WhatsApp started working on ‘vacation mode’ in 2019, a feature that ignores new messages in archived chats. We’ve seen multiple reports over the past year that the feature has been discontinued and revived. The company even tested renaming archive chats to ‘read later’ in January earlier this year. And today we can report that WhatsApp has started rolling out the feature that lets you mute archived chats forever. In this post, we will explain how it works and detail the steps to enable “Keep Chats Archived” on WhatsApp.
Archived Chats No Longer cluttering your Inbox
WhatsApp has started testing a new transition that now allows users keep archived chats in archive section when they get a new message. For the uninitiated, WhatsApp is currently pushing chats out of the archive section for new messages even if you have muted the contact. This is particularly annoying as it defeats the purpose of archiving a chat. In the future, this will no longer apply when you receive a new notification for an archived contact.
How to Mute Archived Chats on WhatsApp
We WhatsApp for Android detects change in beta 2.21.10.9 On OnePlus 7T running Android 11 based OxygenOS 11. To enable this new feature, follow these steps:
1. Go to the bottom of the conversation list and open the “Archived Chats” section.
2. Next, tap on the vertical three-dot menu in the upper right corner and select the “Archive settings” option. Here, a New toggle that says “Keep chats archived”. Open it and that’s it.
3. Interestingly, WhatsApp now keeps the archived chats section at the top of the homepage when you enable the toggle. When disabled, you will find it in its usual place under all conversations.
For those wondering how to know if someone in archived chat has messaged you, WhatsApp has also added a thoughtful message. new chat indicator that keeps track of unread chats. To clarify, this refers to the total number of unread chats, not new unread messages from the same person. So even if the same person has sent many messages, WhatsApp will show users a ‘1’ indicator.
Mute All Notifications for Archived Chats on WhatsApp
While saying this, keep in mind this is a gradual presentation and you may not have this feature even if you have the same build. Given that WhatsApp has started testing the feature with beta users, it shouldn’t take long for it to roll out to all users.