What Is Meant by Disappearing Messages Were Turned off in WhatsApp
Mehvish Mushtaq is a computer engineer by degree. Her love for Android and gadgets led her to develop the first Android app for Kashmir. Known as Dial Kashmir, she won the prestigious Nari Shakti award from the President of India. She has been writing about technology for 6+ years and her favorite categories include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for Android, iOS/iPadOS, social media, and web apps.
Afam has been a content writer with Guiding Tech Media since August 2023. However, his experience in tech writing dates back to 2018, when he worked as a freelance writer for Make Tech Easier. Over the years, he has grown a reputation for publishing quality guides, reviews, tips, and explainer articles. His work is featured on top websites, including Technical Ustad, Windows Report, and Next of Windows. He has training as a Microsoft Certified Professional and has covered more Microsoft-related guides on these platforms.
What Are Disappearing Messages in WhatsApp
If theephemeral WhatsApp statuswasn’t enough, Facebook launched another feature on WhatsApp: Disappearing messages. The feature works for both individual and group chats.
Facebook Messenger and Instagram got the vanish mode, where messages self-destruct after a specific time. Similarly, WhatsApp received the Disappearing messages feature.
When Disappearing messages are turned on in a personal or group chat, the messages sent until the feature is turned off will automatically disappear after seven days, just like the WhatsApp Status that disappears after 24 hours.
What Does ‘Disappearing Messages Were Turned off’ Alert Mean
When a user enables Disappearing messages in the chat, WhatsApp notifies the participants by showing an alert message. They will see the ‘turned on disappearing messages‘ message. Similarly, when the Disappearing messages are turned off, WhatsApp again notifies about it. That’s why you see turned off disappearing messages.
You or the other person can enable or disable the Disappearing messages feature in a one-on-one chat. Note that if you enable the feature, your name will be mentioned in the message notifying you about it. Moreover, the other person can also disable it. However, only Group admins can activate or deactivate the feature in WhatsApp Groups.
What Happens When Disappearing Messages Are Turned Off
As mentioned above, when Disappearing messages are turned on, the messages sent during that period will get deleted automatically within seven days. However, when you turn off Disappearing Messages, all the text and multimedia you share will continue to appear like normal messages. Any message that has been quoted or forwarded will still show up.
The rules are slightly different for the media received during Disappearing messages. If WhatsApp auto-download is enabled, the media gets saved in your gallery as well. Even though the media will be removed from the WhatsApp chat after seven days of disappearing messages, it will not be deleted from your phone. You will have to remove it from your phone’s storage manually.
Tip:Find out in detailhow to delete WhatsApp photos from Android and iPhone.
The Disappearing messages rules will not apply to any new messages you receive after disabling the feature. The new messages will not be deleted unless you delete them using theDelete for everyone feature.
How to Turn on or off Disappearing Messages in Personal Chats
If someone disables the disappearing messages, you can enable it again if you want some messages to disappear. Here is how:
Note:The screenshots are taken on an Android phone, but the steps are the same for iPhone.
Step 1:Open theWhatsApp chatwhere you want to enable or disable the Disappearing messages.
Step 2:Tap on thecontact’s nameat the top of the chat. Tap onDisappearing messages.
Step 3:Select the box next toOnorOffto enable or disable Disappearing messages, respectively.
Enable or Disable Disappearing Messages in WhatsApp Groups
Like other privileges enjoyed byWhatsApp group admins, only they have the right to enable or disable disappearing messages in group chats. Follow the below steps to do so.
Step 1:Open theWhatsApp groupwhere you want to turn on or off Disappearing messages.
Step 2:Tap on thegroup nameat the top of the chat > selectDisappearing messages> enable or disable them on the next screen.
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Last updated on 29 May, 2024
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