WhatsApp Can Now Delete Messages After You Read Them

WhatsApp is giving users more control over its disappearing messages functionality. The platform has introduced an “After reading” timer that lets users set how long messages remain visible after the recipient reads them. As of now, this option is available to some beta testers on Android and iOS.

You can now pick read-based disappearing timers for WhatsApp messages

WhatsApp’s disappearing messages feature automatically deletes messages after a set period of time. Right now, you can pick timers such as 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. These timers begin counting down as soon as you send the message. The company has now added a new option that triggers a fresh countdown after the recipient reads the message.

As spotted by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp’s disappearing messages settings include an “After reading” timer. The feature offers three timer options: 5 minutes, 1 hour, and 12 hours. After the recipient opens and reads the message, the selected countdown begins. Note that the system will remove unread messages after 24 hours.

For example, if you send a message at 9 AM with a 5-minute timer, and the recipient reads it at 9:15 AM, it will disappear at 9:20 AM. This comes in handy if you want to share sensitive information without keeping messages visible in chats for longer. It is worth mentioning that the duration does not affect your existing chats.

It is quite easy to set up disappearing message timers on WhatsApp. You can go to Settings > Privacy > Default message timer and choose a duration. As mentioned above, only select beta testers can access the “After reading” time at the moment. WhatsApp should expand testing to more beta users in the coming weeks. Hopefully, the company will not take too long to roll out the feature to the general public.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is phasing out its avatar feature, likely because of low engagement. Introduced in 2022, the tool lets users create digital characters of themselves.