WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world, with over 2 billion active users. However, one feature that WhatsApp lacks compared to other messaging apps like Telegram is the ability to pin messages in chats. Telegram allows users to pin up to 5 messages per chat, which pins them to the top of the chat for easy access. WhatsApp currently does not have this feature, but here are some tips and workarounds to mimic pinned messages on WhatsApp.
Why Pinning Messages is Useful
Pinning or starring messages can be very handy for multiple reasons:
- Keeps important info easily accessible at the top of chats
- Highlights key messages like addresses, phone numbers, meeting times
- Lets you bookmark messages to refer back to later
Without native pinning, WhatsApp chats can quickly become disorganized, especially in big group chats where many messages are exchanged daily. The ability to pin selected messages solves this problem and makes information much easier to find.
How to Simulate Pinned Messages in WhatsApp
While WhatsApp doesn’t have an official pinning feature yet, there are some creative workarounds you can use:
1. Pin by Replying
One easy way to mimic pinned messages is to simply keep replying to the desired message whenever you open the chat. For example, if you want to pin an address a contact sent, reply to that message with something like “Pinned” or emoji like 📌.
This will bump the message back up to the top each time. Make sure you’re replying to the specific message rather than just sending a new one, so it stays grouped together in the thread.
The downside is the chat will get cluttered over time as you keep replying. So you’ll need to clear the replies periodically to keep things clean.
2. Pin Using Star or Emoji Reactions
WhatsApp added message reactions a while back, which can also be used to simulate pinning:
- iOS – Long press a message and tap the star icon to react with a star ⭐️
- Android – Long press a message, tap the plus icon, and select the star reaction
The message will then stand out with a star icon next to it. You can also use other emojis like 📌 for the same purpose.
Keep in mind everyone in the chat can see the reaction. An advantage over replying is it doesn’t clutter the chat as much over time.
3. Pin by Forwarding to Yourself
You can also pin up to 5 messages by forwarding them to yourself:
- Long press the message and choose Forward
- Select only your own number or name at the top of the contacts list
- This will send the forwarded message to your individual chat with yourself
- Open that chat and you’ll see the pinned messages all in one place
This keeps them saved in one dedicated chat for easy access later, without cluttering up group chats or other conversations. The downside is it separates them from the original context of the chat.
4. Use a Third-Party Archiving Tool
There are third-party apps and tools you can use to archive and pin WhatsApp messages:
- WhatsApp Chat History Exporter – Creates local backups of chats that you can search and pin messages in
- WhatsApp Archive and Recover – Archives messages in the cloud and lets you pin favorites
- Mailo – Stores entire chat histories in the cloud and makes them searchable
The advantage of these tools is they provide robust message archiving and searching capabilities, rather than just pinning. But it requires installing additional apps and giving access to your chat data.
Why Doesn’t WhatsApp Have Official Message Pinning Yet?
Despite pinned messages being a highly requested feature, WhatsApp has not yet added native chat pinning functionality to their platform. There are a few potential reasons behind this:
Priority on Core Messaging Functions
WhatsApp’s product development appears to prioritize keeping core messaging capabilities fast and reliable at scale above all else. So they may see pinning as a “nice-to-have” feature but not essential to their offering.
Engineering Resources and Technical Constraints
Building a native pinning system likely requires significant engineering work on WhatsApp’s backend architecture. It also creates potential technical challenges like syncing pinned state across devices, message size limitations, etc. WhatsApp’s engineers are likely focused on other complex projects.
Concerns Over Misuse
Some note WhatsApp aims to create a simple, clutter-free messaging UX. Pinning could potentially enable misuse like spam pinning unwanted messages. WhatsApp may be hesitant to introduce features that can degrade the user experience.
Low Priority Business Objective
As a free platform, WhatsApp’s main focus is growing its massive user base, especially in emerging markets. Dedicated power user features like pinning may be lower priority compared to other growth-focused projects.
Will WhatsApp Ever Add Native Pinning?
While not anytime soon, WhatsApp may eventually add built-in pinning functionality. Some signs this could happen in the future:
- Steady increase in WhatsApp’s engineering staff and resources under Facebook
- Gradual addition of other requested power user features like disappearing messages, multi-device support, etc.
- Rising competition from apps like Telegram and Signal which offer pinning
- Feedback from business/enterprise users who leverage WhatsApp’s Business API and find pinning valuable
So while not guaranteed or imminent, pinning seems like a logical eventual addition if WhatsApp continues evolving its feature set. But in the meantime, the workarounds listed above can provide similar functionality.
Conclusion
While WhatsApp still lacks native chat pinning, users have come up with creative solutions like reacting, forwarding, and third-party tools to pin important messages. These options mimic most of the core benefits of pinned messages, albeit in a more convoluted way.
Adding official support for pinning remains a highly-requested WhatsApp feature. But the required engineering work, potential misuse, and other business priorities may be hindering its release for now. However, as WhatsApp expands its capabilities, a built-in pinning feature seems feasible someday. Until then, the workaround options provide users with a way to pin their most important WhatsApp messages.