WhatsApp Pinned Messages Are Getting a Fourth Slot in Chats and Groups
The limit is rising from three to four in both individual chats and group chats. Rolling out now to Android beta testers - no stable release date yet.
WhatsApp pinned messages are getting a fourth slot - the limit is rising from three to four in both individual chats and group chats. WABetaInfo, a tracker that monitors WhatsApp beta builds, spotted the change in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.35.8, available now through the Google Play beta program. Rolling out to some beta testers, with no stable release date announced. WhatsApp recently added usernames so users can share contact details without giving out a phone number - the fourth pinned slot fits the same run of small but practical upgrades the app has been shipping through 2026.
Takeaways
- WhatsApp pinned messages limit rises from three to four in chats and groups
- Rolling out to Android beta testers on version 2.26.35.8 - not in the stable app yet
- Works the same way: tap and hold a message, select pin, set a duration - the fourth joins the existing rotation
- Tap the top bar to cycle through all pinned messages in order
- Group admins retain full control over who can pin - permissions are unchanged
- WhatsApp has not announced a stable release date
Groups benefit most from the extra slot. Active group chats fill WhatsApp pinned messages slots faster than one-on-one conversations - a call link, a shared document, an ongoing announcement can eat through three slots quickly. With the old limit, admins had to unpin something to add a new one. A fourth slot removes that trade-off, and the mechanics are unchanged: all pinned messages cycle through the same top bar in the order they were pinned.
WhatsApp has been adding to the pinned messages feature steadily. Earlier this year it introduced notifications that fire when someone pins a message in a chat, showing the content without having to open the conversation. Keeping WhatsApp pinned messages useful as groups get larger and more active appears to be the direction - WABetaInfo also spotted a separate test for pinning channel updates. WhatsApp now lets users sign up on iPad without a phone, and features like the fourth pin slot keep arriving at the same pace of incremental rollouts that have defined WhatsApp's 2026 update cadence.
