What you can actually delete depends on which app you use
You cannot truly delete a text message once it leaves your phone and reaches someone else's device. What you can do varies by platform. Apple's iMessage lets you remove a message from both your conversation and the recipient's screen for up to 15 minutes after sending. Android's Google Messages offers a similar window. WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram let you delete messages from your own chat history and optionally from the recipient's phone, but the recipient may have already seen or screenshotted it. Standard SMS text messages sent through your carrier cannot be deleted at all once delivered.
The reason for these limits is technical: once a message reaches someone else's device, you no longer control it. You can only ask the app to remove it from their view. Whether that actually happens depends on whether they're using the same app version, whether they've already read it, and whether they've taken a screenshot. No deletion feature protects against someone who has already copied your words.
Key Takeaways
- iMessage and Google Messages let you delete sent messages within 15 minutes on both devices, but only if the recipient hasn't already read or screenshotted them.
- WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram delete messages from your chat but may not remove them from the recipient's phone if they've already seen the message.
- Standard SMS text messages cannot be deleted once sent, even from your own phone.
- Screenshots and copies made before deletion are not affected by any delete feature.
- Deleting a message from your phone does not delete it from anyone else's device.
How to delete a message in iMessage
Open the conversation, press and hold the message you want to remove, then tap "Undo Send" if it appears. This option only shows up within 15 minutes of sending. The message will disappear from both your iPhone and the recipient's iPhone, iPad, or Mac — but only if they are using iMessage and have not already read it.
If the recipient has read the message or more than 15 minutes have passed, the "Undo Send" button will not appear. At that point, you can only delete it from your own conversation by swiping left on the message and tapping delete, which removes it only from your view.
How to delete a message in Google Messages
Open the conversation, press and hold the message, and tap the trash icon. Like iMessage, this works only within 15 minutes of sending and only if the recipient is using Google Messages on Android. The recipient will see a notification that you deleted the message, but the message itself will be removed from their chat.
Google Messages shows a "Message deleted" placeholder in the conversation thread so the recipient knows something was there. This is different from iMessage, which removes the message entirely. After 15 minutes, you can still delete the message from your own phone, but it will remain visible to the recipient.
How to delete a message in WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram
In WhatsApp, press and hold the message and tap "Delete". You'll see an option to "Delete for Everyone" — this removes the message from the recipient's phone as well as your own, but only if they haven't already read it. If they have read it, the message stays on their device even though it disappears from yours. There is no time limit, so you can delete a message hours or days after sending.
Signal works the same way: press and hold, tap delete, and choose "Delete for Everyone". Telegram offers "Delete for All Participants" with the same limitation — it only works if the recipient hasn't opened the message yet. All three apps show a "This message was deleted" notification so the recipient knows you removed something.
Why deletion doesn't may provide the message is gone
A person can screenshot or copy your message before you delete it, and no app can prevent that. Once they have a copy on their device or saved elsewhere, deleting the original message does nothing. Some apps like Signal and Telegram notify you when someone takes a screenshot in a one-on-one chat, but group chats and other platforms do not.
Deletion also fails if the recipient's app is outdated or if they are using a different platform. If you send an iMessage to someone who has switched to Android, or if their iMessage app hasn't updated, the deletion feature may not work. Always assume that anything you type could be copied or shared, regardless of what deletion tools are available.
Standard SMS text messages cannot be deleted
If you send a message through your phone's default SMS app rather than through iMessage, WhatsApp, or another internet-based service, there is no way to delete it once it reaches the recipient's phone. SMS messages are routed through your carrier's network, and once delivered, they exist on the recipient's device outside your control.
You can delete the message from your own phone's message thread, but that only removes it from your view. The recipient will still have the message in their inbox. This is one reason why people concerned about privacy often prefer apps like Signal or WhatsApp, which offer deletion features that SMS does not.
What happens when you delete a message from your own phone
Deleting a message from your conversation thread removes it only from your device. The recipient still has it. This is true for every messaging app. If you delete a conversation entirely, the messages are gone from your phone but remain on the recipient's phone and on any backup service you use, like iCloud or Google Drive.
If you want to remove a message from both devices, you must use the app's built-in deletion feature — "Undo Send" in iMessage, "Delete for Everyone" in WhatsApp or Signal, or the equivalent in your app. straightforward deleting from your own chat does not trigger that process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete a text message after someone has read it?
It depends on the app. iMessage and Google Messages only work within 15 minutes, regardless of whether it was read. WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram will not remove the message from the recipient's phone if they have already read it, though the message will disappear from your own view. SMS cannot be deleted at all.
Does the recipient get notified when I delete a message?
Yes, in most apps. WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram show a "This message was deleted" notification. iMessage removes the message silently if deleted within 15 minutes. Google Messages shows "Message deleted" in the thread. The recipient will know you removed something, even if they cannot see what it was.
What if I delete a message but the person took a screenshot?
The screenshot is a separate file on their device that deletion cannot touch. No messaging app can delete files or images that were created before you used the delete feature. Assume anything you send could be copied.
Can I delete a message I sent to a group chat?
Yes, using the same deletion features as one-on-one messages. In WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram, "Delete for Everyone" removes it from all group members' phones if they haven't read it yet. iMessage and Google Messages work the same way in groups, with the same 15-minute window.
Does deleting a message from my backup delete it from the recipient too?
No. Deleting from iCloud, Google Drive, or any backup service only removes it from your backup. The recipient still has the original message on their phone. To remove it from their device, you must use the app's deletion feature before the message is backed up.