Meta-owned WhatsApp is rolling out a much-needed feature that lets users edit messages within a 15-minute window. Company CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a Facebook post that WhatsApp users can now edit messages for up to 15 minutes after sending them.
The edit message option has started rolling out to users around the world and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
"You can now edit your WhatsApp messages up to 15 mins after they're sent! 😅", Zuckerberg announced.
While WhatsApp is the world's most popular messaging platform, many of its users were waiting for the edit message option as users send messages to people, in which there is a mistake or they write something which they did not want to say.
"We're excited that you'll now have more control over your chats, such as correcting misspellings or adding more context to a message. For this, within 15 minutes of sending the message, you have to tap and hold that message for a while and then select the option of 'Edit' from the menu," WhatsApp wrote in a blog post.
However, the edited messages will be marked as 'Edited', thus, letting the people at the receiving end know that the sent message has been changed, but they won't see the edit history. Like all personal messages, media files and calls, WhatsApp messages and changes are protected by end-to-end encryption, the Meta-owned company added.
To recall, earlier in March, WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo had said WhatsApp is working to introduce the ability to let users edit messages even after sending them. As per the WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.6.0.74 update, a dedicated alert is under work that will inform users when their edited message has been successfully sent to everyone in a WhatsApp conversation, WABetaInfo had mentioned.