WhatsApp is currently rolling out a new option that makes disappearing messages the default behavior for all new chats. If you’ve been living in a cave, WhatsApp is an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform.
WhatsApp launched its disappearing messages feature more than a year ago. The feature allows messages, photos, and videos to be marked to disappear after seven days. The feature can be enabled for direct messages and in group messages by members with administrator privileges.
The latest update allows users to set all new messages to disappear by default. From the company’s blog post:
Today we are excited to provide our users with more options to control their messages and how long they stick around, with default disappearing messages and multiple durations.
WhatsApp users will now have the option to turn on disappearing messages by default for all new chats. When enabled, all new one-on-one chats you or another person start will be set to disappear at your chosen duration, and we’ve added a new option when creating a group chat that lets you turn it on for groups you create. This new feature is optional and does not change or delete any of your existing chats.
WhatsApp is also adding two new durations for disappearing messages: 24 hours and 90 days, as well as the previous standard option of 7 days.
To turn on disappearing messages by default for all new individual chats, go to: “WhatsApp Settings” -> “Account” -> “Privacy” -> “Default message timer,” and then select a duration.
When a user switches to default disappearing messages, WhatsApp will display a message in their chats that tells other chat participants that this is the default the user has chosen.