WhatsApp activates Undelete feature, allowing recovery of already deleted messages

WhatsApp offers users the Undelete feature, which you can use to undo the command to delete messages, recovering their contents.

Available for now only to users included in the beta test group, the Undelete feature in no way offers a way to “cheat” by recovering messages received and then deleted before they are seen. Simply put, Undelete is a “privilege” reserved strictly for the author of the message, with the idea that you could inadvertently use the Delete option to delete a message other than the one you intended.

Simply called Undo, the option appears only a few seconds after the delete command is used, allowing the accidental action to be undone. In other words, you won’t be able to take back an ill-advised decision to withhold information from your conversation partner, leaving you with the option of explaining the Deleted Message that appears in place of the unseen message.

Certainly, this is a long-requested feature from WhatsApp administrators, with enough users wishing they had a way to go back on the decision to delete a particular message. However, perhaps the window of a few seconds left between deleting the message and hiding the Undo option is not quite the solution some of the users who have been waiting for this feature would have liked. Most likely, the limitation was introduced to prevent misuse by ensuring users that messages sent and then deleted are indeed hidden permanently.