How WhatsApp edits work
- The sender can edit a text message for 15 minutes after sending it.
- Everyone in the chat sees the new text with "Edited" next to the time.
- Nobody, including the sender, can see the old version in WhatsApp afterwards.
- Photos, videos and voice notes can't be edited, but captions can.
Where the original might still be
The notification
If you didn't open the chat yet, the notification on your phone or PC was created with the first text. On some phones the notification is updated when the message is edited; on others it isn't. Check it before you open the chat.
Android notification history
On Android, notification history keeps the notification text for about 24 hours, if it was turned on before. That includes the first version of an edited message. How to turn it on.
Someone else in the group
If it was a group, someone may have quoted it in a reply. Quoted replies show the text at the time of quoting.
Keeping the original next time
MsgSaver keeps an encrypted copy of the messages you receive for 7 days on your PC. When someone edits one, it saves the first version next to the new one, so you can see exactly what changed. It works on Instagram direct messages too.
It only works for messages that arrived while MsgSaver was set up and running, and it can't show edits from before.
Instagram edits
Instagram also lets people edit a direct message for 15 minutes after sending, and also only shows "Edited". The same advice applies: the first notification may still have the original text, and MsgSaver keeps the first version if it saw the message.