How to send View Once photos and videos on WhatsApp

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WhatsApp has always been highly regarded as one of the most secure ways to send messages to friends and family. The end-to-end encrypted messaging platform recently added a new feature that further increases user privacy when sending messages back and forth.

The platform’s new View Once feature somewhat mimics the idea behind Snapchat. Using WhatsApp’s View Once feature, you’ll be able to send photos and videos to someone, and that person will only be able to view the message one time.

Unlike the Disappearing Messages feature on the app, which only lets you set your messages up to disappear after a seven-day time period, the app removes View Once photos and videos from a message thread immediately after they are viewed.

This makes the new WhatsApp feature extra useful for sending sensitive information you don’t necessarily want hanging out in a message thread.

How to View Once messages on WhatsApp

WhatsApp users on both Android and iOS devices now have access to the View Once feature. It’s available in both group messages and individual chats, but keep in mind that those messages can still be screenshotted.

And that’s how you send a view once message on WhatsApp. As long as that 1 with the half-dotted circle is highlighted when sending the message, the photo or video attached can only be viewed once.

You can even set your photos up with WhatsApp’s own filters before sharing, as long as you ensure that the 1 is highlighted when the message is sent.

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