# WhatsApp is testing a way to send your messages later, even when you’re offline

*Published:* 2026-10-13
*Author:* Farzan Hussain

![](https://bestforandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/WhatsApp-message-scheduling_featured.jpg)

WhatsApp has watched Telegram offer scheduled messages since 2019, and that gap is finally starting to close. Some Android beta testers can now queue messages to send later, and the feature already comes with a few limits worth knowing.

WhatsApp has started rolling out scheduled messages to a limited number of Android beta testers in version 2.26.40.7, according to [WABetaInfo](https://wabetainfo.com/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-scheduled-messages-on-android-beta/). Users can queue text, links, photos, and videos to send between 10 minutes and two weeks ahead, in both individual and group chats. Access should expand to more accounts over the coming weeks or months.

Right now the workaround is a phone reminder labeled “text Mom happy birthday,” which goes off while you’re in a meeting or at the grocery checkout and gets snoozed into oblivion. Writing the message once and scheduling it is a much more rational and effective version of the same idea.

How to schedule a message with the send button
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![](https://bestforandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/WhatsApp-launches-Scheduled-Messages-Beta.png)

After typing a message, you tap and hold the send button. A bottom sheet appears where you pick the delivery date and time, and WhatsApp holds the message until then.

It sends automatically even if the app is closed or your phone is offline, which matters to me most, since a plan that depends on my signal at 7 a.m. isn’t much of a plan.

Scheduling window runs from 10 minutes to two weeks
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The earliest you can schedule is 10 minutes from now, which leaves time to fix a typo or change your mind.

The furthest is two weeks out, enough to queue a birthday greeting well ahead of the day. I’d have liked a longer range for anniversaries, but two weeks covers most of what I actually forget.

Photos and videos work, but only one per scheduled message
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You can schedule a photo or video by holding the send button after picking it from the gallery. The drawing editor works too, so you can add a caption before choosing a time.

The catch is that each scheduled message carries only one item, so a birthday collage means scheduling each photo separately. Everything stays end-to-end encrypted.

Recipients never see that a message was scheduled
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Scheduled messages sit in a dedicated section of the chat info screen, where you can review or delete them before delivery.

Delete one and the other person gets no notification and never learns it existed. They also don’t need the beta to receive it.

Group chats only reach members who were there at scheduling time
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A scheduled group message goes only to people who were in the group when you scheduled it, so anyone who joins later misses it. That keeps old information away from new members, which makes sense.

It also means a message for the whole family chat will skip the cousin you add tomorrow, so check the member list first.