Summary
- Google Messages is working on a “Delete for everyone” feature for sent texts, similar to iMessage and WhatsApp.
- The feature will require all recipients to be on the latest build of the app.
- Google is working on several other improvements for Google Messages.
Every now and then, you might accidentally send a text to the wrong conversation or wish you could take it back. iMessage and WhatsApp make this easy, allowing you to delete messages for everyone. However, Google Messages lacks this feature, offering only the option to edit sent texts. Now, taking inspiration from its competitors, Google appears to be working on adding the ability to delete messages for everyone in Google Messages.
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Teardown expert @AssembleDebug found code and strings referencing a “Delete for everyone” option in the latest Google Messages beta (v20250131_02_RC00). The feature will seemingly work similarly to WhatsApp — if you delete a text for everyone, recipients will see a “Message deleted by its author” label.
Based on the string “Messages may still be seen by others on older app versions,” the option will require all message recipients to be on the latest Google Messages build and will not work on older versions of the app. While not mentioned, Google will likely have a time limit for deleting sent messages. On WhatsApp, you can delete messages within two days of sending them.
Currently, deleting a sent message in Google Messages only removes it from your own chat, without revoking it for the recipient. Note that whenever the ability to delete a text rolls out in Google Messages, it would be limited to RCS chats.
The ability to revoke a sent text is a part of the RCS Universal Profile 2.7, which was released in late June 2024. It appears Google is readying support for the new features the standard adds.
RCS Universal Profile 2.7 will introduce many more improvements
Jules Wang / AP
Besides being able to delete sent texts, RCS Universal Profile 2.7 standardizes replies and reactions to sent and received messages. Right now, Google Messages and Apple’s iMessage manually handle reactions to texts, leading to an inconsistent and buggy experience. It will also improve spam reporting, extending it to one-on-one conversations.
Google is also working on bolstering the RCS messaging experience and recently made serious headway toward secure cross-platform texting by adding support for the new Messaging Layer Security (MLS) encryption standard.
There’s no timeline yet for when Google will roll out message deletion or implement other enhancements from Universal Profile 2.7. However, since the company is already working on these features, they should arrive sooner rather than later.
