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Top Useful WhatsApp Features You Might Not Know: Chat Lock, Message Editing, More

Top Useful WhatsApp Features You Might Not Know: Chat Lock, Message Editing, More

WhatsApp's View One for Audio feature allows you to share voice messages that can be played only once.

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 18 December 2025 18:51 IST

Top Useful WhatsApp Features You Might Not Know: Chat Lock, Message Editing, More

Photo Credit: WhatsApp

WhatsApp Hidden features 2025: You can communicate more effectively using these useful features

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Highlights

Chat Lock feature was launched in 2023
Meta-owned platform allows users to Pin important messages inside a chat
Companion Mode enables using a WhatsApp account on multiple devices

WhatsApp is more than just an instant messaging app. Since it joined Facebook in 2014, the platform has been updated with several new improvements to the profile, settings, and status sections. Meta is now bringing advanced tools from Facebook and Instagram to WhatsApp at regular intervals, enhancing the chat experiences. Whether you're a normal user or a business owner, understanding these lesser‑known features can help you communicate more efficiently using Meta's chat platform.

Here we explore WhatsApp features and tools you might not know. These features include recently introduced message editing features, chat lock, companion mode, and more.

Message Editing

The Message Editing feature is one of the real game-changer tools on WhatsApp, but many users are still unaware of this. WhatsApp started rolling out this in 2023. This feature lets users modify any sent message within 15 minutes. After the time limit, users won't be able to make any further adjustments.

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To edit a message, long-press the message, select Edit, make changes and tap Send. Edited messages will appear with an "edited" label.

Chat Lock

Released in 2023, the Chat Lock feature is not well-known, but it can greatly enhance the user experience on the platform. This functionality allows users to lock specific chats with Face ID, fingerprint, or passcode for extra privacy. Users can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group chat and selecting the lock option.

Hidden locked chats can be accessed by clicking Search>Type secret code>Click Locked chats. When chats are locked, notification content and contact details will be hidden, and notifications will appear as “WhatsApp: 1 new message.”

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View Once for Audio

WhatsApp allows you to share audio messages that can be played only once. This is useful if you want to show your credit card details to a friend or while sharing sensitive information over a voice message.

The View Once voice messages have the“one-time” icon and can only be played one time, and they will disappear once listened to.

Pinned Messages

The Meta-owned platform allows users to Pin important messages inside a chat for quick access. If you chat with a friend a lot, you can pin their chat to the top so that you can always find them quickly. A user can pin up to three messages to the top of a chat. The message can be pinned for 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days.

The most recent pinned message appears first in the banner. This can be done by opening the chat and long-pressing the chat you want to pin, and pressing the Pin icon.

Disappearing Messages

People who need more privacy can turn on the Disappearing messages feature. This optional feature auto-deletes messages in a chat after 24 hours, 7, or 90 days. Users can turn it on for specific chats. You can set disappearing messages as the default for new individual chats by tapping Settings > Privacy > Default message timer and selecting a duration.

Multi-Account Support

This feature is beneficial for users with two or more mobile numbers. WhatsApp allows you to make two accounts on the same phone. Once both numbers are registered, users can easily switch between accounts without logging out. The current account will be considered as active, while the other will remain idle. The idle account will receive message and call notifications. And the user can view or respond, simply switch to that account.

Companion Mode

Companion Mode enables using a WhatsApp account on multiple phones simultaneously. For instance, you can link your WhatsApp to a desktop, tablet, or browser. Each linked device will work independently. If your primary phone stays inactive for more than 14 days, the WhatsApp in linked devices will automatically log out to maintain security.

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Further reading: WhatsApp, WhatsApp Features, WhatsApp Updates, WhatsApp Edit, WhatsApp Chat Lock, WhatsApp Companion Mode

Nithya P Nair

Email Nithya P Nair

Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More