Social media and instant messaging apps can get on our nerves. I bet you must have thought of going to social media and eliminating those apps at least once. Sometimes, it’s just a single app like WhatsApp to bother us. With the pressure to respond instantly and a barrage of spam messages, uninstalling it sometimes seems like a good idea.
But what happens when you uninstall WhatsApp? You must have several queries related to old and new messages, profile picture, settings, and more. Well, sit back and fasten your seat belts as we set off on this journey by answering all your questions about uninstalling WhatsApp. Let’s begin.
Delete the Whatsapp account and uninstall the WhatsApp app
Let’s start from the beginning. It is essential to know the difference between uninstalling the WhatsApp app and deleting the WhatsApp account … they are two different things.
Uninstalling the app means that you have simply deleted it from your phone. After doing so, you temporarily lose access to your account because you will not be able to send and receive messages during that period. Technically, your account is still registered with WhatsApp and, with a simple reinstallation, you can start using it again as if nothing had happened.
Conversely, deleting the WhatsApp account will delete all message history, remove you from all WhatsApp groups and hide your WhatsApp profile from other people’s WhatsApp contacts.
What happens to old messages
When you reinstall WhatsApp on the same phone after proper verification, you will have the possibility to restore the backup (if created) of the chat history and media files from the cloud- Google Drive for Android and iCloud for iPhone.
So, yes, nothing happens to old messages and media, as long as you select the restore option when prompted during the reinstallation process. If you miss the answer, the WhatsApp app will appear empty without any chat history except for the groups you belong to. In this case, uninstall it again, then select the restore option.
On Android phones, you can also restore chat history and media content from your local backup (without Google Drive) if you don’t remove the WhatsApp folder. The local backup feature is not available on iPhone, so if you uninstall WhatsApp on iPhone and you don’t have an iCloud backup, your chats disappear.
Media files on your phone
Uninstalling WhatsApp from your phone will not delete existing WhatsApp media files such as photos, videos, documents, etc. All will still be accessible on your phone via a file manager, an app gallery and other similar apps.
New messages and calls
When you uninstall WhatsApp, people can still send messages and call you. However, since the app is not installed on your phone, you will not be notified. Only when you reinstall WhatsApp, will you receive those messages and notifications of missed calls.
What happens to the groups
You will continue to be part of your groups even if you uninstall WhatsApp. Furthermore, if you are a group administrator, you will continue to be the administrator.
Profile people can see your profile picture
Yes, depending on your previous privacy settings, your contacts can still see your latest profile picture and About. It will not be removed after uninstalling WhatsApp. However, if you delete your WhatsApp account, your profile picture will also be deleted.
Watch the last access
If the last access was before uninstalling WhatsApp, your friends would see the time you were active for the last time before uninstalling WhatsApp.
Settings and blocked numbers
Both remain unchanged when uninstalling WhatsApp. Meaning, after reinstalling WhatsApp, you will have the same account and privacy settings. Similarly, previously blocked numbers will continue to appear in the list of blocked numbers.
Visibility in contact lists
After uninstalling the app, WhatsApp will not remove you from the chat or contact list of your friends. However, deleting the account will have a different effect for your account not detected as an active WhatsApp user. So the others won’t see you in their WhatsApp contacts.
Ticks are important
You must be aware of what the various ticks on WhatsApp mean. To quickly recap:
- A single gray check mark on WhatsApp means that the message has been sent.
- A double gray check indicates that the message has been delivered.
- A double blue check indicates that the message has been read.
When you send a message to the owner of a WhatsApp account that has uninstalled the app, you will see only one gray check mark.
How to know if someone has uninstalled Whatsapp
There is no direct way to know if someone has uninstalled WhatsApp. You can only assume this if you see individual gray check marks for sent messages. However, it is not a precise way to know. It is possible that the person may be in an area without internet or that his phone will not work.
How to uninstall Whatsapp
There are several ways to uninstall WhatsApp. For simplicity, I will speak only of one.
On Android, open WhatsApp on the Play Store and press the Uninstall button. On the iPhone, long press the WhatsApp icon on the main screen. Once the icons start shaking, tap the cross-shaped icon on WhatsApp.
How to reinstall WhatsApp
If you want to reinstall WhatsApp, download it from the respective app store on Android and iOS devices.
Once installed, the installation process is similar to when you first set it up. That is, you will need to check your number again and assign a name. However, since you have not deleted the account, WhatsApp will automatically load the image of the previous profile.
After verification, WhatsApp will ask if you want to restore the backup from the cloud. On the Android phone, the message is a bit misleading for the same can be used to restore from the local backup, provided that you are reinstalling on the same phone. Touch Continue to restore the backup.
Conclusion
Uninstalling WhatsApp disables the account that can be restored at any time. It can be better defined as leaving steroids where old messages are not deleted (if a backup is created) and you will also receive new messages after reinstalling WhatsApp.
It is useful when you want to disable WhatsApp for a short period without deleting your WhatsApp account. You can also uninstall the app to solve some problems.
