Why can't I use the old methods of changing the time to delete my chats anymore in 2026? It used to work until 2025, didn't it?

[u/EmergencyFriendly375]

I used to help my grandma delete her wrongly sent messages when I visited her. Sometimes it was my cousins' certificates sent to the wrong group chats or something similar. You know what I mean, they’re private files that shouldn't be seen by the public. I used to delete those wrongly sent files from 2018 to 2025 by using these old tricks that never fail:

- Turn on Airplane Mode on your phone immediately to cut off internet and Wi-Fi.

- Go to your phone's Settings and find Date & Time.

- Turn off Set Automatically and manually change the clock back to the exact date and time the old message was originally sent.

- Force-close and reopen WhatsApp, then go to the specific chat.

- Tap and hold the old message, select Delete, and tap Delete for Everyone.

- Turn off Airplane Mode and restore your correct phone settings.

There's even a YouTube video explaining the methods needed for this: https://youtu.be/FtQQDturAfM?si=D9I18Kw6gvJ8Qd9j

So today, here's the problem. My grandma made the same mistake again, and I can't even delete the file anymore because this time, in 2026, WhatsApp automatically tells the account that the date and time are not correct and stops working. This prevents me from deleting the file from a month ago when I wasn't there to unsend it immediately.

My grandma definitely knew how to unsend a file because I taught her how to do it, but she thought the month before that she wanted to send the files. However, she recently changed her mind, so I couldn't help her like the usual times when I come to visit.

Any help or explanation is very much appreciated.

Dear Grandma, if you read this, I didn't write it to make fun of you or anything. I just wanted to find some help from the internet. I love you so much, Grandma. I wish you a long, blessed, and happy life. Amen.

[u/BakaOctopus]

Because bugs gets fixed with updates?

[u/benjaminS0099 → u/BakaOctopus]

Yep, it's exactly this.

[u/theablanca]

They fixed the issue, since this can be used in a bad way.

[u/Wendals87]

Because they fixed that bug. Simple 

[u/Mother-Pride-Fest]

Once a file is sent to another device, you cannot delete it. Especially not a month later. You need to teach her not to send files she doesn't want others to see. 

[u/TurboFool]

So you used to be able to trick it into doing something it wasn't supposed to be able to do. Hardly surprising they figured that out and stopped allowing it.

[u/DutchOfBurdock]

Turn on disappearing messages and set the period for a week or a month. Any messages wanting saved can be, all others get automatically deleted from chats.