- Google messages enhance its message-cutting features
- You can soon delete a message to all
- We now have screen shots showing how the feature works
It is not a good feeling to send a text and then regret it – instantly, the next morning or at any time in between – and Google messages seem to give users a safety net with the opportunity to delete messages to everyone in a conversation.
This was first discovered last month, but now the people of Android Authority have actually managed to make it work. This is based on some code made in the latest version of Google messages for Android.
While the feature is not yet live for everyone, the Android Authority team adjusted the app to make it show some of the functionality. Deleting a text brings up a dialogue that asks if you just want to wipe your local copy of it or delete it for all recipients.
If an image is wiped out, it brings a “message deleted” placeholder in the conversation for anyone who participates. It seems that there is a 15-minute window for deleting — so you will have to be relatively fast.
Bring it back
Here’s how to give you the opportunity to delete RCS messages for all ✅ Details and More Screenshots -#android pic.twitter.com/ckhvqe1tmrMarch 19, 2025
The upgrade comes with permission from RCS Universal Profile V2.7, to which Google messages are adding support to. The Remove Deletion feature may not be available for devices with older software installed – so remember that for your text chats.
Until now, a text only removed the message on your own phone. Once it had been delivered and downloaded on the recipient’s devices, there was nothing you could do to bring it back.
It will change when this update finally rolls out fully, although it is not clearly exactly when it will be. Given the Android Authority has been able to access some of the screens that show the feature that works, it should not be too long now.
Support for this feature varies in other apps: WhatsApp allows you to delete sent messages to all recipients, while iMessage allows you to delete sent messages but only your local copy (though you can’t turn messages within a two-minute window).
