Admin & setup
Deleting messages and conversations
How an admin deletes a single message or a whole SMS or WhatsApp conversation from the Message log, what is removed, and what stays where it is.
Sometimes a message goes to the wrong person, or a conversation shouldn't stay on record. An admin can delete one message, or a whole conversation, for everyone in your organisation. Both are done in the Cradle admin portal, under Message log, and both work the same way for SMS and WhatsApp.
Important
Deleting is permanent. Nothing comes back. Only admins see the delete controls; the Cradle desktop and mobile apps show what was deleted but don't offer the controls themselves.
Deleting one message
- Open Message log and choose the conversation.
- Hover over the message and choose the bin icon next to its time.
- Confirm with Delete message.
The message keeps its place in the conversation, but its text and any attachments are gone. In its place everyone sees "Message deleted". In the admin portal the line also names the admin who deleted it. If it was the latest message, the conversation's preview in the list reads "Message deleted" too, until the next message arrives.
Deleting a whole conversation
- Open Message log and choose the conversation.
- Choose Delete conversation at the top right.
- Confirm with Delete conversation.
Every message and attachment in the conversation is removed, and the conversation leaves the Message log.
If the same contact messages that number again, or your team sends them a new message, the conversation reappears. It starts with a single line saying who deleted it and when, and the new messages follow. Nothing from before the deletion is shown.
What deleting doesn't do
- Your CRM keeps what it already has. A message note that was posted to HubSpot, Karbon or FYI stays on the client's record. The one exception is FYI, which rebuilds its conversation note whenever a new message arrives; on that rebuild, deleted messages drop out of it.
- The other person keeps their copy. Deleting removes the message from Cradle only. The contact's phone still shows whatever it received, and WhatsApp doesn't tell them anything was deleted.
- It doesn't undo a send. A message that has already been delivered stays delivered.
Who can delete
Admins only. If you don't see the bin icon or the Delete conversation button, ask an admin in your organisation. A super-admin looking at another organisation's Message log can't delete from it either.