With the feature rolling out globally in the coming weeks, senders will be able to modify their messages within 15 minutes of hitting send.
In a blog post on Monday, WhatsApp said the new tool can be accessed by long-pressing the message and choosing “edit” in the drop-down menu.
“For the moments when you make a mistake, or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages,” the post reads.
“From correcting a simple misspelling to adding extra context to a message, we’re excited to bring you more control over your chats. All you need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose ‘Edit’ from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after.
Edited messages will display ‘edited’ alongside them, so those you’re messaging are aware of the correction without showing edit history. As with all personal messages, media and calls, your messages and the edits you make are protected by end-to-end encryption.
This feature has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.”
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, flagged the change on his Facebook page.
Rival social media services like Telegram and Signal already allow users to edit messages.
The new feature is the latest announcement by the instant-messaging platform.
In April, WhatsApp unveiled a feature that allows users to automatically post their status to their Facebook stories.
It also introduced automatic security codes that allow users to protect their accounts against hacks.