How to privately reply to a group message on WhatsApp – e-Why, What & How

One of the constraints users experience when communicating on a Whatsapp group is that messages sent to the group are seen by everyone in the group even if they aren’t meant for everyone. Replying to WhatsApp group message was something that was quite public. Until now. Thankfully, WhatsApp’s latest update has provided a way for users to easily reply a message to a group privately, thus keeping private conversation truly private.

With the release of WhatsApp updated version 2.18.380 comes the option to privately reply to messages sent to a group straight from the group chat directly to the sender’s Inbox. Both Android & iOS users with the latest Whatsapp installed can use this feature although with slightly different ways of implementation.

Here is a step by step break down of how to post a private reply to a group message:

Step 1: As mentioned, you need to have the latest version of WhatsApp installed to use this update. Update your WhatsApp to the latest version from either Google Play store for Android users or App store for iPhone.

Step 2: To reply to a message sent to a group chat, open the group in question & long press the message you want to reply until it has been selected.

Step 3: For Android users click on the 3 dots on the top right corner of your screen to show the menu. iOS users can click on more to reveal additional options

Step 4: From the list of options provided select “Reply Privately”. You will be taken to a one-on-one chat page with the user & you can type the reply you wish to send for the message & hit the send button as you would have done normally.

Your message will be automatically sent in the new private conversation opened with the user. Your subsequent conversation can continue away from the rest of the group chat & is only visible to both of you.

However, you should take note that you can only use this feature to reply one message at a time. The option to reply privately will simply disappear if you select more than one message in a group. Replying to WhatsApp group message just got better.