Panic may set in and you are anxious to unsend the message you sent to the user. And now you want to find out if there is an unsend feature on TikTok, or if deleting the message will delete it at both ends.
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about unsending and deleting messages on TikTok, and where possible, provide alternative solutions for your situation.
If You Delete a Message on TikTok Does it Unsend
No it doesn’t unsend, it only deletes on your end. This means that the other person still has the message.
Can You Unsend a TikTok Message?
When you send a message on TikTok, you have the ability to delete the message. You can even delete the messages you receive. But does this deletion happen on both ends?
The straight answer is No. You cannot unsend a message that you have already sent on TikTok. When you delete the message, you are only deleting it for yourself. The other person is still able to see the message. Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, and several other apps, TikTok does not have the unsend feature or the ability to delete messages at both ends.
Another frustrating thing is that TikTok does not have read receipts. There’s even no way to tell if the message has been delivered in the first place. And, not knowing can make you even more anxious as to what to do next about the message.
Unfortunately, you cannot delete a TikTok message that you already sent, using only your device. The only way to delete from both ends is to get access to the other person’s phone and delete the message from there. But, of course, this is rarely ever possible. So, read on to find alternatives to covering up the gaffe on TikTok.
One crude way to fix the situation is to go ahead and block the person if you can afford to. However, blocking the person will not stop them from seeing the message you already sent. But if you don’t want to have to face being confronted by the person, you may just go ahead and block them.
- When you block someone on TikTok:
- They will not be able to find your profile anymore
- They will not be able to see your posts
- They will not be able to send you messages
- The messages you sent them will however remain visible to them unlike on Instagram where blocking someone would delete all the conversations from the person’s end.
If you wish to go ahead and block someone on TikTok, you can use the steps below:
If you are on the chat window with the person:
1. Tap on the 3 horizontal dots at the top right of the chat screen
2. On the window that opens, toggle right at Block to block the person
3. Confirm to block the person when prompted
If you are on the person’s profile:
1. Tap on the 3 vertical dots at the top right of the screen
2. Select Block at the bottom of the page
3. Confirm to block the person
To block the person on PC:
1. Log into your account at TikTok.com
2. Click the Message icon (envelope) at the top right of the screen
3. Hover over the name of the person you want to block and click on the 3 dots that appear
4. Select Block from the options
5. Confirm to Block the person
You should remember that this action will not delete the messages at their end. So, if it’s not an ideal solution for you, then read on to find alternative solutions.
Do TikTok Messages Disappear
Some instant messaging and dating apps have disappearing messages feature which you can set to automatically delete a message from both ends after a given time. In fact, Snapchat messages disappear by default.
But, TikTok messages do not disappear. Nor is there a way to set them to disappear after a given period of time. When you send a message on TikTok, the message remains on TikTok servers permanently until you and the other person both delete the message.
If only one person deletes the message from their end, it remains on TikTok servers and is visible to the other person until they also delete it.
Does Deactivating TikTok Delete Messages From Both Sides?
Deactivating your TikTok account does not exactly delete the messages you exchanged. But to understand that, you need to first understand how deactivation works on TikTok.
First of all, there is no particular feature to deactivate your TikTok account. To deactivate your account, you would need to use the Delete Account function. When you do this, TikTok then temporarily deactivates your account for 30 days.
During this time, your messages will remain saved on TikTok servers and are visible to the persons you sent them to. If you log back in and reactivate your account during this 30-day period, you will see all the messages that you exchanged before deactivation.
It is only if you leave your TikTok account to be deleted at the end of the 30 days, that the messages will be deleted from both sides. But until then, while your account is temporarily deactivated, the messages you sent are visible to the recipient.
How to Delete TikTok Messages from Both Sides
To be clear, there is no direct way to delete TikTok messages from both sides. The only way to do this would be to have access to the person’s phone and delete the message from their end. Otherwise, you are left with just deleting the message from your own end, which is all that TikTok offers.
To delete a message from your end:
1. Open the chat window where you want to delete the message
2. Press and hold the message until a menu appears at the bottom of the page
3. You will see Reply, Forward, Copy, Delete
4. Select Delete to delete the message
To delete a message from your end on PC:
1. Log into your account at TikTok.com
2. Click the Message icon (envelope) at the top right of the screen
3. Click on the name of the person to open your conversation
4. Go to the message you want to delete and hover the cursor over it
5. Click on the 3 dots that appear and select Delete
Be careful that you are deleting the correct message because there is no prompt to confirm that you want to delete a message before it is deleted. Also, you cannot select more than one message at a time to delete, so you would have to delete messages one after the other.
To have the message deleted from both ends, please try the fixes below.
1. Ask Them to Delete the Message From Their End As Well If They’ve Already Seen It
Well, the problem with this is that there is no way for you to even tell whether they have read the message or not. You would simply have to leave them another message asking them to please delete or discard the previous message when they see it.
If you have alternative access to them, you could call them and request that they delete the message on TikTok when they see it.
2. Send Loads of Messages
Thankfully, there is no limit to the number of direct messages you can send to a user in a day…or over any given period at all.
So, when you send a message that you do not want the recipient to see, you could simply send several more message to distract the person from the message you did not want them to see. People are mostly on TikTok to share and watch content, so it’s unlikely that they would take their time to go through every message you sent and scroll right up to the one that you wanted to delete.
After sending so many messages, you could end it with a message telling them to ignore all the messages, that you were testing out something on your end. That way, they do not see anything suspicious about receiving so many messages from you.
3. Deactivate Your TikTok Account
As we explained earlier, you can only deactivate your account by using the Delete feature. This enables a 30-day deactivation period first, before a permanent deletion at the end of the 30 days.
When your account is still in the deactivation phase, all your sent messages remain visible to the people you sent them to. They would only be unable to send you new messages, or find your profile outside of the chat window.
When they try to text you during this period, they are told that your privacy setting is preventing them from texting you. That’s all you get. They will still see your messages including the one you want to delete.
It is only if you leave your account to be deleted at the end of the 30 days that the messages get deleted from both sides. This is because on deletion, all your data are removed from TikTok servers and this includes your messages.
To deactivate your TikTok account, follow the steps below:
1. Tap on the Profile tab at the bottom right of your TikTok screen
2. Click on the Menu button. It is the 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the screen
3. Select Settings and Privacy from the options that appear
4. On the Settings and Privacy page that opens, click on Manage Account
5. Select Delete Account. It is the last option on the page
6. You will be asked to select a reason for leaving. Select any reason, the result is the same.
7. Click on Continue
8. Check the box to confirm that you have reviewed your data request and are ready to delete your account
9. Then select Continue to Delete
10. Select Continue again to confirm the deletion
To deactivate account on PC:
1. Log into your account at TikTok.com
2. Click on the letter that represents the first letter of your name at the top right of the screen
3. Select Settings from the options
4. Select Delete next to Delete Account
5. You will be warned that your account will first be deactivated for 30 days and then permanently deleted afterwards
6. Select Continue when prompted
7. You will be asked to log in again to confirm your identity.
8. Then select Delete Account
Your account will then be Deactivated for 30 days, and will be reactivated if you log in before the 30 days elapses.
During this period, your messages will remain seen by the recipients. When the 30 days elapses, your account gets permanently deleted and all the messages get deleted from all sides.
5. Delete Your TikTok Account
The steps listed above serve both to deactivate and to delete your account. However, there are distinct differences between the 2 actions.
When you deactivate your account, your messages remain visible to the recipients.
Your profile, content, and settings also remain intact but invisible to others. You will also retain your Following and Followers. If you log back in using your existing credentials, you have the chance to reactivate the account and restore all your TikTok info, content, and settings.
But, if you do not log into your account within 30 days of deactivating it, you will lose all your info, content, settings and so on. And, importantly, all the messages you sent to people on TikTok will be permanently deleted from their ends.
Even though deactivation and deletion of TikTok account have the same steps, there are few more things to note about deletion:
You can request for access to download your TikTok data like the videos you created and posted. This is because, once your account is deleted, the videos are permanently deleted as well. TikTok offers you the chance to Request Download after you have chosen a reason for leaving TikTok
If you continue past this stage to the next stage of deletion, TikTok warns you of the following:
- You will no longer be able log back into that old account
- You will lose access to all your videos
- Your direct messages may remain visible to others for a period
So, if you want to go ahead with this, confirm the account deletion and do not log back into your account for 30 days.
6. Delete The Conversation Thread
If deleting your TikTok account is not an option for you, you could at least delete the entire conversation thread from your own phone or account. While this does not delete the conversation for the other person, it means that anyone with access to your account or your phone will find no trace of the message you sent.
To delete a conversation thread on TikTok:
1. Tap on the Inbox tab on your TikTok
2. Do not open the chat thread that you want to delete
3. Instead, press and hold the Chat thread you want to delete
4. Select Delete from the options
5. When prompted, confirm removal of the conversation thread
To delete the thread on PC:
1. Log into your account at TikTok.com
2. Click the Message icon (envelope) at the top right of the screen
3. Hover over the conversation you want to delete and click on the 3 dots that appear
4. Select Delete from the options
5. Confirm to delete the conversation
6. Tell Them To Delete The Conversation Thread As Well
Even though you have deleted the thread on your side, the full thread remains visible to the other person on their phone. So, you could just ask them to also delete the thread from their end so that there are no traces of the messages anywhere.
This may be difficult to achieve especially if the message is a sensitive one and has caused some form of offence to the person. Or, if the message contains explicit text and they want to publicize it.
Whatever the case, there are few excuses you can give to convince the person to delete the message from their end, such as:
- Tell them that the message was not meant for them but for someone else and was mistakenly sent to them
- If the message was hurtful or offensive, you could offer apologies and ask them to please delete the conversation
If they are unsure how to go about deleting the conversation, tell them to:
1. Tap on the Inbox tab on their TikTok app
2. Instead of opening your conversation with them, they should just long-press your name of the chat window
3. From the menu that appears, they should select Delete to delete the entire conversation
4. Then they should confirm the deletion to remove the conversation thread from their phone.
With this, you are sure that there are no traces left of the regrettable messages.
7. Say Someone Hacked Your Account
When you cannot find a good way to cover up, explain, or have the messages deleted, you could resort to the good old excuse of saying your account got hacked.
The truth is, a lot of TikTok accounts actually get hacked. You see content creators putting up new accounts and saying that their previous account should be ignored because it had been hacked. So, why not you?
One thing you can do to sound convincing about your account getting hacked is to further send strange messages after explaining yourself, change your username or nickname, or change your profile picture to something impersonal.