and so on.

    That said, I'm really not sure if WhatsApp really follows the policy of storing messages for 30 days. I've read it on multiple sources; but could not authenticate it myself. I'm wondering if anyone from Facebook/Whatsapp engineering team is reading this message. Would love to hear inputs from you!
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  • Ankita Katdare

    Administrator • Dec 13, 2015

    Answering a question someone posted on my Twitter account.
    If I uninstall whatsapp, will others still get a single tick mark when they send me messages?
    Yes. The single tick indicates that the message has left their phone and has reached the WhatsApp server. Double tick means the message has been downloaded on the receiver's end and blue tick means the person read it. Now if the received has uninstalled their WhatsApp application, the sender will keep receiving the single tick.
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  • [Prototype]

    Member • Dec 13, 2015

    Kaustubh Katdare
    #-Link-Snipped-# - I'm not sure if one can actually delete WhatsApp account. All one can do is clean all the app data and uninstall the app from the phone. If you did that 33 days ago; you will get all the messages directed to you in the trailing 30 days. You will miss the messages sent in the first 3 days after you uninstalled the app.
    You can actually delete your whatsapp account. Settings -> Account -> Delete my account.

    That's the only way afaik to cancel the registration from the service. If you uninstall, the whatsapp won't know I guess. For everyone, you'll be still a whatsapp user and as you pointed out, they keep the messages for sometime.
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  • Prabhu5

    Member • Dec 26, 2015

    Actually reciever uninstalled their whatsapp...and now i am sending messages and i am getting single tick....If They Reinstall Whatsapp will they recieve this messages or not...?thnx in advnce for replies...
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Dec 26, 2015

    Prabhu5
    Actually reciever uninstalled their whatsapp...and now i am sending messages and i am getting single tick....If They Reinstall Whatsapp will they recieve this messages or not...?thnx in advnce for replies...
    As discussed, WhatsApp stores only the messages sent in last 30 days. If the recipient installs WhatsApp, they will receive the messages sent to them in the last 30 days. However, you will have to keep a check on whether WhatsApp has updated their policy.
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  • nagur

    Member • Dec 29, 2015

    how i will get know that any of my friend is uninstalled his account????
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  • Ankita Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 4, 2016

    nagur
    how i will get know that any of my friend is uninstalled his account????
    If you friend has uninstalled the WhatsApp app from their phone, deleted or deactivated their WhatsApp account, your messages will no longer be sent to their phone. Even if you send them a message, you will only a get 'single tick' on the message sent. They will no longer be a part of any WhatsApp groups and you won't be able to add them to any groups. If your friend has deleted the WhatsApp app, you can know because their profile picture, last-seen date and status message will no longer be visible in your contact list. I hope this helps.
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  • Istihaqmahendi Bedawala

    Member • Feb 21, 2016

    I want to install my whats up
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  • Paakhi

    Member • Mar 24, 2016

    Hi, I want to know that if someone uninstalls their WhatsApp from phone (NOT delete the account, just uninstalls the app), then will I be able to add them to any new group?
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Mar 24, 2016

    Paakhi
    NOT delete the account, just uninstalls the app
    Can you point out the difference between the two? How is deleting different from uninstalling the app?
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  • Paakhi

    Member • Mar 24, 2016

    Kaustubh Katdare
    Can you point out the difference between the two? How is deleting different from uninstalling the app?
    Yes. I mean, Uninstall as in just removing the application from one's phone and deleting as in deleting the WhatsApp account.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Mar 24, 2016

    Paakhi
    Yes. I mean, Uninstall as in just removing the application from one's phone and deleting as in deleting the WhatsApp account.
    My previous response was wrong. Deleted it.

    If someone uninstalled WhatsApp from their phone and not delete their account; you will still be able to add them to any group. Of course, they'll never notice.
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  • Paakhi

    Member • Mar 24, 2016

    Kaustubh Katdare
    WhatsApp #-Link-Snipped-# at this time. It's written on their service. So even if you try deleting it; nothing would happen. Of course I haven't tried it.

    So the account will continue to exist and you can add them to any group.

    But there is an option saying "Delete my account" under "Settings -> Account"

    Anyway I got the answer I was looking for. Thanks for your help. 😀
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  • Paakhi

    Member • Mar 24, 2016

    Kaustubh Katdare
    My previous response was wrong. Deleted it.

    If someone uninstalled WhatsApp from their phone and not delete their account; you will still be able to add them to any group. Of course, they'll never notice.

    Alright. Thanks for your help. 😀
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  • Emilyj

    Member • Mar 26, 2016

    If someone has just uninstalled the Whatsapp app from their phone, how will I know? Will my messages still send to them? Will they appear as a double tick or single tick when sent?
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  • akhtar8908

    Member • Jun 5, 2016

    My friend said that she deleted her whatsapp account . But still her whatsapp account ringing when call from whatsapp
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Jun 5, 2016

    akhtar8908
    My friend said that she deleted her whatsapp account . But still her whatsapp account ringing when call from whatsapp
    Perhaps she needs to uninstall the app as well. Without the app, WhatsApp can't ring the phone. Normal phone calls would still work because whatsapp number isn't different from her regular mobile phone number.
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  • Ankita Katdare

    Administrator • Jun 5, 2016

    Emilyj
    If someone has just uninstalled the Whatsapp app from their phone, how will I know? Will my messages still send to them? Will they appear as a double tick or single tick when sent?
    You will know because their profile picture and status will be empty. Your messages will remain at single tick stage.
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  • Kavya144

    Member • Aug 2, 2016

    What happens to a single tick message i sent before uninstalling whatsapp....will the receiver receive it???
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  • Ankita Katdare

    Administrator • Oct 30, 2017

    Kavya144
    What happens to a single tick message i sent before uninstalling whatsapp....will the receiver receive it???
    Yes I think if you have sent the message and received a single tick, the receiver WILL get the message, but wont be able to reply to you on WhatsApp.
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  • Chike

    Member • Mar 22, 2018

    Pls i uninstalled what' app without backing up my data... can i still get my messages back when I install it again?
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  • Sumit Mishra

    Member • Mar 23, 2018

    Yes you will be still visible to your contacts even if you install whatsapp from your Phone until and unless you delete your whatsapp account by going into the privacy settings of whatsapp.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • May 21, 2018

    WhatsApp stores plenty of information on their servers. You can retrieve it when you activate your account on new phone. 

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  • Divyesh Mangroliya

    Member • Jul 30, 2018

    I have uninstalled WhatsApp 65 days ago,

    for how many days  is it visible my profile to my friends??

    Because I have been left from all my groups automatically few days ago.

    Can anyone help?

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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Sep 7, 2018

    #-Link-Snipped-# You need to manually delete your account from WhatsApp before your profile gets removed from your friend's whatsapp. Simply deleting your WhatsApp may not inform WhatsApp that you are no longer using their service (from specific phone number).

    If you can, reinstall WhatsApp and delete the account. These are the exact steps you need to follow -

    Delete WhatsApp Account

    1. Open WhatsApp.
    2. Tap the Menu Button > Settings > Account > Delete my account.
    3. Enter your phone number in full international format and tap Delete my account.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Sep 7, 2018

    Posting this message on behalf of #-Link-Snipped-#  -

    "If I send a message and then uninstall the app; will my message will still get delivered?"

    Answer:

    Yes, your message will still get delivered to the person. This is because when you send a new message, it's immediately sent to WhatsApp's servers. It continues to reside on WhatsApp's server until the recipient opens their WhatsApp.

    When the recipient opens the app, the message is quickly delivered to their phone. Therefore even if you delete your app, your message will still be delivered to the receiver. 

    There's however a new feature that latest version of WhatsApp has enabled - delete message. If you use this feature, you can choose to delete the message 'before' it's been viewed by the recipient. 

    The way this works is that when you mark a message as 'deleted', WhatsApp will mark the message as 'deleted' on receiver's phone - ONLY if they haven't seen the message. The message is then quickly removed from receiver's phone and they see a message "This message was deleted".

    I hope this helps. 

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  • salihu Basali

    Member • Oct 22, 2018

    my whats app. has been  misbehaved  so i personally uninstall. it

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  • Radhika Deshpande

    Member • Nov 1, 2018

    I have a doubt here- If I de-install my whatsapp from mobile without quitting any group I am member of, then after few days my number will get automatically gets off all the groups. But If I rejoin whatsapp, will I get automatically added to older groups I was member of ?

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  • Rashmi Gandhi

    Member • Nov 23, 2018

    That's a good question #-Link-Snipped-# 

    There are two things, you can either uninstall Whatsapp or completely delete your Whatsapp account. Those are two different things.

    If you delete your Whatsapp account then you will no longer be a member of the Whatsapp groups. No one can message you in Whatsapp after you delete your account.

    If you are a SOLE group admin for a group then the first person whom you have added in the group first will be made admin and you will no longer be a member of the group.

    After again creating an account on the same number, you won't be a member of the previous groups.

    ----------------------------------

    However, if you just uninstall Whatsapp (without deleting the account) then you will remain a member of the group and then you will be present in that group.

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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Nov 23, 2018

    Has anyone tried to confirm that the data is 'actually' deleted if the account is deleted? Given the example of Facebook; they're very reluctant to letting people go off their platform. 

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  • Divyesh Mangroliya

    Member • Nov 24, 2018

    @KAUSTUBH KATDARE,

    Thank you for your reply,

    but here it is not that I want to ask you, because I already know how to uninstall WhatsApp completely.

    but I want to know that, 

    I have uninstalled WhatsApp application for 2 or 3 months, and now I automatically left from all my WhatsApp groups and also my WhatsApp number does not exist now.

    so is there any WhatsApp policy that if someone just uninstalls the app for some period of time, then your WhatsApp number will be deleted permanently.? 

    That is what I want to know.@KAUSTUBH KATDARE.

    Thank You.




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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Nov 24, 2018

    WhatsApp has a concept of 'Recycled Accounts'. Here's what the official documentation says -

    If an account is unused for 30 days and then becomes newly activated on a different mobile device, we take this as a sign that a number has been recycled. At this time, we will remove the old account data tied to the phone number - like the profile photo and About.

    It clearly states that WhatsApp considers any account that is inactive for over 30 days as 'Recycled'. However, they do not mention anything about what happens to the recycled accounts if new phone number does not get activated. 

    Some of the people say that they'll delete the account data if the WhatsApp number is not used for 45 days. However, there is no official confirmation on this yet. 

    It's quite likely that if you haven't used your phone number for over 45 days; then all your previous information (groups, media, chats etc.) has been deleted from WhatsApp servers. 

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  • Nadia Rubens

    Member • Jan 3, 2019

    In my case I sent I message to the person and received a single tick, I can’t see the status and the last seen (the person always hidden the last seen anyway) but I still can see his profile picture, I don’t understand why.

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  • Mohit G

    Member • Jan 3, 2019

    #-Link-Snipped-# WhatsApp continues to make changes to the app and aren't always very vocal about them. In my opinion they have optimised the privacy settings with the last 4 updates for Android. 

    In your case, it appears that the single tick confirms that your message was sent. It's likely that they've already received your message; but have chosen to not show whether it was read. That's the reason you will continue to see either a single tick OR a double tick. 

    You can see their profile picture - which means they've either made their profile picture visible to 'everyone' or just their contacts. It's a setting available in WhatsApp privacy configuration. 

    I do not understand what exactly you are trying to do. Have you tried broadcasting a message? If the person has uninstalled WhatsApp - they will not receive the broadcasted message. 

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  • Nadia Rubens

    Member • Jan 4, 2019

    When I sent the message I tought that maybe he had with turned off the WiFi, because I can see his profile picture and his about “hey there I’m using whatssap”. But I sent the message one month ago and he still did not receive my message, If did I could see the double tick. My guess is: or he deleted his whatssap app or he turned off his iCloud, because his iMessage and FaceTime are unavailable since then. 

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  • Rohit Kumar

    Member • Jan 4, 2019

    You don't need a WiFi connection to see anyone's profile on WhatsApp. It's visible if they have allowed their profile pictures to be seen by anyone. Profile pictures are stored on WhatsApp's servers. He could have deleted WhatsApp. However, you cannot be sure only on the basis of the ticks. They could have simply ignored the message. Or worst, you could have been blocked on their messaging services. That's one of the reason when you can't see any of their activity. 

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  • Mohit G

    Member • Jan 7, 2019

    #-Link-Snipped-# are you sure that he received the message? Being able to see profile picture and status message is not an indication that they are actively using WhatsApp. It would be visible even after the person has uninstalled WhatsApp. Deleting WhatsApp from mobile is different from deactivating account. As #-Link-Snipped-# said, I think he could have blocked your number. 

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  • Smejka 123

    Member • Feb 16, 2019

    Hey, I was able to see the person’s profile picture and his online status (not the last time he was active though). Now when I send a message it’s only one tick, i can’t see his profile picture anymore (and yes he had it all the time), his online status and i can’t see the ‘Hey I’m using Whatsapp’ and the date of when he started using Whatsapp. What does that tell me? I tried adding the person to a group and it went through, I could add him. Does that mean that he blocked me or deleted the app or something third?

    Thank you for your answers!

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  • Smejka 123

    Member • Feb 16, 2019

    Just checked from another phone, I’m blocked. Thanks anyway:)

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