Our smartphones are incredibly important to us as they contain our personal data, digital wallets, photos and emails.
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They also contain personal messages from our social media accounts, which makes it incredibly important that nobody gains access to your chats such as on Whatsapp.
If this happens – if your phone becomes lost or stolen – these steps can help make sure that no one can use your WhatsApp account and they can also help you restore your account to use on your new phone.
- Lock your SIM card – you should call and inform your mobile provider as soon as possible to lock your SIM card. Doing this is vitally important so it is not be possible to verify the account on that phone again, as you must be able to receive SMS or phone calls to verify an account.
- After you do this – WhatsApp advise you can do the following two options:
- Use a new SIM card with the same number to activate WhatsApp on your new phone. After getting your SIM locked, you can now activate your WhatsApp on a different handset. The fastest way to do this is to use a SIM card with the same number.
- However, it must be noted that WhatsApp can only be activated with one phone number on one device at a time.
- Email WhatsApp the phrase ‘Lost/Stolen: Please deactivate my account’ in the body of the email and include your phone number in full international format as described here.
It is vital to email WhatApp to get your account deactivated because WhatsApp can also be operated using Wi-Fi, even if the SIM card is not present inside the handset.
WhatsApp also adds that users have a 30-day window to reactivate their account.
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After a month, the account will be completely erased and if your contacts send you messages during this period, they will remain pending, but will get erased after 30 days.
If you reactivate your account before it is deleted, you will receive any pending messages on your new phone and you will still be in all of your group chats. If you don’t activate your account within 30 days, it will be completely deleted.
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