Google Messages may start letting you delete embarrassing text messages — here’s how

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Google Messages could get its own undo button

Google Messages on an Android phone screen
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We’ve all been in a situation where we send a message and immediately wish we could take it back. For many of the best chat apps this isn’t a problem, since you can just delete the message for everyone. Google Messages isn’t one of those apps, but it sounds like it won’t be that way for long.

According to AssembleDebug, the latest version of the Google Messages beta contains code and strings referencing “Delete for everyone”. This suggests that Google is getting ready to roll out a way for users to delete messages they send from everyone’s feed.

Right now deleting a message only removes it from your own feed, but still leaves it visible to everyone else in the chat. You do have the option to edit messages after they’re sent, but that isn’t quite as satisfying as being able to completely erase a message.

AssembleDebug says that any deleted messages will be replaced with a piece of text stating that “Message deleted by its author”. Which is exactly how WhatsApp does things. However, code does suggest this feature may not work on older versions of Google Messages. So you still need to be extra careful what you send, just in case someone is still able to see it.

Naturally this would be limited to RCS chats, rather than SMS. Those are permanent, and the only way to delete those from someone else’s phone is to physically delete it on their actual phone. The code strings also don’t mention a time limit on the deletion, but it’s pretty likely that you won’t be able to delete messages indefinitely. WhatsApp limits you to 2 days, while Apple’s iMessage lets you “unsend” within the first 2 minutes.

Sadly there’s no timeline on when Google might roll out these features to Google Messages. So we’ll just have to be patient, and see what happens in the coming months.

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Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.