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How to Turn Whatsapp Disappearing Messages On and Off?

Whatsapp Disappearing Messages

Whatsapp has recently launched a new feature called Disappearing Messages for both Android and iOS users. However, the same feature is already available on the Signal app, with few additional options.

Here I will show you what it is, how it works, and how to enable or disable it on your Whatsapp.

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What is Whatsapp Disappearing Messages?

Disappearing Messages is a newly introduced feature that you need to turn on manually. When enabled, all sent messages either in individual chats or group chats will disappear after 7 days.

One noticeable thing is that messages sent before you enabled the disappearing messages feature will not be affected. Those previous Whatsapp chats will still be visible.

How Does It Work?

This is not something that you can turn on by default for all chats. You need to turn it on for individual chats separately as per your requirements.

Any Whatsapp user can turn on the Disappearing Messages feature for any individual chat. However, for group chats, only group admins can enable or disable it.

How Does It Differ from Signal’s Disappearing Messages?

So many users don’t want to keep their chats visible to anyone else for several reasons. And Signal has got the attention of such users by allowing them to set a chat visibility time.

With Signal you can set your custom chat visibility timings as per your requirements.

Apparently, we can say that Whatsapp is also working to grab the attention of these users too and launched the same feature.

However, with Whatsapp, you cannot set your custom timings for chat visibility for now. It is of 7 days by default. It means when this feature is enabled, your sent messages will be disappeared automatically after 7 days.

So this was the main difference in the disappearing messages feature in Whatsapp and Signal apps.

How to Turn on Disappearing Messages for Individual Chats?

Follow below steps to enable or disable disappearing messages on your android and iPhone –

Turn On Whatsapp Disappearing Messages
Turn On Disappearing Messages
  1. Open the Whatsapp App
  2. Go to individual chat as per your need
  3. Tap on the Contact Name at the top
  4. Select the Disappearing Messages option
  5. Select On

That’s it. This is how you can turn on disappearing messages on Whatsapp.

To disable it, just select Off and it will stop working.

How to Enable Disappearing Messages for Whatsapp Group Chats?

If you want to delete Whatsapp messages automatically after 7 days for your group chats, then turning on disappearing messages will work.

Being a group admin you can follow below steps –

  1. Open the Group Chat
  2. Tap on Group’s Name at the top
  3. Select Disappearing Messages
  4. Select On

Done. To disable disappearing messages for Whatsapp Group Chat just select Off.

Note: Above steps will work the same for Whatsapp Web too.

Whatsapp Disappearing Messages Not Showing

As this is a newly launched feature and thus it might be possible that people do not see it in some countries yet.

Or another reason could be the App update. So check for the app update and if it is pending, update the Whatsapp app and check if this feature will be visible.

I see this feature working fine in India on both android and iPhone devices, and thus, it should show and work for you.

If you still can’t see the Disappearing Messages feature in Whatsapp, then wait for the next update, and you will have it for sure.

Some Key Factors to Consider Regarding this Feature

There are few things that you should know about Whatsapp Disappearing Messages feature. However, it might help you to use it effectively.

If you have turned on disappearing messages for any specific chat and didn’t open it for the last seven days, messages will show in a preview. However, these messages will be removed as you open the chat.

If you have replied to any disappearing message, that message could appear initially even after 7 days, which is not the case with the Signal app.

Besides it, if you have forwarded any messages before it disappears to the chat which doesn’t have disappearing messages enabled, such messages will be visible in that chat.

Are you used to backup your Whatsapp chat history? If yes, you should understand that disappearing messages will be included in the backup created before messages disappear. However, such messages will be deleted when you restore the backup.

It is also important to understand that Whatsapp automatically saves media files in the user’s phone gallery by default. If the user has turned on the Save to Camera Roll feature, such users could have your sent photos and videos if they see that chat before messages disappear.

Wrapping it up…

Being a Whatsapp user, I will wait for when the company allows custom time settings for Disappearing Messages, similar to the Signal app.

7 days seem too long for those engaged in sweet secret chats. So, in brief, this was all about the Whatsapp Disappearing Messages feature.