How to send messages that disappear automatically in Whatsapp and use the “ephemeral” function in chats
On Whatsapp, it is possible to activate a new function, that of the so-called “ephemeral messages“, that is, they disappear automatically. It is good to say right away that this is not a way to send secret messages or that self-destruct as soon as they are read, but simply a way not to keep the messages sent within a chat forever, so that it can be made temporary and send messages of short duration, which disappear automatically.
With the option of ephemeral messages (curious how the managers of Whatsapp have translated this function into Italian, with such an uncommon word as “ephemeral”), it is possible to make sure that all messages sent within a specified chat, are automatically deleted , even for those who receive them, after 7 days. There is no way to change this time limit and there is no guarantee that the recipient of ephemeral messages cannot save and keep the conversation in different ways or forward them to other chats. Previous conversations will remain unchanged, but once the feature is enabled, it will apply to all messages sent from that point onwards.
To activate the disappearing messages of Whatsapp, you need to open a conversation, chat with a contact or group, and then tap on the name of the recipient or group at the top. From the Whatsapp conversation tab, you can activate the Ephemeral Messages option.
After setting the function on a chosen chat, all messages exchanged with that person or group will be automatically deleted from WhatsApp after seven days.
In the conversation of the contact or group, you will notice the writing, at the bottom, which warns that the Ephemeral Messages function has been activated and that all new messages sent in that chat, from now on, will be automatically deleted after seven days. In addition, the conversation icon in the list and also in the chat itself shows the symbol of a stopwatch.
Please note that the entire chat is ephemeral. When we activate the option, the recipient will see the same notice that appears to us and will be made aware that any messages sent and received will be automatically deleted after 7 days.
Ephemeral messages also work in groups: if you are the administrator of a group, you can touch the group name and then activate the option to ensure that all messages exchanged in that chat, whoever is sending them, are automatically deleted after 7 days.
You can disable the disappearing messages function in Whatsapp at any time within a chat, by directly touching the alert or by going to the conversation or group tab.
Ephemeral Messages also work on Whatsapp Web, as well as on the Whatsapp application for Android and iPhone.
An exception and a limitation of this function is that if you forward the ephemeral message in another chat, one for which the disappearance of messages is not enabled, that will remain visible even after having disappeared from the original chat.
Furthermore, messages that have disappeared and are deleted could still be recovered by restoring a Whatsapp backup
As often happens with Whatsapp, where the introduction of new functions is always a little shy and cautious, even that of self-destructing messages is very different and much more limited than other applications with disappearing messages such as Signal or Telegram, where really a sent message can be made to disappear immediately after it has been read. But Whatsapp is not an app that focuses heavily on secrecy, so perhaps we could not have expected more.
