After being rumoured for some time now, the new feature is due to be rolled out by the Facebook-owned messaging app, according to the Metro.

But ahead of its long-awaited debut, WhatsApp has released a guide to how to use them in an FAQ section on its website – as there are a fair few things to note before you start firing them out.

“You can send messages that disappear on WhatsApp by enabling disappearing messages,” it says.

“Once enabled, new messages sent in the individual or group chat will disappear after seven days. The most recent selection controls all messages in the chat.

“This setting won’t affect messages you previously sent or received in the chat. In an individual chat, either user can turn disappearing messages on or off.

“In a group chat, only group admins can turn disappearing messages on or off.”

To turn the feature on, you simply open up the WhatsApp chat you need and tap the contact’s name and select ‘Disappearing Messages’. If prompted, hit ‘Continue’ and select ‘On’.

To disable, simply follow the same instructions but hit ‘Off’ instead.

WhatsApp explained that if a user doesn’t open WhatsApp during this seven-day period, the message will disappear, but the preview of the message might still display in notifications until the app is opened.

Normally when you reply to a message, the initial message is quoted, and if you reply to a disappearing message, the quoted text might remain in the chat after seven days.

If a disappearing message is forwarded to a chat where the disappearing message feature is turned off, the message won’t disappear in the forwarded chat.

What’s more, if a user creates a backup before a message disappears, the disappearing message will be included in the backup, with disappearing messages deleted when a user restores from a backup.

WhatsApp also advised people to only use disappearing messages with ‘trusted individuals’, as it’s possible someone to: forward or take a screenshot of a disappearing message and save it before it disappears; copy and save content from the disappearing message before it disappears; and take a photo of a disappearing message with a camera or other device before it disappears.

It added: “By default, media you receive in WhatsApp will be automatically downloaded to your photos. If disappearing messages are turned on, media sent in the chat will disappear, but will be saved on the phone if auto-download is on. You can turn auto-download off in WhatsAppSettings > Data and Storage Usage.”

It’s not yet known exactly when the messages will become available to WhatsApp users, but the Metro reports that it could be ‘in the next few weeks’ as the app is updated.