WhatsApp is a really useful messaging platform that makes it very easy to get in touch with people, but if you’ve been using it for a long time you’ve probably got a pretty hectic chat list full of old messages.

If you want to clear the app out, whether partly or in total, there are quite a few ways that you can clean up WhatsApp, chat by chat or in one go, so we’ve laid out what you need to know, below.

How to clear a chat on WhatsApp

If you want to clear up one thread to start with, whether it’s a group chat or an invidivual message thread, it’s simple to do so with the steps below. If you’re on an iPhone it works as follows.

On Android the steps are nearly identical, but instead of tapping on the chat name to get to the information menu you’ll just hit the three dots icon to access the chat settings.

How to clear all chats on WhatsApp

If you like the sound of clearing out your messages but want to do everything in one go, instead of going chat-by-chat, then there is an option for just that.

On iPhone, follow these steps.

If you’re on Android, the steps are as follows:

Both these processes will leave you with a completely blank slate but will still keep your chat list, just without any content in them.

How to delete a chat in WhatsApp

If you’re looking for a more brutal approach than just deleting the messages within a chat, you might want to just get rid of the chat in question entirely - follow these steps to do that on iPhone.

If you’re on Android, the steps are a tiny bit different:

How to delete all chats in WhatsApp

The most nuclear option available to you in your clearance efforts is to delete all your chats entirely, rather than individually, which you can do as follows on iPhone.

For Android users, the steps are again subtly different, laid out below.

Once you confirm your decision, you’ll be at tabula rasa and able to start again with a clean WhatsApp free from clutter.