The four kinds
1. Modified WhatsApp apps (GB WhatsApp and similar)
These are unofficial copies of WhatsApp with extra features, one of them being anti-delete. You replace the real app with them.
- WhatsApp detects them and bans accounts, sometimes temporarily, sometimes for good.
- You're giving all your chats to an unknown developer. Some versions have carried malware.
- They don't get WhatsApp's security updates.
2. Android notification apps (WAMR, WhatsRemoved+, Notisave and others)
These read your phone's notifications and keep the text. When a message is deleted, the app still has it.
- Android only.
- Muted chats don't make notifications, so they're missed.
- If you have the chat open, there's often no notification either.
- Media is limited to what the notification held. Usually no voice notes.
- Notification access lets the app read every notification on your phone, not just WhatsApp.
3. Browser extensions for WhatsApp Web
They add anti-delete to web.whatsapp.com in Chrome or Edge. Works only while that tab is open. Check where each one stores your messages. More in deleted messages on WhatsApp Web.
4. Desktop app: MsgSaver
MsgSaver runs WhatsApp Web and Instagram inside its own window on Windows, then keeps running in the tray. It doesn't modify WhatsApp and doesn't rely on notifications.
- Text, photos, videos and voice notes, plus the original of edited messages.
- Works in muted chats too, because it reads the chat, not the notification.
- Instagram direct messages in the same app.
- Saved only on your PC, encrypted with your Windows account. No MsgSaver account, no cloud.
- Windows only, and the PC has to be on to catch the text.
Side by side
| Mod APK | Notification app | Extension | MsgSaver | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Device | Android | Android | Browser on PC | Windows PC |
| Ban risk | High | Low | Low | Low |
| Muted chats | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Voice notes and photos | Yes | Rarely | Varies | Yes |
| Edited messages | Varies | Sometimes | Varies | Yes |
| No | Some | Rarely | Yes | |
| Old messages | No | No | No | No |
"Low" ban risk isn't "no" risk. None of these are made by Meta, and Meta's terms don't cover third-party tools.
Which one to pick
- You only use WhatsApp on an Android phone: a notification app, or just notification history, which is built in and free.
- You use WhatsApp or Instagram on a Windows PC: MsgSaver.
- Whatever you choose: skip the mod APKs.