Make your WhatsApp messages disappear by default

WhatsApp is adding more options to control your disappearing messages, the popular app announced Monday. You can now turn on disappearing messages by default for all new chats, and you can choose how long you have until the messages fade. 

When you enable the feature, every one-on-one chat that you or someone else starts will be set to disappear after your chosen amount of time: 24 hours, seven days or 90 days. The app is also adding the option to turn on disappearing messages when you create a group chat. 

The feature is optional and doesn't alter or delete any of your existing chats, according to WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook's parent company Meta. But when you have disappearing messages turned on, WhatsApp will display a message in your chats that tells people this is the default option you've picked. 

Here's how you can turn on disappearing messages by default for all new individual chats.

How to make your WhatsApp messages disappear by default

Whether you're using WhatsApp on an iPhone or Android, turning on default disappearing messages seems to take just a few steps. According to WhatsApp's help page about disappearing messages, after you open the app and go to Settings (it's located in the bottom right corner of the screen), tap Account, then Privacy and finally Default message timer. From there you can turn on disappearing messages and select how long you would like to wait until messages fade. 

WhatsApp stresses you should only use disappearing messages with trusted individuals. Although the app makes your messages vanish after a set amount of time, it's possible the person you're chatting with can forward, copy, save or take a screenshot of the message before it disappears. 

WhatsApp introduced disappearing messages in November 2020. The feature originally worked for individual chats only, and the duration of time before the message disappeared was seven days. Earlier this year, WhatsApp added View Once, a feature that causes videos and pictures to vanish from a chat after they've been opened. 

For more, check out how to declutter Facebook messenger without deleting chats and how to transfer your Facebook photos and posts to other platforms. If you want to delete more than your chat history, take a look at how to permanently delete your Facebook account and how to disappear from the internet for good.