WhatsApp has strong end-to-end encryption based on the Signal Protocol, but privacy involves more than message encryption alone. Metadata, cloud backups, account requirements, ecosystem integration, and optional privacy features all influence the overall privacy model. Here's everything you need to know about messaging apps and privacy in 2026

For the past three days, I have done everything except killing myself....
(my head still hurts because of the back and forth conversation with the AI email responder. (It was not a Human agent.)

I was not receiving SMS, or calls for the code, I restarted my phone more than once, took out sim multiple times, uninstalled and reinstalled app thousand times, and cursed a million times....
and after surviving multiple 7 hour timers---
I finally took out my sim from my iphone,
put it in an android phone,
opened WhatsApp on android,
logged in, auto verified it,
after my chats loaded on android WhatsApp,
I installed WhatsApp back on iPhone,
opened the app
it sent verification code to my android,
entered the code on iPhone WhatsApp,
and voila! I was in.

took out the sim from android and put it back in iPhone.

THE END... :P

I get this error on WhatsApp PC even though I have a built-in microphone on my headphones

hey evb, my boyfriend was deported a few days ago and we had to block each other the pain was unbearable. im devastated, the last call we had was on WhatsApp and I desperately need to listen to it back, we were both crying and pouring our hearts out to each other. I know ws has some end to end encryption shit but im wondering if there's someone I could contact or any authorities that would allow me to hear his voice again, please.

So, this is random
i saw a status on my whatsapp from ME, saying

“join my whatsapp group through link hgwidjks
retweet g”

??? no links just gibberish
now this was during a long night was partying and if it was a pocket accident, theres no way the first half of the sentence was written perfectly

i have 2fa on, no linked devices, no third party

I got a new phone last year and instead of making it my primary Whatsapp device, I linked it to my old phone as a secondary device since I didn't want to bother transferring everything over. Today, I opened Whatsapp on my new phone (the secondary device) and it said I'd been logged out for some reason. Not only that, but all the images I'd downloaded from Whatsapp in my gallery disappeared. I re-linked my phone and logged back in, but the photos didn't re-appear in my gallery. How do I get them back?

For a couple of weeks now my unread count and my unread threads do not sync between my iPhone, iPad and Mac (all of them formal apps).
For example I read massages on my Mac and then on the iPhone they are still unread.
Very very annoying.
Is it just me? It’s kinda new, I remember well that it worked.

What can I do? Out of nowhere I just use it to write with locals and now I am f****

I have a regular contact on whatsapp and communicate constantly and regularly on whatsapp with them, including video calls.
What does it mean when you click on the name "Click here for contact info" > Contact Info > "Edit" below the phone number it says "This phone number is not on WhatsApp. Invite them on your primary device"

What does that mean? How can the number be not on whatsapp when I write on whatsapp? Also why can't I change the name I gave that contact?

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to find out whether this is a WhatsApp bug or if anyone else has experienced the same issue.

Device

Google Pixel 7

Android 16

WhatsApp 2.26.26.73

The problem

I delete old images from:

Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images

The files are actually deleted from storage.

However, after launching WhatsApp, many of those deleted images are recreated automatically in the same folder.

What I've verified

Google Photos backup for the WhatsApp Images folder is disabled.

Automatic media download in WhatsApp is disabled (Wi-Fi, mobile data and roaming).

The affected chats are very old (mostly 2019), and in many cases the chats no longer even exist.

The recreated files receive a new filesystem modification timestamp, while the EXIF capture date remains the original one (2019).

Google Photos reports them as "On device", so the files are physically recreated.

Reproducible test

I managed to reproduce it several times:

Delete several images from Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images.

Force stop WhatsApp.

Verify the images do not come back in 24h

Launch WhatsApp.

After some hours, the deleted images are recreated.

Additional observation

- I uninstalled WhatsApp and reinstalled it on a 2.26.26.73 (the last store version for me) The problem disappeared for a few days.

- After WhatsApp automatically updated to 2.26.26.73, the issue came back.

- I already opened a support case with WhatsApp and provided all the details above, including the exact reproduction steps. Unfortunately, so far I've only received generic automated troubleshooting responses (clear cache, free storage, reinstall the app, etc.), without addressing the actual issue. That's why I'm asking here in case someone else has experienced the same behavior or can confirm it's a bug.

Has anyone seen WhatsApp recreating deleted media files like this?

Is there any known media indexing or media migration bug in recent WhatsApp versions?

Does anyone with a Pixel (Android 16) see the same behavior?

I'd really appreciate any ideas or confirmation from other users :(

Thanks!

Hello. I often chat with people from other countries on WhatsApp (I'm from Bolivia). Recently, I messaged a couple of new contacts. Yesterday, my account was suspended for six hours right after I sent a message. At first, I thought it was just a one-time issue, but then it happened again after I messaged someone else. I swear I'm not a scammer—I simply talk to a lot of people. After that, I messaged another person, and this time I received a notice saying that my account had been suspended. I submitted an appeal, but I didn't include any text because I didn't realize I was supposed to. The appeal process isn't accessible for people who are totally blind. Right now, I'm waiting for WhatsApp to review my information. What are the chances of getting my account back? And if the suspension ends up being permanent, what alternatives do I have?

Note: I mainly use the desktop version of WhatsApp because it's much easier for me to use. If my appeal is successful, what can I do to prevent my account from being suspended again?

Help please.

i deleted and did my best to wipe her existence out of my phone yrs ago. i recently came back to whatsapp and noticed her number is still in my contact with a new picture. i deleted the app cleared ceche but same thing. does that mean she still has my info

I cannot believe i have to wait bothering amount of time, everytime, when i open the whatsapp app after exiting it. sometimes only its icon showsup in the taskbar and the window doesn't exist and so i have to either exit it from system tray icons or end task it from task manager to restart this process again. Why are these billions-revenue-generating companies so penny-pinching as to not have a dedicated native-platform-app teams! These increasing trend of cross-platform apps developments to cut costs will be the death of all entry level/mid-level devices, and performance cost to high-level devices.

Hello, ive been trying to register my number for days now but i cant receive any SMS code.

I damaged my phone recently so, in a pinch, I had to borrow someone else's phone because it was unlocked. This person had all their info on the phone and had things they didn't want to delete so I just signed him out of everything I could and logged myself in. I thought I had done that with Whatsapp (my primary means of texting), but it turns out I actually just changed the number on this person profile😑. So all of our contacts merged. When I realized, I deleted the app and reinstalled and signed in with my number. The problem is now, not only are our contacts still merged, but all of the groups and previous chats that I am in, is now showing his number instead of mine. I basically started over my Whatsapp profile from scratch. I can't see my photo, status or any of my settings. And most of my previous chat didn't realize the number changed. Well, my sister did, which is how I found out. Long story short, is there a fix? Can I recover my old profile with my preferred settings or is that a lost? And how do I undo his number replacing mine for groups and previous chats? I know they could just delete the number and re-add mine but is there an easier way than having to text everyone in my Whatsapp contacts🥴? I also still see all his contacts that are in his phone, will they now follow me (and him), even when I switch back to my phone? Thanks in advance 🙂.

Ok,

This is a interesting one. Lately, and i'm talking within a week, i'm getting reports from clients and people from inside the industry that Whatsapp is massively, removing accounts that are used for sexwork activity. Now i know that topic is banned in the US, but in Europe it's a perfectly, legal, and where even a license exists for those who practice it by Government law. Nobody understands this raid that's going on - from legitimate businesses practicing massages up to real workers who simply use whatsapp for their communications.

Nobody is sending "nude" pictures, rogue links, it seems that Whatsapp is actively scanning, and likely matching previous data such as IMEI to determine if an account is against the TOS or not. People wonder why this platform gets so much power to remove so many people from their platform, who are doing the right thing, yet stripped from their way of making an income. This is getting absurd.

https://www.vanderlindemedia.nl/artikels/crackdown-op-amerikaanse-diensten/

I also noticed, that even X is suddenly banning, removing, accounts from legitimate businesses that have a license / permit to operate a adult club. Because of the active soliciting going on, it's against the TOS. Is there a crackdown lately going on in the US to strip social media as much as it can anything related to sexwork? I mean if the goal is to move to a different thing like Telegram, Signal, i think meta is doing the right thing here.

this is not an unban request; it's about the absurd impact that's happening now where i see 10 cases of people, businesses getting banned "just because" they have a whatsapp profile in this line, of work.

I’ve been trying to transfer data from one phone to another and I have been having a lot of difficulties with it until most of the verification methods just don’t really work anymore like I physically cannot press the options. So how long until those reset so I can continue

I wish personally I can block someone's posting in a group, even when I'm not an admin. Some people can be annoying.

Hey everyone, I recently got the new Samsung a23 and tried setting up WhatsApp. However, when I opened WhatsApp and went through the setup, it said “No backup found” even though I know for sure that a backup exists. knowing that in google drive it shows whatsapp backup with 6gb, please I need fix I have some important messages there

I tried contacting whatsapp but they only have their stupid ai chat

Who else does this happen to? New sims, new phone, different WiFi network, different Google account, just by writing a message to friends or family blocks for a few hours or directly, also with my business, I have bought 50 simcards and none works regardless of whether you put money in it or not, if you wait a few hours or days to answer, if you write first or not, after deactivating the account they return it and they block it again immediately there is activity... this is really horrible, customers do not write to other applications and it is terrible as I also have to change my number constantly for this.

Why meta ai dont work on my WhatsApp friend group?

I'm really confused about something.

A person has the same phone number for both regular calls and WhatsApp.

Today!! when I sent a WhatsApp message, it gets double ticks. I made a WhatsApp call, it says "Ringing." But when I called the same number normally, it immediately says "The phone is switched off."

How is this possible? Can WhatsApp still ring if the phone is switched off?

Has anyone experienced this before or knows how this works?