What does report spam on WhatsApp means

WhatsApp’s report option allows users to report and get rid of everything from unknown numbers to spam, to unjust businesses. But users want to know what happens after they report a number. Does the number get blocked? Does the user get to know that they have been reported? We are here to answer these questions and more. So let’s get into it.

Can WhatsApp view reported content?

You can either report content to WhatsApp using their Contact form or from the user profiles. If submitted through the contact form, WhatsApp cannot view any content except what is provided by you. You can attach screenshots of the issue along with the content form to help WhatsApp better understand the problem.

However, if you have reported an unknown number/contact/group/business from the account profile, WhatsApp will receive the most recent messages sent between you and the reported user. The number or duration of messages that WhatsApp receives is not disclosed.

What happens after you report a number?

Once you report a number (without blocking), that contact will be removed from your contact list (if it was there). Additionally, the reported contact will also not be able to find you in their contact list. The chats will still remain unless you also tick ‘Delete chats’ when you report the number.

Once the number is reported, that number will be blocked in your WhatsApp account. You will no longer receive personal messages or calls from the number. However, if you are in a group with that contact, you will still see their messages appear in the group.

Does a user get notified if I report them?

No, the reported user does not receive any indication that their number has been reported. The main changes will occur on your end, as mentioned above. The reported user, however, will no longer be able to find your contact on WhatsApp, and therefore will not be able to message or call you.

Will a user get banned if I report them?

If you alone report a user, they will not get banned from WhatsApp. They will, however, get blocked on your account. So don’t worry if you accidentally reported your friend. Their account will still be secure.

How to recover mistakenly reported messages?

When you report a user, you are presented with an option to delete all their messages. If you select this, along with the user getting blocked on your account, all the messages sent between you and the user will be deleted.

If you mistakenly deleted the messages, there is a way to get them back, but only in a very specific circumstance. As you know, WhatsApp by default backs up your chat history to Google Drive every day at 2:00 in the morning (unless changed).

This means that any chats that occurred before 2:00 am of the current day are backed up, but any chats that occur till 2:00 am the next day, are not yet overwritten. So you can recover chats that were deleted today, that have already gotten backed up. To check your backup details in the app, go to More > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.

To recover mistakenly deleted chats, first unblock the blocked contact by going to More > Settings > Account > Privacy > Blocked contacts. Tap on the number you want to unblock and select ‘Unblock contact’.

Now delete the WhatsApp application and reinstall it. When you set up your account you will be asked whether you want to restore your chats backup. Select the latest backup and finish install the application. You should be able to see your deleted messages.

How to undo a spam report?

Unfortunately, once you report a user, there is no way to take back that report. However, as mentioned above, unless that user has been reported by several other users, no action will be taken against them.

You can simply unblock the user using the above method and continue texting them.

What happens to a reported user?

When you report a user, their number is added to the WhatsApp watchlist. If WhatsApp receives several reports against a particular user, they look into the content gathered. If found guilty, the reported user’s account will be temporarily suspended.

This suspension only lasts for 24 hours. The suspended account will receive a notification informing them that their account has been temporarily suspended due to a violation of Terms of service. No information about the reporters in shared with the reported account.

After the suspension has been lifted, if WhatsApp continues to receive reports against the same user, their number may be permanently banned.

The report function helps WhatsApp better regulate the content being distributed through its channel. We hope this article has helped you better understand what happens when you report a user on WhatsApp.

Have you tried reporting spam on WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments below.