Three WhatsApp tricks you HAVE to know – including ‘secret message mode’

WHATSAPP has a bunch of useful features up its sleeve – many of which you might not know about.

They include the ability to erase messages after you’ve sent them and a “secret” mode that deletes texts after you’ve sent them.

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How to erase messages you’ve sent

By far, the ability to erase a message after you’ve sent it is one of WhatsApp’s crowning achievements.

And unlike other messaging services (i.e. iMessage), when you delete a text from a WhatsApp chatbox, it removes it for everyone, not just you.

This feature is especially useful if you sent a message to the wrong chat or your message contains a mistake.

You can erase a message/s by opening WhatsApp then going to the chat containing the message.

Once you’ve located the message, you will want to tap and hold it until ‘Delete’ pops up.

Tap ‘Delete’ then ‘Delete for everyone.’

Messages that are successfully deleted for everyone will be replaced with: “This message was deleted.”

How to send a disappearing message

Another good privacy feature everyone should know about on WhatsApp is how to send a disappearing message, photo, or video.

If you turn this feature on, it will make any new messages in a chat disappear after seven days.

To do this go to the specific chat > click on the person’s name at the top of the chat > tap ‘Disappearing messages’ > tap ‘On.’

You can also send a disappearing image or video that collapses once the recipient has viewed it once.

This is helpful when sending sensitive information, such as bank details.

To do this, start by heading to the specific chat, then tapping on the “+” next to the message input field.

Next, choose ‘Camera’ to take a photo or ‘Photo & Video Library’ to select a photo.

Once you’ve selected the photo, tap on the “1” next to the blue send arrow, then hit the blue arrow to send.

How to use WhatsApp on your laptop

Another great thing about WhatsApp is that the service is not just limited to your mobile phone, you can also use it on a tablet or a laptop/desktop.

There’s a browser app that you can access as a WhatsApp user, which syncs everything from your phone to your laptop.

You can also download a desktop app if you prefer that.

Simply go to https://web.whatsapp.com/ or download the desktop app from whatsapp.com/download/

Then you have to open WhatsApp on your phone.

Go to Settings > WhatsApp Web/Desktop > Scan the QR code on the browser or Desktop app > Follow the instructions from there.

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