WhatsApp removes inactive accounts, you need to know this

WhatsApp can delete accounts that have been inactive for more than 120 days, and in some cases accounts must be removed after 45 days of inactivity. We explain what you need to know about this policy and what the consequences will be if your account is deleted.

WhatsApp inactivity

Don’t worry, because it’s not because you only send a few apps and don’t open the app every day that your account will soon be gone. Inactive accounts are accounts that are not connected to WhatsApp, in other words that are not active on any device.

It’s a good thing that inactive accounts are removed, because the app does that for privacy and security reasons. If a phone number has not been connected to WhatsApp for a long time, there is a chance that that phone number has now been canceled. Telecom providers can then recycle that number and give it to another customer, and WhatsApp wants to prevent them from gaining access to the app’s photos and data of the inactive user.

Types of inactivity

Therefore, there are two scenarios where WhatsApp accounts can be deleted:

• Long inactivity: WhatsApp deletes accounts after being disconnected for 120 days.
• Short inactivity: In the event of a short inactivity, i.e. an inactive state of more than 45 days, WhatsApp can still delete your account under one specific circumstance. Namely when your account suddenly becomes active on a new device, such as another phone. In that case, the service assumes that someone else is now using your phone number.

What if your account has been deleted?

A WhatsApp account that has been deleted will also automatically disappear from all groups it belonged to. In addition, content stored locally on your device will be preserved. When you start actively using your account on that device again, you will immediately have access to your data again.

For a while, Facebook threatened to ban users who do not accept the controversial privacy terms from access to the app. That way, after a period of inactivity, such users would risk having their account deleted. After much criticism of both this decision and the new privacy policy as a whole, Facebook has announced that there will be no consequences for users who do not accept the privacy terms.

Has your WhatsApp account ever been deleted or have you lost your apps? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.

Do you want to stay informed of the latest news about WhatsApp? Then download our Android app and follow us on Telegram and Twitter. Also check out our new AW Community for an overview of the most popular AW members.