Facebook Messenger is adding an 'unsend' feature that gives you 10 minutes to delete a sent message

If you just sent a message you didn't mean to send, Facebook can help you be less embarrassed.

November 7, 2018, 6:44 AM PDT

Ever sent a message and immediately wished you hadn't? Facebook (iOS, Android) has listed the ability to delete a sent message as "coming soon" in its release notes for Facebook Messenger (iOS, Android) version 191.0 in iOS.

"Remove a message from a chat thread after it's been sent. If you accidentally send the wrong photo, incorrect information or message the wrong thread, you can easily correct it by removing the message within ten minutes of sending it," the app's description reads.

Rumors about a possible unsend feature have been circulating since April. The option began to solidify when Facebook was caught deleting messages for the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives.

SEE: Facebook Messenger's new design goes for simple, uncluttered look

Tipster Jane Manchun Wong spotted the test and tweeted about it in October.

Wong's tweet showed the Messenger display with an option at the bottom of the screen to "Unsend Message" or "Delete Message." When she chose "Unsend Message," a prompt appeared saying "Your message will be removed from the chat, and you."

Adding an "unsend" feature to Messenger could be beneficial to users. Sometimes, in the heat of an argument, you might send a hateful message you later wish you could take back. Granted, the new feature won't prevent someone from seeing it before you delete it.

Keep in mind that if someone sends an explicit image, it's possible to take it back now. Sometimes messages on social media are key pieces of evidence in claims of harassment, for example. If the ability exists to delete them, it could make it more difficult to prove that an incident happened. And it could result in more appeals to Facebook to dig up deleted messages.

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Takeaways

Facebook listed the option to delete a sent message as "coming soon" on its iOS app.
The new feature could prove helpful if a message includes sensitive or incorrect information. It could also harm potential harassment cases where messages could otherwise be used as evidence.

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Shelby is an Associate Writer for CNET's Download.com. She served as Editor in Chief for the Louisville Cardinal newspaper at the University of Louisville. She interned as Creative Non-Fiction Editor for Miracle Monocle literary magazine. Her work appears in Glass Mountain Magazine, Bookends Review, Soundings East, and on Louisville.com. Her cat, Puck, is the best cat ever.