Thanks to this quick guide you’ll learn how to delete a WhatsApp contact on your mobile device (iPhone and Android).
Hi, your best friend Frankie Caruso is speaking. If you’re here, it’s because you – just like me – have been losing your mind looking for a way to delete a contact from WhatsApp.
Luckily, I can help you out.
You might find that there are several reasons that you want to delete a contact and cut ties through the WhatsApp application. Perhaps you have encountered an unknown contact, someone that appears to be sending you spam messages, or worse a friend that you have to isolate yourself from.
While it might seem like a simple concept, many people are not aware of how to get rid of a contact forever. This means that they can no longer see your online access, your profile information or contact us in any way through the app. We want them gone.
Many people are under the impression that deleting a WhatsApp contact is the same as getting rid of their number from the phone book, but this is not the case.
This will not solve the problems that you might be having as this individual can still see your online activity. They can still send you messages, see your status and access your profile information.
In order to successfully and completely remove any contact you have from WhatsApp is to block the user.
By doing this, you are cutting them off from being able to send you messages, see your online status, or any information (including your picture) from your profile.
- There is no option to delete a contact from WhatsApp while not also deleting it from the phone’s contacts list.
- Your deleted contacts will still be able to view your Status, your profile picture and your last login and, most importantly, send you messages. The only way you can delete all traces of you from their phone too is to block them and then delete the number from your contacts list.
Frankie’s Take:
Remember that besides deleting a contact, you can also report as spam. I discuss it in my article.
How to delete a contact from WhatsApp on iPhone
Follow these steps and you will have no problem to delete a WhatsApp contact permanently.
- Open WhatsApp and find the contact you want to delete
- Once you find them, you have to block them on WhatsApp (this way they will no longer be able to write you messages, see your Status updates and your Last Active status). Click on the contact’s name > scroll to the end of the screen and click Block Contact > Block
- Now click on Edit (upper-right corner)
- Tap Delete Contact at the bottom of the Edit Contact tab to delete the contact from both WhatsApp and your iPhone’s contact list.
How to delete a contact from WhatsApp on Android device
The process may vary slightly depending on your Android device model. For this tutorial, I used a Samsung S21.
Proceed as follows:
- Launch WhatsApp and open the chat with the contact you want to delete.
- Now you can block then so that they won’t be able to write you or see your Stories anymore. Tap the name of the contact at the top of the screen, click on Block and then Block.
- Now tap More options > View in address book.
- Click on the three vertical dots > Delete to delete them both from WhatsApp and your device’s contacts.
Will the deleted contact know they have been deleted from my phone?
The answer is no. WhatsApp does not send any kind of notification that you have been deleted. However, the deleted person can get suspicious and use some techniques to figure out if you have been blocked and deleted or not. I tell you about it in this my guide: how to know if someone blocked you on WhatsApp.
Is it possible remove a contact from WhatsApp but not in the address book?
As said several times throughout this tutorial, it is not possible. Maybe in the future WhatsApp will implement this feature, but to date there is no news about it.
Conclusion
I hope the information included this guide on how to delete someone from WhatsApp has been helpful.
Before parting ways, here’s a quick recap: to delete a WhatsApp contact permanently you must first block and then delete them. Blocking someone on WhatsApp prevents the “victim” from accessing your information (Status and Last Seen) and from sending you messages.
I suggest you read my guide to better understand what happens when you block a contact (or number) on WhatsApp.
Should you have any doubts or questions, or have found an alternative method and want to share it with me comment on the post or contact me on my Instagram profile.
Love,
Frankie Caruso
