WhatsApp is the one account where there is nothing to send. There is no bereavement form and no memorial setting, and WhatsApp says it cannot close an account on someone else's behalf. Families who have worked through Facebook's and Google's forms arrive expecting a third one, and it does not exist.
A WhatsApp account only ends in one of three ways: someone deletes it from inside the app, it stays unconnected for long enough that WhatsApp deletes it, or the phone number passes to someone new who registers it. This page takes the situations families get stuck in and says which of those applies. For the fuller picture, including how to save the chats, start with our WhatsApp guide.
The short version. WhatsApp's own help pages say it "can't deactivate accounts for others", because it has no way to check who owns a phone number. So, on WhatsApp's own account of it, documents will not get the account closed. With the phone unlocked, export the chats and use Delete my account. Without it, the SIM is what counts: in another phone it lets you register the number and delete the account from there. With neither, leave the account unconnected and WhatsApp removes it itself, generally after 120 days, or 365 days in the United States.
Which of these is happening?
- You are looking for a form, or WhatsApp has said it cannot help
- You have the phone and can open it
- You have the phone but cannot unlock it
- You have neither the phone nor the SIM
- You are waiting for the account to lapse, and it is still there
- You want the messages, not the deletion
- Messages are coming from the account
- The number has been cancelled, or belongs to someone else now
- They still appear in family groups
You are looking for a form, or WhatsApp has said it cannot help
There is no form to find. WhatsApp's help page on recovering an account says it "can't deactivate accounts for others due to verification constraints". Its page on lost phones gives the reason: there is "no way to verify that you're the owner of the phone number", and "remote WhatsApp deactivation from another device is not possible".
A death certificate proves the death. It does not prove to WhatsApp who controls a phone number, so the documents that work with every other platform do nothing here. Its help pages give no reason to expect a different answer from its support team. The routes that work all run through the phone or the number, and the sections below take them in turn.
You have the phone and can open it
This is the easy case, and the order matters.
Deleting the account erases the message history on that phone. Export the conversations that matter, with their photos and voice notes, before anything else. Our WhatsApp guide shows how.
In WhatsApp, go to Settings, then Account, then Delete my account, and enter the person's number. It has to be done on their own phone. WhatsApp Web, the desktop app and a linked tablet cannot do it. WhatsApp says deletion removes the account from all its groups and deletes its backup, and that clearing its own systems can take up to 90 days.
Once the number is cancelled it will eventually be given to a stranger. Deal with WhatsApp while the number is still the family's.
You have the phone but cannot unlock it
The app cannot be opened, so it cannot be deleted from that phone. What matters now is the SIM, because WhatsApp identifies an account by its phone number and checks it by sending a six-digit code by text.
Take the SIM out of the locked phone and put it in a phone you can use. If the number was on an eSIM there is no card to move, and the phone network's bereavement team can put the number on a new SIM for whoever is taking the account over.
Install WhatsApp on that phone, enter the person's number, and type in the code that arrives by text. WhatsApp says registering on a new device logs the account out everywhere else. The old conversations do not come across: WhatsApp says someone who registers an account on a new device cannot read its past conversations.
Settings, Account, Delete my account, as above.
Three cautions. WhatsApp publishes nothing for families, and its terms are written for the account's owner, so this is a decision for the person legally responsible for the estate. If there is any doubt, wait instead: the inactivity rule described below ends the account without anyone signing in. Tell close family first, because for a few minutes the account will be active again and someone may notice. And if WhatsApp asks for a two-step verification PIN, the person had set one: WhatsApp's guidance for a PIN nobody knows is to wait 7 days and try again.
The messages on the locked phone are a separate question. They stay on that phone, and moving the SIM does not delete them. If the family wants them, do not reset the phone. Our guide to a loved one's phone covers the options.
You have neither the phone nor the SIM
If the phone contract is still running, ask the network for a replacement SIM, or to move the number to the person who is taking the account over. The networks have a process for this, and our guides list them for the UK and the United States. With the number on a SIM you hold, the steps in the section above work.
If the number has already been cancelled, there is nothing left to register with. WhatsApp's own lost-phone page says an account cannot be recovered without a SIM card with the same number. The route that remains is time.
Not sure which route is open to you? Email us what you have: the phone, the SIM, the contract, or none of them. We will tell you what will work and in what order. No charge, and no obligation.
You are waiting for the account to lapse, and it is still there
WhatsApp says accounts are "generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity", and its page on deleting an account adds "365 days for US". Inactivity has a precise meaning: the account has not connected to WhatsApp. If months have gone by and the account still looks alive, check these.
- Is the phone still switched on and online? WhatsApp says an internet connection is required for an account to be active. A phone left charging on the home wifi can keep the account going. Switch it off, or turn off its wifi and mobile data.
- Has the SIM been used in another phone? If WhatsApp was registered there, the clock started again.
- Is it a United States account? Then the wait is a year, not four months.
- Are you looking at your own copy? The conversation in your WhatsApp is stored on your phone, and it stays there after their account has gone. WhatsApp says the signs of an inactive account are a notice reading "WhatsApp profile removed automatically", or the profile picture disappearing.
Linked devices do not keep an account alive for long. WhatsApp says WhatsApp Web, the desktop app and linked tablets are logged out once the phone itself has been unused for over 14 days.
You want the messages, not the deletion
WhatsApp cannot send them to you. Messages are encrypted from end to end and stored on the phones of the people in the conversation, not in an account WhatsApp can open. That leaves three places to look.
- Your own phone. Every conversation you had with them is in your WhatsApp, with the photos and voice notes they sent you. You can export it today, and so can every other relative for their own chats. That is often the part people most wanted to keep.
- Their phone. If it can be opened, export from there. Do not use Delete my account first, because that erases the history. If the account lapses through inactivity instead, WhatsApp says the content stored on the phone stays until the app is removed from it.
- Their backup. If the person backed WhatsApp up, the backup belongs to their Google or Apple account, and our Google and Apple pages explain what those companies will and will not release.
Messages are coming from the account
If the account is sending messages or asking people for money, someone else has registered the number or is using a device that was left signed in. Warn family and friends straight away, and tell them not to send money or tap links.
WhatsApp's page on a compromised account gives one fix: register the number again with the SIM. Entering the six-digit code logs out whoever else was using it. Then delete the account. If you do not hold the SIM, the network's bereavement team is the first call, for a replacement SIM. WhatsApp will not deactivate the account for you.
The number has been cancelled, or belongs to someone else now
Phone networks reissue cancelled numbers. When the new owner installs WhatsApp and registers, the number is theirs, and the contact your family saved under a parent's name may start showing a stranger's photo. This is not a hijacking and there is nothing to report.
The new owner cannot read the old conversations, for the reason given above. What the family can do is practical: tell relatives the number has gone, and delete or rename the contact so nobody messages it by mistake. If the number has been cancelled but not yet reissued, the account is already on its way to lapsing.
They still appear in family groups
Until the account is deleted or lapses, the person stays listed in every group they were in, and for some relatives that is the hardest part. A group admin can remove a member at any time, which settles it for that group at once. A short message from a relative to the group, before or after, usually lands better than a silent removal.
Where we can help, and where nobody can
Departed Digital closes or memorialises online accounts for families. WhatsApp is different from the rest, and we would rather say so plainly: nobody can make WhatsApp delete an account for a family, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we can do is tell you which of the routes above is open to you and in what order to take the steps, and deal with the accounts that do have a process, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google and Apple, in the same case. We never ask for passwords and we never log in to anyone's account.
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Stuck with WhatsApp? Email us what you have and we will tell you which route is open, free. If there are other accounts to close as well, start a case → and we will handle those alongside it.