Keep in Chat on WhatsApp: Saving a Disappearing Message
Someone turned on disappearing messages, and a message you need is about to vanish. Tap and hold it and you'll see Keep. That is WhatsApp's keep in chat feature: it saves the message so it doesn't disappear when its timer runs out.
Two details matter before you use it. A kept message becomes visible to everyone in the conversation, and the person who sent the message is told and has the final say. If they unkeep it, nobody in the chat can keep it again.
What Keep in chat does
WhatsApp's help center explains it plainly. When disappearing messages are on, you can keep a message to prevent it from disappearing, as long as its duration hasn't passed. Once it's kept, it is visible to everyone in the conversation and doesn't disappear when the timer expires.
Disappearing messages are set to 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. Kept messages are the exception: the timer no longer applies to them. If the timer has already passed, the message is gone and there is nothing to keep.
Who can keep a message
Anyone in the chat can keep a message. In a group, admins can restrict this to admins only through the group admin settings.
The sender is protected, though. WhatsApp says that if someone keeps a message you sent, you'll get a notification, and as the sender you have the final say over who can keep your message. The 2023 announcement of the feature put it as the sender having the ability to veto the decision.
What each side sees
| Who | What happens |
|---|---|
| You, when you keep someone's message | The message stays in the chat past its timer. It also appears in your Kept messages list |
| The sender | Gets a notification that someone kept their message, and can unkeep it |
| Everyone else in the chat | The message stays visible to them too, because a kept message is visible to everyone in the conversation |
| After the sender unkeeps | No one else in the chat can keep that message again |
WhatsApp's 2023 post adds that messages you've saved are noted with a bookmark icon. Because the sender is notified, keeping isn't a quiet action. Don't plan on keeping a message without the other person knowing.
How to keep, find and unkeep a message
- Open the chat that has disappearing messages turned on.
- Tap and hold the message you want to keep, then tap Keep. On a computer, click on the message instead.
- To see everything kept in that chat, open the chat info and tap Kept messages.
- To undo it, tap and hold the kept message and tap OK to confirm that you want to unkeep it.
WhatsApp's page uses the same words for Android, iPhone and web, and says kept messages also appear in a Kept messages folder in your WhatsApp settings.
How long can you unkeep a message?
WhatsApp's two help pages disagree, and neither is dated. "About disappearing messages" says you'll have approximately 30 days to unkeep a message from the time it was kept. "About kept messages" says you can't unkeep messages after 25 days past the disappearing message's duration time, which counts from the timer rather than from the keep.
The practical answer works under both: if you unkeep within 25 days of keeping a message, you're inside either window. After that, whether you still can depends on which page reflects the current app.
Keep, star and pin are different
All three make a message easier to find again, but only one of them is about the disappearing timer.
| Feature | What it's for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Stops a disappearing message expiring | Everyone in the chat sees it stay. The sender is notified |
| Star | Personal bookmark so you can find a message later | WhatsApp's page says removing a star won't delete the message. It doesn't say a star stops a disappearing timer |
| Pin | Puts a message in a banner at the top of the chat | Up to four messages; durations of 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days, plus a forever option in WhatsApp's 29 October 2026 blog |
For the details of the other two, see WhatsApp starred messages and pinning a message. If the chat's timer is the thing you're trying to change, turning disappearing messages off is a separate switch, described on disappearing messages for business.
Where Tenashi fits
A customer who switches on disappearing messages in an order chat can make the order details expire. The practical habit is to ask them to keep the message with the address, the quantity or the quote, or to repeat the details in a note on your side.
Tenashi connects your own WhatsApp number so your team works the chats together. Messages your number sends and receives are stored as they arrive, from the date you connect it. Tenashi doesn't show whether a message has been kept, and it doesn't change any timer on WhatsApp. Our post on disappearing messages for business covers the record-keeping side in detail. More on running a team on one number is in our guide to WhatsApp for business.
Plans start at $18/mo. Get started.
FAQ
What does Keep in chat mean on WhatsApp?
Keep in chat stops a disappearing message from vanishing when its timer ends. Once kept, the message is visible to everyone in the conversation. You can only keep a message before its duration has passed. The sender is notified and can unkeep it.
Who can see a kept message on WhatsApp?
Everyone in the conversation. WhatsApp says a kept message is visible to everyone in the chat and won't disappear when its duration expires. Kept messages also appear in the Kept messages view, which you open from the chat info.
Does WhatsApp tell the sender when I keep a message?
Yes. WhatsApp says that if someone keeps a message you sent, you'll get a notification. The sender can then unkeep it, and once they do, no one else in the chat can keep that message again.
Where are WhatsApp kept messages?
Open the chat info and tap Kept messages. WhatsApp also says kept messages appear in a Kept messages folder in your WhatsApp settings. A kept message shows a bookmark icon, according to WhatsApp's 2023 announcement of the feature.
Can I unkeep a message I kept?
Yes. Tap and hold the kept message and confirm with OK. WhatsApp's pages give two limits: approximately 30 days from when it was kept, or no later than 25 days past the disappearing duration. Unkeeping within 25 days of keeping fits both.
Can anyone in a group keep a message?
Yes, unless admins have limited it. WhatsApp says anyone in the chat can keep a message, and group admins can restrict this to admins only in the group admin settings. The sender of the message is still notified and can unkeep it.
Keep protects one message at a time, and only if someone acts before the timer runs out. To work your customer chats as a team on one number, get started with Tenashi.