If you sent the text via traditional SMS, then the answer is no – once the text is sent, it cannot be unsent or deleted. If you sent the text via a service like iMessage or WhatsApp, then you may be able to delete the text before the other person reads it.
The recipient can read your message before you unsend it. If you unsend a message, it will disappear from the recipient's screen, but they'll be notified that you unsent it.
Can you Unsend a Text Message? There is no way to unsend a text message or iMessage unless you cancel the message before it was sent. Tiger text is an app that allows you to unsend text messages at any time but both the sender and receiver must have the app installed.
Once you send an iMessage from your iPhone, you have 15 minutes to unsend it. Unsending your message will delete it from your phone and from any device you sent it to. In its place, you and the recipient will see a message saying that a message was removed.
Tap and hold the message you want to remove. In the pop-up menu, select “Undo Send.” Both you and the recipient will see a note confirming that you unsent the message.
If the message is still in your outbox or sent messages folder, then there should be an option to delete it. You may need to tap and hold down on the message for a few seconds to bring up the delete option. Once it is deleted, the recipient will no longer be able to see it.
In the options menu, tap the “Delete” or “Delete Message” button. This should open another menu, in which you will find the “Delete for Everyone” option. Select this option to initiate the process of deleting the message on both sender and recipient devices.
In addition to the requirement of having iOS 16 to 'unsend' a message using an iOS device, Apple advises in Use Messages on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support that "If you unsend a message to someone on an older version of iOS, iPad OS, or macOS, your contact might still see the message."
A recall only works for unread messages. If the email has already been opened by the recipient, it will not be automatically deleted from their Inbox. Instead, the recipient may receive a notification that you have requested to retract the original message.
For Android users, tap the menu button in the top-right corner of any conversation and choose "Disappearing messages." Using the pop-up menu, scroll up to select the desired duration. When done correctly, a stopwatch will appear between the number and the phone icon in your conversation thread.
If you delete the message or conversation, the other person will still have a record of it. But it will appear on your phone like a new conversation. If you want to delete sent messages, you can use secure messaging apps like Telegram and Signal.
Google doesn't have a Recycle bin feature for Messages. That means it is a little more difficult to recover deleted text messages that were not sent to the archive. If you enabled Google Drive backup, that will do the trick. Otherwise, you'll rely on third-party data recovery apps to retrieve the deleted texts.
You can restore messages you deleted for up to 30 days. In the Messages conversation list, do one of the following: Tap Edit in the top-left corner, then tap Show Recently Deleted. Tap Filters in the top-left corner, then tap Recently Deleted.
Things You Should Know
Earlier iOS versions and Androids don't have an unsend option, but you can recall sent texts in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
People unsend messages when they're sent by accident.
With the unsend feature, she might have just quickly removed the message so she wouldn't have to explain her mistake.
To unsend a message, select the Undo Send option from the iMessage menu within two minutes of sending the message. Can you unsend texts on an Android? Android phones using SMS can't unsend texts.
With Messages in iCloud, anything you delete from iPhone is also deleted from your other Apple devices where Messages in iCloud is turned on. Deleting messages changes only your own Messages conversations, not those of your recipients.
To delete a message from both sides, you'll need to delete it on a device connected to each account. Once a message is deleted on both sides, it is permanently removed and cannot be retrieved.