If you’re in a WhatsApp group chat where the disappear messages feature is enabled, there’s now a way to keep some important chats, like an address or a voice note someone sends you.
WhatsApp’s “Keep in Chat”, announced on Friday, allows you to bookmark messages sent to you, although the veto remains with the sender.
“Anyone in a dying message thread can long press on a message to save it,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained on his Instagram channel. “The sender will be informed if it has been saved and can decide whether it remains or remains a message that disappears.”
Disappearing Messages is a privacy measure that was announced in late 2020. Meta says it can also help declutter your phone and increase storage.
It lets you set a timer for when your WhatsApp chat messages will be deleted, with options for 24 hours, a week, or 90 days.
Here’s how to turn on disappearing messages:
- Open your chat on WhatsApp.
- Tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner.
- Select Disappearing messages.
- Choose the message timer you want for when messages will be automatically deleted – 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.
- Tap the back arrow in the upper left corner.
Once activated, here is how to record a message:
- Long press the message you want to keep.
- Tap the bookmark icon at the top of the screen, located next to the reply arrow.
- The sender of the message will then be informed of your request to record this message and will have the power to oppose it.
If you don’t see the option in your WhatsApp chats yet, that’s because Meta is rolling out the feature over the next few weeks.
Messages saved in WhatsApp will be placed in a Saved Messages folder and organized by chat, the company said.
Here’s more from CNET on three additional privacy features introduced in WhatsApp last year and a new Teams integration introduced earlier this month that makes WhatsApp better for work plans.
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