WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption to users. This is a good thing because it means that your messages are protected from eavesdropping, and even in the event that they are intercepted, the attacker will not be able to read them. It’s fine if you’re worried about remote attacks, but what if someone had physical access to your phone?

That’s a different story, and assuming your device is unlocked, they’ll be able to read all of your WhatsApp messages and browse through the photos and videos that have been sent. If you want to protect yourself better, you might want to check out WhatsApp’s Endangered Messages and its “View Once” feature which will automatically delete messages, photos and videos after a set period of time or after viewing them. . .

How to activate WhatsApp disappearance messages

1. Open WhatsApp
2. Tap the conversation for which you want to activate the disappearance of messages
3. Tap the conversation name at the top
4. Tap Disappearing messages
5. Select Enabled
6. Repeat the process if you want to disable it

One thing to note about messages disappearing is that the messages disappear after seven days. This means that regardless of whether the message has been read or not, it will stay there for seven days. Also note that it might not go away completely. According to to WhatsApp, there are several cases where a message may not disappear:

• The message may still appear in the notification preview
• If you reply to a message that disappears, the quoted text may remain even if the original has disappeared.
• If the disappearing message is forwarded to another chat
• If the user creates a backup before deleting the message

Messages that disappear will also not apply to old messages. This means that only messages sent after activating the feature will be affected.

Now, in case the seven day window and some of the disappearing messages warnings don’t appeal to you, WhatsApp has an alternative in the form of “Show Once”. This allows you to send photos or videos which, when opened, will be deleted when closed.

How to activate WhatsApp’s “Show once”

1. Open WhatsApp
2. Open the chat you want to send the photo or video to
3. Tap Attach
4. Select photo or video
5. Press the “1” icon
6. Tap Send

Similar to disappearing messages, “Show once” files will automatically disappear. If the file is open, it will disappear after closing the media viewer. If the file is left unattended and not opened, it will automatically disappear after 14 days. Unlike messages that disappear, View Once files cannot be transferred, saved, tracked, or shared. They will also not be automatically saved to your phone’s photo library.