A change designed to reduce confusion and help newcomers understand ongoing conversations.
Menlo Park, December 2025
WhatsApp is preparing to launch a new feature that allows users who join a group to view the last 24 hours of messages automatically. The update aims to make it easier for newcomers to understand the context of discussions without asking other members to repeat information or summarize what has already been said. Once the feature becomes active, each new participant will see a small window of recent messages as soon as they enter the group.
The function will depend on group administrators. They will decide whether message history is shared or kept private. If administrators enable the feature, new members will receive a portion of the conversation immediately. If they prefer stricter privacy, they can disable the option so that newcomers start with an empty chat.
WhatsApp maintains that the update respects the app’s encryption model. Every time a new member joins the group the encryption key is refreshed, ensuring that only authorized participants can read the shared history. The preview remains limited to the most recent 24 hours of activity so that sensitive older messages stay protected.
The company expects the feature to benefit groups that rely on coordination or planning, where new members often join after important updates have already been exchanged. By offering a glimpse of the latest discussions WhatsApp reduces the friction that typically comes with integrating a new participant into an ongoing conversation.
The rollout is expected to begin gradually as the feature completes testing and is released to the broader user base.
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