Google Messages Restores Edit History On Message Details Page
Google has brought back an edit history view in Google Messages, restoring a feature that had been absent for months. The change appears on the app’s message Details page and is tied to edited messages sent using RCS.
The returning feature surfaces information about edits made to a message, allowing users to view the record of changes from within the message’s details. The reports describing the update indicate the edit history is accessible through the Details interface rather than appearing inline in the conversation thread.
Google Messages is the company’s default texting app on many Android phones, and it supports both traditional SMS/MMS and the newer RCS standard. RCS adds features common to modern chat apps, including richer media sharing and messaging enhancements that go beyond SMS. The edit history capability is connected to the newer experience, reflecting how the app is increasingly positioned as a full-featured messaging client rather than a basic texting tool.
The return of edit history matters because message editing has become a standard expectation across popular communication platforms, and transparency around edits can affect how conversations are interpreted. A visible edit record can help reduce confusion in group chats and one-on-one conversations by showing that a message was changed after it was sent, rather than leaving recipients to infer what happened. It can also provide additional context in situations where the exact wording of a message matters.
For Google, restoring the edit history view on the Details page reinforces its broader push to make Google Messages a central hub for Android messaging. As RCS adoption expands, features like editing and edit history help differentiate the experience from SMS and can encourage users to rely more on the app for everyday communication.
The reports do not indicate broader changes beyond the feature’s return or provide a timeline for when it will be available to all users. Availability may depend on app version and how Google rolls out updates across devices. Users who have access to the feature should find it by opening a message’s Details page, where the edit history is presented for edited RCS messages.
Next, attention will be on how widely and consistently the edit history view appears across devices and conversations, and whether Google makes additional refinements to how edited messages are displayed or managed. For users, the practical impact will come down to whether the restored view is easy to find and whether it reliably reflects changes made to messages in real time.
For now, Google Messages users are once again seeing a clearer record of edits through the app’s Details page, reintroducing a transparency feature that had been missing from the experience.
