WhatsApp Tests New Feature to Share Recent Chat History with New Group Members

Messaging platform WhatsApp is testing a new feature called Recent History Sharing that will allow new group chat members to view messages sent before they joined. The update, spotted in the Android beta version 2.25.36.11, aims to make group participation smoother by automatically sharing relevant past messages for context as soon as a new member joins.

Under this feature, when someone joins a group either manually or via an invite link they will be able to see messages from roughly the past 24 hours. In fast moving groups WhatsApp may cap this at one thousand messages to prevent excessive data usage or device lag. Group admins will also have the option to enable or disable the feature depending on how they want their group to function.

To maintain privacy, all shared messages will remain protected with end to end encryption. When a new member joins, one of the existing participants will securely re encrypt and forward the recent chat history so that only users inside the group can read it. WhatsApp says this silent background process will not slow down or disrupt ongoing conversations for existing members.

With the current settings, newcomers often join without any context, unsure about ongoing conversations or responsibilities. This feature makes onboarding smoother for community groups, workplace coordination, classroom discussions, event organizing, or social gatherings where catching up quickly is essential.

WhatsApp has increasingly focused on reducing friction for groups of all sizes, especially as it continues to position itself as both a social and professional communication platform.

For now, Recent History Sharing remains under development and is not available to most users. WhatsApp is slowly expanding access to testers, collecting feedback on how the feature behaves in active groups, and fine tuning technical details before moving toward a wider rollout.