Guide · Chat records · For the shop that needs to look back at what a customer said

Keeping a record of what customers said on WhatsApp: disappearing messages, kept and starred messages, edits, deletions and exporting a chat

A customer confirms a size, agrees a price or sends a photo of what they want, and weeks later someone asks what was actually said. Whether the chat can answer depends on settings either side can change: disappearing messages, view-once media, edits and deletions. This guide puts WhatsApp's Help Center pages on what stays, what goes and how to keep a copy in one place, in plain language.

Published 15 October 2026

Disappearing messages: either side can switch them on

WhatsApp's article About disappearing messages says it is an optional feature. Messages disappear 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days after they're sent, unless the message is kept. The timer only affects new messages, not ones already sent or received, and messages disappear for both the sender and the recipient.

Who can turn it on: In a one-to-one chat, either you or the person you're messaging can turn disappearing messages on or off. In a group, anyone can by default, unless the admins limit it to admins.
Who can turn it off: WhatsApp's article How to turn disappearing messages on or off says anyone in the chat can disable disappearing messages at any time.
One chat: Open the chat, tap the contact's name, tap Disappearing messages, then pick 24 hours, 7 days, 90 days or Off.
Your default: Settings > Privacy > Default message timer sets the timer for all new individual chats. You can also choose existing chats to apply it to.

Our reading

A customer can switch the timer on in their chat with your shop, and the articles don't say a business can stop that. Before you rely on a chat as your record of an order, open the chat info screen and check whether disappearing messages are on.

What can outlast the timer

The same article lists the exceptions:

Forwarded: A disappearing message forwarded to a chat with disappearing messages off won't disappear in that chat.
Quoted: When someone replies to a message, the original is quoted, and the quoted message might still be visible after the time has passed.
Backed up: A backup made before a message disappears includes it, but disappearing messages are deleted when you restore from that backup.
Photos and videos: With disappearing messages on, media sent in the chat disappears and isn't saved to your photos.
Order and payment messages: WhatsApp says disappearing messages aren't available in certain countries for payment or order-related messages. You can still delete these messages from your own chat history one by one. The article doesn't name the countries.

Keeping a message before it disappears

WhatsApp's article About kept messages says that while the time hasn't passed, you can keep a disappearing message so it stays. A kept message is visible to everyone in the conversation.

Who can keep: Anyone in the chat. In a group, admins can limit this to admins only.
How: Long press the message and tap Keep.
Where: Kept messages are listed under chat info > Kept messages.
The sender decides: If someone keeps a message you sent, you get a notification. If the sender unkeeps it, no one else in the chat can keep it again.
Too late to unkeep: The kept messages article says: you can't unkeep messages after 25 days past the disappearing message's duration time. The disappearing messages article says you'll have approximately 30 days to unkeep a message from the time it was kept.
Timer off: If disappearing messages are turned off, you can't keep messages any more.

Our reading

Your customer sent the message, so your customer can unkeep it. A kept message is safer than nothing, but it is not a copy you control. Export the chat if it matters.

View-once photos, videos and voice notes

WhatsApp's articles About view once and How to send and open view once media and voice messages say these disappear from the chat after the recipient opens them once:

Harder to copy: You can't forward, copy, save, star or share them, and they aren't saved to Photos or Gallery. WhatsApp says you can't take a screenshot. WhatsApp also says someone could photograph the screen with another device, and that iPhone and Android users can record the audio of a view-once voice message with the phone's own screen recorder.
14 days: A view-once message has to be opened within 14 days of being sent, or it expires from the chat.
Opened receipt: The sender sees Opened only if the recipient has read receipts turned on.
Backups: View-once media is restored from a backup only if it was still unopened when the backup was made.
Exports: WhatsApp's export article says view-once messages won't be exported from a computer.

Our reading

Ask customers to send order photos, measurements or receipts as normal photos, not view once, so your team can open them again.

Edits and deletions

WhatsApp's articles How to edit messages and How to delete messages set these limits:

Editing: Any message can be edited up to 15 minutes after sending. It updates for everyone and shows the word edited next to the time. Editing doesn't send a new notification, and photos, videos and other media can't be edited.
Delete for everyone: Possible for two days after sending. The message is replaced with This message was deleted. Recipients might see it before it's deleted, and you won't be notified if deleting for everyone wasn't successful.
Media on iPhone: Recipients using WhatsApp on iPhone might still have the media saved to Photos after the message is deleted.
Delete for me: Removes only your copy. The other person still sees the message. You have 5 seconds to tap Undo.
No recovery: WhatsApp says it is unable to recover deleted messages for you. A deleted message comes back only if it was in a backup.

Our reading

A customer can quietly change a message within 15 minutes, and the only sign is the word edited. If a reply confirms an order, read it again before you act on it.

Starring a message and Business-app Notes

WhatsApp's article How to star or unstar a message says a star bookmarks a message so you can refer back to it later. All starred messages are listed under Starred, and removing a star doesn't delete the message.

WhatsApp's article How to use Notes is written for businesses. It says that as a business on WhatsApp you can use Notes to privately record important information about a customer, and that notes are not shared with your customers.

Write a note: Open the chat, tap the customer's name, tap Add notes (or your existing note), write it and tap Save.
From a message: Tap and hold the message and choose Add text to note. The text is added to the end of the customer's existing note.
On every device: You can see your notes about a customer on all your linked devices.

Our reading

A star helps you find a message, but WhatsApp's articles don't say a star stops a timer, and Clear all chats can delete starred messages too. Copying the agreed size, price or date into a note keeps it somewhere WhatsApp says is not shared with your customers.

Exporting a chat

WhatsApp's article How to export your chat history differs by device:

On Android: Open the chat, tap More > Export chat, choose Without media or Include media, then choose how to send the file. With Include media, only the most recent media is attached.
On a computer: Choose Export chat, then All messages or Custom date range. The chat history is saved as a ZIP file. Media isn't included, and view-once and disappearing messages won't be exported.
Not a backup: An export can't be put back into WhatsApp, because it's a text file and not a backup file.

Our reading

Export a chat as soon as an order or a dispute might need it later, and keep the file somewhere your team can find it. A backup is for restoring the app; an export is the copy you can read and share.

Clearing or deleting a chat

WhatsApp's articles How to clear chats and How to delete chats describe two different actions:

Clear chat: Removes all messages but keeps the chat in the Chats tab. You can also tick a box to delete media received in the chat from the phone's gallery. Clear all chats, under Settings > Chats > Chat history, can also delete starred messages.
Delete chat: Removes the whole conversation. WhatsApp says it can't be undone and that it is unable to recover deleted chats for you. A group has to be exited before it can be deleted.
Getting it back: Either one can be restored only if your latest backup was made before you cleared or deleted the chat, and you lose anything after that backup.

The account report, and deleting the account

WhatsApp's article How to request account information describes a report of your account information and settings:

No messages in it: The report doesn't include your personal messages or information about channels or ads. To keep a copy of messages, WhatsApp points to exporting your chat history.
How: Settings > Account > Request account info. The report is ready in about three days, and you have a limited time to download it before it's deleted from WhatsApp's servers.
Not on Windows or Mac: It can't be requested on WhatsApp for Windows or Mac. Use the main phone or WhatsApp Web.

WhatsApp's articles Access, manage and delete your information and How to delete your account say what deleting the account does:

It erases: Your message history (and, on Android, your Google Account backup), and it removes you from all your groups. It can only be done from the main phone, and it can't be reversed.
Your channel: If the channel has no other admins, it is deleted. If it does, ownership goes to the admin who has followed the channel longest. The same article also says a channel and its updates may not be deleted automatically, so delete the channel first if you want it gone, and that followers can still see existing updates.
Customers keep theirs: Deleting your account doesn't affect other users' copies of the messages you sent them.
Time and retention: WhatsApp says deleting your information may take up to 90 days, copies may remain in backup storage after that, and it may keep information for things like legal issues, terms violations or harm prevention.

Our reading

WhatsApp itself says to create a backup or export your chat history before you delete the account. Export the chats you need first; the account report won't give them back to you.

Where Meta's AI comes in

Two of our other guides cover the AI side of chat records, from Meta's own pages. WhatsApp's Help Center article on Meta's AI agent in the WhatsApp Business app says the agent may impede disappearing messages; see sharing the inbox with Meta's AI agent. And a customer who turns on Restricted chat stops chat export and Meta AI features in that chat; see Meta AI inside WhatsApp chats with a business.

Our reading

If a customer has Restricted chat on, exporting won't work in that chat, so a note or a reply that repeats the agreed details is your record.

What this means for your shop

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). This guide repeats WhatsApp's Help Center as we read it on 15 October 2026, and is not legal advice. The articles describe WhatsApp in general; only the Notes article is written for a business.

Our reading

Treat a WhatsApp chat as a conversation, not a filing cabinet. Check whether a timer is on, ask for photos as normal photos rather than view once, copy agreed details into a note, and export the chat when an order or a complaint may need it later.

Questions

Can a customer turn on disappearing messages in a chat with my business?

WhatsApp's articles describe individual chats in general: WhatsApp says that in an individual chat, either you or the person you're messaging can turn disappearing messages on or off, and anyone in the chat can turn them off at any time.

How long do disappearing messages last?

24 hours, 7 days or 90 days after they're sent, unless someone keeps the message. The timer only affects new messages.

Can I stop a customer's message from disappearing?

You can keep it before the time runs out: long press it and tap Keep. The customer is notified, and if they unkeep it, no one can keep it again.

What happens when a customer deletes a message for everyone?

WhatsApp says a sender has two days to delete a message for everyone, and it is replaced with This message was deleted. Recipients might see it before it's deleted. WhatsApp's delete article says it is unable to recover deleted messages for you.

Does the account information report include my chats?

No. WhatsApp says it doesn't include your personal messages or information about channels or ads. Export the chat history to keep your messages.

Does an exported chat include photos?

On Android you can choose Include media, which attaches the most recent media. From a computer, media isn't included, and view-once and disappearing messages aren't exported.

Can I put an exported chat back into WhatsApp?

No. WhatsApp says an export can't be re-imported because it's a text file and not a backup file.

Who is BitByteCore?

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). This guide repeats WhatsApp's Help Center, and is not legal advice.

Sources

WhatsApp Help Center: About disappearing messages, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to turn disappearing messages on or off, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: About kept messages, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: About view once, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to send and open view once media and voice messages, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to edit messages, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to delete messages, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to star or unstar a message, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to use Notes, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to export your chat history, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to clear chats, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to delete chats, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to request account information, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: Access, manage and delete your information, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to delete your account, read 15 October 2026.

This guide describes WhatsApp's pages as we read them, and is not legal advice. More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

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