WhatsApp introduces ‘view once’ feature for the desktop app, again

WhatsApp’s “view once” feature, as we all know, is extremely handy when sharing photos or videos you may not want one to necessarily store on a device. These could be anything from an embarrassing childhood picture to official documents. What’s cool is that in addition to the image automatically disappearing from the chat, the app also blocks one from taking screenshots of the same.

While this feature was introduced for both smartphones and desktops, it was strangely removed from the desktop app sometime in November last year. However, the messaging platform has brought back this feature for both Windows and macOS.

How to use WhatsApp 'view once' feature

WhatsApp is once again introducing the view once feature for users on both, WhatsApp for desktops as well as WhatsApp Web. You will find the option to enable this feature on the caption bar, in the drawing editor on WhatsApp for Windows.

The feature is being gradually rolled out to users worldwide, and it might take a while before one sees the option to access the same. All one needs to ensure, is that their desktop apps are updated to the latest version.

Why was “view once” removed for desktop users in the first place?

Now, one may wonder why such a handy feature was removed in the first place, right? Well, handy as it may be, you see, the view once feature isn’t entirely foolproof. While the app certainly did stop someone from taking screenshots of images, you could always take out their smartphone, and take a picture of the same.

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However, you can’t deny that the feature is an extremely handy one, and adds a great deal of utility to the app. What’s more, WhatsApp now also features a disappearing messages feature, which ensures messages of a sensitive nature aren’t accessible to anyone else, and that they don’t unnecessarily take up storage space on one’s device. Users have the option to make messages disappear within a time span of 24 hours, one week, or 90 days, as per their choice.