WhatsApp lets users edit messages with 15-minute time limit

NEW DELHI: Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday announced that billions of WhatsApp users can now modify a message within 15 minutes of sending it.

This feature has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks. All that the users need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose 'Edit' from the menu for up to 15 minutes after.

"For the moments when you make a mistake, or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages," said the instant messaging platform.

This will help people correct a simple misspelling to add extra context to a message.

Edited messages will display 'edited' alongside them, so those you're messaging are aware of the correction without showing edit history, said WhatsApp.

"As with all personal messages, media and calls, your messages and the edits you make are protected by end-to-end encryption," said the company.

Last week, WhatsApp had announced a feature called 'Chat Lock', which lets users protect most intimate conversations behind one more layer of security.

"Locking a chat takes that thread out of the inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too," WhatsApp had said in a statement.

One can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option.