If you’ve recently switched from WhatsApp to Signal, you may have noticed that deleting a contact from Signal is not as easy as you might expect. Unlike other chat apps like WhatsApp, deleting a contact from your phonebook does not automatically delete it from the Signal contact list. If you are wondering how to delete Signal contacts, here is everything you need to know to prevent unwanted interactions on the secure messaging platform.
Remove Contacts from Signal Contact List
1. The Basics
Before moving on to the contact deletion part, it’s important to understand how Signal handles your contacts. If you’ve saved the contact in your address book, you’ll see a contact icon next to the username.. See the image below to see what it looks like when you save someone and the contact isn’t in your address book.
2. Delete Contact If You Have Never Chatted Before
If you’ve never messaged the person you want to remove from Signal, it’s easy to delete that person from your Signal contact. Instead of deleting the contact in the Signal app, go to your phone’s address book and remove the contact. You can quickly access the contact entry by tapping the ‘This person in your contacts’ option on Signal’s contact page. After deleting the number, swipe up Signal’s contacts page to refresh contacts. You will see that the number in question no longer appears in the list. It goes without saying that deleting the number from the address book also removes the contact from other apps.
3. Delete Contact If You Have Chatted Before
If you have a conversation history with the person you want to delete from Signal, it can be difficult to remove the contact. Even if you delete their number from the address book, the contact will appear in Signal’s contact list without the contact icon. In such cases, to completely remove the ignition, you have to block the person. You can do expand the contact page and tap the Block button to prevent them. Alternatively, you can do this from: Settings -> Privacy -> Blocked users -> Add blocked user.
4. Delete Contact from Signal Desktop
If you are using Signal’s desktop app, you will notice that all your contacts are located in the left sidebar of the homepage. To delete a contact, open the conversation window, click the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner and select ‘Delete’. That way, the contact will disappear from the contact list unless you receive a new message.
Delete Unwanted Contacts from Signal
This was our short guide to clearing confusion when it comes to deleting contacts in Signal. If you still have any questions or doubts, feel free to reach us in the comments section below. While you’re here, be sure to check out the best Signal features and Signal tips and tricks to use the app better.
