WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature called Group Message History, aimed at making it easier for new members to join group chats without disrupting ongoing conversations or compromising privacy.
The feature allows group admins and members to selectively share recent messages with newly added participants, enabling them to quickly understand the context of discussions. Users can choose to send between 25 and 100 recent messages, eliminating the need for screenshots or manual message forwarding.
WhatsApp says Group Message History is one of its most requested updates and reinforces the platform’s leadership in secure group messaging across devices. Like all messages on the platform, shared group history remains fully end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that only intended recipients can access the content.
When someone new is added to a group, WhatsApp presents an option to send recent messages. This action is optional rather than automatic, giving members control over what information is shared. Group admins can also disable the feature entirely for their groups, although admins will always retain the ability to share message history if necessary.
To ensure transparency, WhatsApp notifies all group members whenever message history is shared. The messages are clearly labeled with timestamps and sender information and are visually distinct from regular chat messages, making it easy to identify shared history.
How to use Group Message History on WhatsApp
When you add a new participant to a WhatsApp group, the app will now prompt you to decide whether you want to share recent messages with them. At this point, you can choose to send between 25 and 100 previous messages, in increments of 25. This gives new members enough context to follow the conversation without exposing the full chat history.
For privacy reasons, WhatsApp does not allow unlimited access to past messages, and message history can only be shared during the process of adding someone to a group. If you skip this step, there is no way to send the history afterward unless the member is removed and added again.
Once message history is shared, WhatsApp notifies everyone in the group. The shared messages are clearly marked with timestamps and sender details and are visually distinct from regular chat messages to avoid confusion.
Group admins remain in full control. While sharing history is optional for members, admins can disable the feature entirely for their groups if they choose. As with all WhatsApp conversations, Group Message History remains fully end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that privacy and security are preserved throughout the process.
WhatsApp says the feature is rolling out gradually and will become available to more users over time. WhatsApp describes Group Message History as part of its broader effort to make group chats more welcoming while maintaining strong privacy protections.
