Meta’s WhatsApp is now well established as one of the best apps for group chats. It works on many devices (including the web), gives you more or less the same experience on Android and iOS, and is available worldwide. What’s more, since its launch in 2009, it has gained many useful features over the years.
If you use WhatsApp, there’s a good chance you’re in one or two group chats (for old school friends, your kid’s sports team, your extended family, the last wedding you attended) and have more roles to play with. here than you imagine.
Those features cover options to host the group chat (if you’re a designated administrator) or participate in it (if you’re not an administrator). Once you’ve made sure you’re familiar with everything you can do with a WhatsApp group chat, the app becomes much more useful and you’ll be able to manage group chat messages much more efficiently.
WhatsApp Group Chat Features for Admins
To access the main options for a group chat, tap the group name at the top of the conversation, then select Group permissions: This option only appears if you created the group and are therefore the administrator by default, or if someone else with administrator privileges has also granted you administrator status.
The first option here, Edit group settingsallows you to choose whether non-admins can change various group chat settings. These include the group name, description, and photo, as well as settings like pinned messages and disappearing messages. This is a single on/off setting for all group members (you can’t grant these privileges to some participants and block them from others).
Then there is the send messages Toggle switch: Turn it off and only admins will be able to post something to the group. If you have large groups, this can really help keep the group focused and on topic; You won’t be bombarded by each member saying “thank you” or “what time do we meet?” or something like that.
The next toggle switch is Add other memberswhich is self explanatory. Disable it to prevent non-admins from inviting anyone else to the group. This works in conjunction with the option below, Approve new members. With this enabled, any new people who want to join the group chat (whether via an invite link, QR code, or any other method) will need admin permission before they can join.