In 2019, WhatsApp began developing vacation mode, a function that rejects new messages in archived chats. Over the past year, there have been numerous reports about the feature being cancelled and then reinstated. Even in January of this year, the business explored renaming archived talks for later reading. And as of right now, WhatsApp has reportedly begun to roll out the ability to permanently mute stored talks. In this article, we’ll describe how it works and how to use WhatsApp’s Keep Chats Archived feature.
Archived Chats No Longer Clutter Your Inbox
When they get a new message, users of WhatsApp can now choose to keep their previously saved chats in the archive section. This feature is still being tested. For those who are unaware, WhatsApp presently moves conversations from the archive section to make room for new messages, even if the contact has been muted. Since it defeats the point of archiving a communication, this is especially frustrating. This won’t be the case going forward if you get a new notification for an archived contact.
How to Mute Archived Chats in WhatsApp
On the OnePlus 7T running OxygenOS 11, a version of Android 11, we saw the change in WhatsApp beta 2.21.10.9 for Android. To activate this new function, follow these steps:
1. To access the Archived Chats area, first scroll to the bottom of the chat list.
2. Next, select the Archive settings option by tapping the vertical menu with three dots in the top-right corner. A new toggle that reads “Keep chats preserved” may be found here. It’s as simple as turning it on.
3. Interestingly, once you enable the toggle, WhatsApp preserves the archived chats area at the top of the home page. When it is turned off, you can still find it where it usually is—below all the discussions. Maintain Chat Archives: On vs. Off
WhatsApp has also introduced a thoughtfulnew chats indicator that keeps track of unread chats in case you’re wondering how you’ll know if someone in the archived chat has texted you. To be clear, this is the overall number of unread chats, not the number of fresh unread messages from the same user. In other words, WhatsApp will display a 1 indicator for users even if a single user has sent numerous messages.
Mute All Notifications for Archived Chats in WhatsApp
Having said that, keep in mind that this is a slow rollout and even if you are using the same build, you might not necessarily have this feature. It shouldn’t take long for the functionality to become available to all users as WhatsApp has already begun testing it with beta users.