How to Delete Any WhatsApp Contact

Manage your contacts more easily

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
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Updated on August 9, 2022

In This Article

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What to Know

  • Go to Chats > Compose, tap the contact you want to delete, then tap their name at the top of the chat screen.
  • On iOS, tap Edit > Delete Contact. On Android, tap three dots > View in address book > three dots > Delete.
  • If you delete a contact through WhatsApp, it's also removed from your device's contact list, and vice versa.

This article explains how to delete contacts on WhatsApp. Contacts will never know you deleted them because no notifications are sent to contacts when deleted.

How to Delete a WhatsApp Contact on iOS

The process for deleting a WhatsApp contact differs just slightly between iOS and Android. The steps below are for the iOS version:

If you delete a contact through WhatsApp, that also deletes it from your device's contact list, so be sure you want to delete the contact from both places before you go ahead. Keep in mind the opposite is true as well.

  1. Open WhatsApp and tap Chats.

  2. In the upper-right corner of the Chats screen, tap the chat composer icon.

    On iOS, the chat composer looks like a pencil inside a square.

  3. Scroll through your contact list or use the search function at the top to find the contact you want to delete. Tap the contact to open a chat screen.

  4. At the top of the chat screen, tap the contact's name to go to their profile.

    Path to opening a chat in WhatsApp

  5. In the upper-right corner of the contact's profile, tap Edit.

  6. Tap Delete Contact to delete the contact from both WhatsApp and your device's contacts.

    WhatsApp Edit Contact screen with Delete Contact highlighted

    Deleting a contact on iOS won't delete any chat history you had with them. You can delete your chat history from the Chats tab by swiping left on any particular chat, then tap More > Delete Chat > Delete Chat.

How to Delete a WhatsApp Contact on Android

The steps for deleting WhatsApp contacts on Android are very similar:

  1. Open WhatsApp and tap Chats.

  2. In the lower-right corner of the Chats screen, tap the chat composer icon to display the contact list.

    On Android, the chat composer looks like a small message icon inside a circle.

  3. Scroll through your contact list or use the search function to find the contact you want to delete. Tap the contact to open a chat screen.

    Chats tab, Compose icon, and contact for Dad highlighted in WhatsApp for Android

  4. At the top of the chat screen, tap the contact's name to go to their profile.

  5. In the upper-right corner of the contact's profile, tap the three vertical dots.

  6. Tap View in address book.

    Contact name, three dot menu, and View in address book highlighted in WhatsApp

  7. In the address book, tap the three vertical dots > Delete.

  8. Tap Delete again to remove them from WhatsApp and your device's contacts.

    Three dot menu, Delete, and Delete highlighted in Android address book

If you're deleting contacts on WhatsApp via the Android platform, you need to refresh your WhatsApp contacts to reflect the changes. Tap the chat composer icon > three vertical dots > Refresh. The deleted contact(s) should no longer appear in your contact list.

FAQ
  • How do I delete messages from WhatsApp?

    To delete WhatsApp messages, go to the conversation window and hold your finger on the message until the extra options dialog menu appears, then tap Delete > Trashcan > Delete for Everyone. You can select more than one message if you want to delete them all at once.

  • How do I permanently delete my WhatsApp account?

    To delete your WhatsApp account in the app, tap the three-dot menu > Settings > Account > Delete my account. Alternatively, you can temporarily deactivate your WhatsApp account.

  • How do I block or unblock a WhatsApp contact?

    To block a WhatsApp contact, tap the three-dot menu > Settings > Account > Privacy > Blocked > Add New. To unblock a contact, go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Blocked and swipe left on the contact (iOS) or tap and choose Unblock (Android).

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