The disappearing messages feature serves as a neat way to send messages without leaving any traces or history. If you’re wondering how to get started with disappearing messages, here’s everything you need to know to enable and use the feature on popular messaging platforms like Telegram, Signal, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Send Disappearing Messages
1. Send Disappearing Messages on Telegram
If you’ve read our WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal comparison, you’re probably aware that Telegram’s private chat feature is end-to-end encrypted. you belong create a secret chat to send disappearing messages and media on Telegram. To start, open the person’s profile page and Tap on ‘Start secret chat’.
In the secret chat interface, tap the vertical ellipsis menu next to the contact to access more options. From the list of options now appearing, Tap on ‘Set self-destruct timer’. You can do set the message to disappear from 1 second to a week. Select the self-destruct time for the message you want and tap on Done. You can also tap the clock icon next to the profile picture to access the self-destruct timer.
After setting the self-destruct timer, all messages and media that you send to the person via secret chat will expire after the defined time. keep this in mind this setting does not affect the nature of regular Telegram chats with the same person.
If you are looking for ways to send self-destructing pictures or videos, you can do so without creating a secret chat. all you have to do select image/video from the file picker interface and tap the timer icon. Press Done after setting the end timer. The file preview is blurry (see image above) and The timer starts as soon as the recipient opens the picture..
2. Send Disappearing Messages in Signal
If you’re someone who recently switched from WhatsApp to Signal, you’ll be pleased to know that Signal’s disappearing messages app is way better than WhatsApp. To use the feature, open a chat, tap the vertical three dots menu in the right corner and Select ‘Disappearing messages’. Now you can Set time from 5 seconds to 1 week.
The clock icon next to a message indicates that the message was sent via disappearing messages mode. You can always check the expiration time of the message from the indicator next to the profile picture.
3. Post Disappearing Messages on Instagram
As for Instagram, Facebook recently introduced disappear mode as part of its Instagram Direct-Facebook Messenger integration. As a result, you can swipe up from any Instagram DM to start a private chat window where messages disappear when you close the chat. Similarly, you can swipe up again to exit disappear mode.
If you’re looking for an option to send Snapchat-style self-destructing media, you don’t need to enable disappear mode. In its place, tap the camera button in the lower left corner, select the image/video and Switch to the ‘View Once’ tab. Once you’re here, tap ‘Send’ to send the picture.
4. Send Disappearing Messages on WhatsApp
After all the main messaging platforms, WhatsApp added disappearing messages in November last year. But here you cannot customize the duration of the self-destruct timer. All messages sent with disappearing messages mod on WhatsApp disappear after 7 daysNot ideal if you ask me. You can read more about why WhatsApp’s disappearing messages shouldn’t be your first choice for sending sensitive images, but if you’re considering giving the feature a try, here’s the method.
Open WhatsApp and go to the person’s profile page. You can do this by tapping the contact’s name in the conversation window. From here, Look for and press the option titled ‘disappearing messages’. You can now choose to enable the feature by tapping the ‘On’ toggle.
Use Disappearing Messages Mode When Sending Sensitive Images
So that was our guide on how you can redeem disappearing messages on popular messaging platforms. If you are looking for more ways to use these platforms like a pro, you will find many useful features in our articles on Instagram tips, WhatsApp tips, Signal tips and Telegram tips. You should also check out our guide on deleting metadata from photos for better privacy.
