WhatsApp introduces 'Group Message History' for new members to catch up

Whenever you add someone new to a group chat, they can’t see the previous messages, so they lack context about what’s been discussed. WhatsApp is addressing this issue with its latest feature: Group Message History.

The feature does exactly what its name implies: it lets a new participant view past conversations. This way, they can quickly catch up on ongoing discussions and contribute their input.

For privacy reasons, WhatsApp will limit how far back new members can view past messages. They won’t have access to the entire group chat history. When you add someone to a group, the app prompts you to select how much history to share. You can choose to send between the last 25 and 100 messages, in increments of 25. For most situations, this should suffice.

This feature gives WhatsApp an advantage over Telegram. While Telegram also allows group message history sharing, it’s an all-or-nothing approach—you can’t selectively share just the last 25 or 100 messages.

Group Message History also gives WhatsApp an edge over iMessage, as Apple’s messaging platform does not currently have such a feature.

Note that you cannot share a group’s message history with a member after they have been added. This action must be taken while you are adding them to the conversation. If you forget to share the chat history during the addition, you will need to remove the member from the group and then re-add them to share the context.

WhatsApp will also notify other group members when chat history is shared with newly added participants. The timestamps, sender information, and message history will appear differently from those in regular messages to enhance clarity and understanding.

Admins stay in control of history sharing

Group Message History, like all WhatsApp conversations, will remain end-to-end encrypted to ensure privacy and security.

If you are a group admin, you can turn off message history sharing for regular members across the group. However, admins will still retain the authority to share chat history themselves.

WhatsApp says Group Message History will roll out gradually to users worldwide.