If the Original Message Is Deleted, Can the Forwarded Copy Be Deleted Too?

What it does

When a message is deleted in the source chat, the copy in your destination is deleted too, within seconds. No notice is left behind, exactly as if the message had never been relayed.

It applies to messages of every kind, text and attachments alike, and to each destination of the rule independently.

Why it matters more than it sounds

A retraction that does not propagate is worse than no relay at all. The source has corrected itself, and your destination is still showing the wrong price, the old link, the name that was taken down — and it is showing it under your name, in a place people trust because you curate it.

This is also the practical answer to a fair objection about relaying someone else's channel: with deletions mirrored, the author retains the ability to withdraw something, which is most of what people actually want when they object.

How long the connection lasts

The same seven-day window as edits. A message deleted within seven days of being relayed has its copy removed; something deleted later stays in the destination, because the link between the two is no longer kept.

The connection survives a restart of the service, so a platform update does not silently break deletion mirroring for messages relayed before it.

When to switch it off

It is a per-rule switch, so one destination can mirror deletions while an archive of the same source keeps everything.

• An archive or a compliance record, where the point is precisely to keep what was said, including what was later removed.
• A destination where deletions at the source are used to tidy up rather than to correct, and mirroring them would erase things your readers still need.

What it cannot do

• It cannot remove a copy that has already been forwarded on by somebody else. Once a message is out, it is out.
• It cannot delete a copy you have removed permission for.
• It does not act on messages older than the window.