The Meta-owned messaging app has launched an Edit button that will allow users to edit messages, up to 15 minutes after being sent.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder, also posted about the new feature, writing on his Facebook page: 'You can now edit your WhatsApp messages up to 15 mins after they're sent!

The feature will made be available to WhatsApp's 2.78 billion worldwide users in the coming weeks. India is its largest market, with 487 million users. WhatsApp is ranked as the most used mobile messenger app in the world with more than 100 billion messages sent each day, both personal and business.

WhatsApp said: "For the moments when you make a mistake, or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages.

"From correcting a simple misspelling to adding extra context to a message, we're excited to bring you more control over your chats. All you need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose 'Edit' from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after.

"Edited messages will display 'edited' alongside them, so those you're messaging are aware of the correction without showing edit history. As with all personal messages, media and calls, your messages and the edits you make are protected by end-to-end encryption.

"This feature has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks."

The instant-messaging service is part of US technology giant Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram. This move will match a feature offered by competitors like Telegram and Signal.

The edit function was introduced by the social media platform Facebook almost a decade ago. Around that time, Facebook revealed that more than half of its users accessed the site on mobile phones, which are more prone to typing errors.

In 2022, Elon Musk's social media platform Twitter said it was giving its Twitter Blue paying subscribers the ability to edit their tweets.