You can now fix those embarrassing mistakes by editing your WhatsApp messages and iMessages – here's how
- WhatsApp finally rolled out a long-awaited edit button to help you fix those embarrassing mistakes.
- You only have 15 minutes to edit a WhatsApp message after you've sent it.
WhatsApp has finally added an edit function to let users alter typos or embarrassing mistakes — but you have to be quick.
Here's how to edit WhatsApp messages.
What did WhatsApp do?
WhatsApp, owned by Meta, announced it was rolling out message editing in late May, nearly 14 years after the app first became available.
Previously users couldn't correct errors on a message, meaning the only way to get rid of typos or unwise comments was to delete it entirely – leaving the recipient wondering just how bad those thoughts were.
Now, WhatsApp has given its billions of users a time-sensitive feature to help clean up their messages.
How to edit your WhatsApp messages
Once you send a WhatsApp message, you have just 15 minutes in which to edit it.
It's not immediately obvious how to edit a message though. You need to press your finger on the message for a second or two, which brings up a menu that includes Star, Reply, Forward, Copy, Info, Speak and Delete options.
If you're within the 15-minute window you'll also see "Edit" towards the bottom of that list. If you don't, you left it too late to alter.
Once you've changed a message, it will say "edited" at the bottom next to the time stamp and the recipient will not be able to see what's been changed.
The edited messages will still be end-to-end encrypted, like all WhatsApp messages.
How to edit iMessages
Apple has for some time let users tweak their iMessages, also within a 15-minute window. It's a very similar deal: touch and hold the message bubble, then tap "edit." Altered messages will also say "edited."
As Apple notes: "If your recipients have devices with earlier versions of iOS, they receive follow-up messages with the preface 'Edited to' and your new message in quotation marks. SMS messages can't be unsent or edited."
Apple users can also unsend iMessages, but you have to be super-quick as there's a two-minute limit. The recipient and the sender see a note indicating a message was unsent – and again you both need to be using the most recent OS for the unsend function to work properly.
While you can't "unsend" a message on WhatsApp, you are able to delete it whenever you like. If you're often prone to having second thoughts after firing off a message, WhatsApp may be the better option.