WhatsApp upcoming new feature – “Disappearing messages” has already received an official mention on WhatsApp official website. This feature will allow WhatsApp users to send messages that will expire after a stipulated period of time.

The feature would be available for iOS, Android, KaiOS, and Web/Desktop users.

How does ‘Disappearing Messages’ on WhatsApp work?

As per the name, the new feature will automatically delete messages after a predetermined period of time. All details can be found on FAQ page of the website. According to WhatsApp, this feature will first need to be enabled in the settings. Once enabled, new messages sent in the individual or group chat will disappear after seven days. The FAQ page also mentions some important points that you need to know about how disappearing messages work.

• “If a user doesn’t open WhatsApp in the seven day period, the message will disappear. However, the preview of the message might still be displayed in notifications until WhatsApp is opened.
• When you reply to a message, the initial message is quoted. If you reply to a disappearing message, the quoted text might remain in the chat after seven days.
• If a disappearing message is forwarded to a chat with disappearing messages off, the message won’t disappear in the forwarded chat.
• If a user creates a backup before a message disappears, the disappearing message will be included in the backup. Disappearing messages will be deleted when a user restores from a backup.”

Apart from this, WhatsApp also warns on how ‘Disappearing Messages’ may not be as helpful in cases where media is automatically downloaded and saved in the gallery. While the media will get deleted from WhatsApp, the media will still remain in the gallery.

However, there is no timeline on when we can expect to see the feature roll out to users. But, now that the FAQ pages are live, users shouldn’t have to wait for long.