WhatsApp Introduces New Message Date Search Feature: How To Use It

WhatsApp, Meta’s popular messaging platform, has introduced a new feature that improves the app’s search capabilities. This latest addition allows users to search for messages based on specific dates in an effort to offer users a more efficient way to navigate through extensive chat histories. The new Search by Date feature allows users to select a specific date to find messages exchanged on those specific days. It will likely help users retrieve specific information from past conversations more smoothly as opposed to scrolling endlessly.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced feature on his WhatsApp channel. The Search by Date function is said to be available to all users worldwide on Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and Web. It was reportedly spotted in beta testing in November 2023.

To use the Search by Date feature in WhatsApp, users need to open the desired individual or group chat they wish to search. Then they need to click the three dots in the top right corner on Android phones or tap the name of the contact or group on iOS devices. If the app is updated to the latest version available, they can find a small calendar with a search symbol after clicking the regular search option. A pop-up calendar will then allow users to select the desired date.

For example, if they want to go back to a message from October 20, 2023, they can select the same in the pop-up calendar by date, month, and year. Once the date is selected, the chat or group will open directly to messages from that day, allowing users to also scroll up or down in the chat. Without this feature, users would be forced to scroll through messages from past months to get to the desired texts. With this feature, it only takes a few clicks.

WhatsApp has recently released four new text formatting options globally – Bullets, Numbered Lists, Block Quotes and Inline Quotes. They joined the existing formatting options of bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospaced.