Instant messaging platform WhatsApp has confirmed that it will roll out the disappearing messages feature soon. The company was working on the feature for quite some time. It said that the tool will be made available to customers globally in one go. As the name suggests, the disappearing messages feature will make messages disappear from individual or group chats after a specific time. WhatsApp has provided the information about the feature on the support page. It said that when the feature is enabled, it will automatically disappear messages from the chat after seven days. The feature will, however, not affect the messages previously received or sent in individual and group chats.

On its support page, WhatsApp has created a dedicated section on the upcoming feature. It has frequently asked questions related to the new feature. According to WhatsApp, while users will have the feasibility to turn on and off the disappearing messages feature for individual chats in a group, the admins will get to use the feature. WhatsApp said that when a user leaves out a message unread for seven days, the said message will disappear from the chat automatically. However, the message’s preview in notification might still display. The company said that the new feature will also work for media. But when the auto-download option is enabled, the file will be saved to the device’s storage.

WhatsApp added that when the feature is not enabled and a user forwards a disappearing message to another chat, the message will not disappear on the forwarded chat’s page. WhatsApp had been testing the feature for over one year. It was first spotted on WhatsApp’s Android beta version 2.19.275 in 2019. The company said that it will launch the feature for Android, iOS, web, and KaiOS platforms together. WhatsApp was launched in 2009. It was acquired by Facebook in 2014. The company has since then introduced multiple exciting features to make the platform more engaging. The chats are end-to-end encrypted.