Hey Redact team, I’d love a WhatsApp cleanup tool that can mass delete chats fast. WhatsApp makes it way too manual when you’re trying to wipe old convos, group chats, and all the random media that piles up over the years.
What I’m hoping for:
Select chats in bulk (by date range, contact, group, unread, archived, etc.)
“Nuke mode” for old group chats (leave group and delete history, or just delete history)
Optional media cleanup (delete photos, videos, docs tied to the chats)
Filters so I can keep important threads and wipe the noise
Progress indicator and a safe “are you sure” step (so I don’t delete the wrong thing)
Export option before deleting (even just a basic archive)
Works on both iOS and Android, and doesn’t feel sketchy or janky
Basically I want the same vibe as Redact, pick what I want gone, confirm, and let it run. Any chance this could be on the roadmap?
You can delete your chats on whatsapp but if you want to delete them from both sides, they only give you a two-day window I think. I don’t use whatsapp for many years, so I could be wrong.
WhatsApp is annoying because there are basically two “delete” modes. You can always delete stuff for yourself, but the “delete for everyone” option has that tight time window, so you can’t realistically wipe years of chat history from both sides.
Even with that limitation, a Redact-style tool would still be super useful if it could bulk delete chats on your side, clean up the attached media in batches, and let you export first so you don’t accidentally delete something you meant to keep.
Different angle here: I don’t even need “delete for everyone” since WhatsApp has that limited time window anyway, I mainly want a option to clean my side and reclaim space sort of button that doesn’t take an entire Saturday.
Like, let me run a quick scan that tells me hey “these 15 chats are eating 6GB because of memes and voice notes,” let me export anything I care about, then bulk delete the chats + attached media in one go. Extra points if it warns me about backups so stuff doesn’t magically reappear after a restore, and has a chill dry-run preview so I don’t accidentally nuke the one thread with my WiFi password from 2021.
If Redact ever did ship a WhatsApp tool, the big thing to call out upfront is scope: WhatsApp doesn’t expose clean “delete everything from your account” API so the realistic wins are usually bulk deleting chats locally and clearing media and storage and optionally doing message-by-message cleanup where WhatsApp would allow it.
A feature set that would actuallyy be useful:
Bulk select chats with filters: 1:1 vs groups, unread, muted, archived, oldest activity, biggest storage hogs
Two cleanup modes: delete chat threads, or clear messages but keep the thread for ongoing contacts
Media-first cleanup: remove photos/videos/docs and optionally keep text, plus a storage breakdown by chat
Backup handling: detect iCloud or Google Drive backups and warn that deletions won’t matter if you restore from an old backup later
Multi-device awareness: make it clear what’s getting removed from the phone vs synced devices
Safety rails: a dry run showing how many chats and how much storage will be affected, plus an “undo” window if possible via archive before delete
The hardest part is “delete for everyone.” WhatsApp heavily limits that, and it’s usually time-windowed and not designed for bulk removal across lots of chats. So I’d be happy with a tool that nails bulk local deletion, media cleanup, and backup hygiene first, then adds deeper message cleanup as an advanced mode if it can be done reliably.