Now filter chats with customised lists on WhatsApp

Meta-owned WhatsApp has announced a new feature that allows users to better organize their inbox by filtering chats into customized lists, making it easier to keep track of conversations with family, colleagues, friends, and more.

Earlier this year, WhatsApp introduced chat filters to help users find messages more quickly, and the company has now evolved this feature into Lists.

“With Lists, you can filter your chats into categories of your choice, whether for family, work, or local groups, helping you focus on the most important conversations,” WhatsApp explained.

Users can easily create and edit their lists by tapping the '+' in the filter bar at the top of the Chats tab or by long-pressing a list. Both group chats and one-on-one conversations can be added to these lists, which will appear in the filter bar.

The company announced that Lists will be rolled out to users today, with full availability expected in the coming weeks. “We look forward to enhancing the functionality of Lists to help you focus on the conversations that matter most,” they added.

By default, WhatsApp will continue to open in the “All” category, displaying all messages in chronological order.

Previously, WhatsApp allowed users to filter unread messages through the search bar, but the new filter bubbles at the top of the chat screen make this feature more accessible. Users familiar with Gmail may recognize a similar approach, as Google introduced filter bubbles in 2020 to simplify email searches.