Disappearing messages delete themselves after 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. You can turn them on for one chat, a group, or every new chat you start.
For one chat on Android
- Open the chat and tap the contact's name at the top.
- Tap Disappearing messages.
- Choose 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days, or Off to stop.
For one chat on iPhone
- Open the chat and tap the contact's name.
- Tap Disappearing Messages and pick a time, or Off.
A note appears in the chat telling both of you the timer changed. Either person can switch it on or off.
In a group
Same steps: tap the group name › Disappearing messages. By default every member can change it. Admins can limit this to admins only under Group settings › Edit group settings (Android) or Group settings › Edit Group Settings (iPhone).
For all new chats
- Go to Settings › Privacy › Default message timer.
- Choose a time. New one-to-one chats you start will use it. You can also choose to apply it to some existing chats.
Good to know
- Only new messages disappear. Messages sent before you turned it on stay.
- Photos and videos may still be saved in the phone's gallery if auto-download is on. Turn off Media visibility in the chat's info if you don't want that.
- Anyone in the chat can keep a message before its timer runs out: long-press it and tap Keep (bookmark icon) so it does not disappear. The sender has the last word: if the sender un-keeps it, nobody can keep it again.
- If someone was offline the whole time, the message may disappear before they read it, though a notification preview might still show it.
- A reply that quotes a disappearing message may keep the quoted text.
If it doesn't work
- Option greyed out in a group: only admins can change it there.
- Messages did not vanish: they were sent before the timer was on, or someone kept them.
- Option missing: update WhatsApp.
Safety tip
Disappearing does not mean secret. The other person can take a screenshot, forward the message or photograph the screen before it goes. Only send what you would be fine with them keeping. For one-time photos, see "View once" in the attach menu, which has the same limits.
This is GroupChatOn’s own easy guide. We are not WhatsApp and are not linked with WhatsApp or Meta. WhatsApp sometimes changes its menus: if a button looks different on your phone, update WhatsApp from the Play Store or App Store.
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