WhatsApp says that its new disappearing messages feature which, once enabled, will make new messages sent in individual or group chats disappear after seven days.
The details given on the support page shows that enabling the settings will not affect the messages previously sent or received in chat.
While the users can themselves turn disappearing messages on and off for individual chats, in a group chat, only the admins will get to use the feature.
The new feature shows that if a user does not open Whatsapp in the seven-day period, the message will disappear, but its preview might still be displayed in notifications until the App is opened.
The feature, as per the App, will not work if the disappearing message is forwarded, and in case the user creates a backup, however, when the user restores from a backup.