WhatsApp has long offered disappearing messages, but the feature has two notable limitations. It applies to all messages in the chat rather than individual messages, and the deletion timer starts from the moment a message is sent, regardless of whether the recipient has read it. WhatsApp is currently working to address both.

Earlier this year, it began testing an “After Reading” timer for disappearing messages that starts the deletion countdown only after the recipient opens the message. Now, WABetaInfo reports that it’s also testing view-once messages, which will let users send individual texts that become inaccessible after a single read.

A gap in the view-once lineup

WhatsApp added view-once support for photos and videos back in 2021, giving users an easy way to share sensitive content without it sticking around in the chat history. The platform extended it to voice notes in 2023, leaving text messages as the only outlier.

WABetaInfo now reports that WhatsApp is working on view-once support for text messages, with the feature spotted in the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.24.10.16 on TestFlight. The company has been working on the same functionality for Android as well.

How it works

To send a view-once text, users will have to long-press the Send button after typing their message. This will bring up a dropdown with the option to “Send as view once.” As with other view-once media, the recipient will be able to open the message one time before it becomes inaccessible, and WhatsApp will block copying, forwarding, screenshots, and screen recordings.

The feature will reportedly work in both individual chats and group conversations, but channels won’t be supported. WABetaInfo notes that it’s not yet available to beta testers, so it might be a while before it reaches end users.