Meta Platforms is testing a new WhatsApp feature that automatically moves messages from large businesses into a separate folder, as the social media giant expands its business messaging services following a sharp increase in revenue from the platform.
The feature comes after Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg disclosed during the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call that “other revenue” within its Family of Apps segment surpassed $1 billion, driven largely by WhatsApp’s paid messaging and subscription services.
Under the new feature, messages from large businesses such as banks and airlines will be automatically transferred to a dedicated “Offers & Updates” folder after a specified period, helping users keep their main chat inbox less cluttered.
Meta is currently testing different timeframes, with messages being moved after up to 24 hours, according to TechCrunch.
Users who prefer to keep business messages in their primary chat timeline can disable the feature, although they will not be able to choose when messages are automatically relocated while the setting is enabled.
Meta said the move is designed to improve the user experience by keeping promotional offers, delivery notifications and similar business communications out of the main inbox, while allowing customers to easily find them in a dedicated folder.
For businesses, the feature is expected to improve message discoverability by preventing commercial communications from getting buried among personal and group chats.
The company has begun testing the feature with selected partners using the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Initially, the update will apply only to messages from large businesses, while small businesses and individual WhatsApp Business accounts are excluded from the trial.
Meta said it could extend the feature to smaller businesses in the future, depending on the outcome of the pilot programme.
The latest initiative builds on WhatsApp’s broader strategy to balance commercial messaging with user experience.
In 2024, the platform introduced an option allowing users to unsubscribe from marketing messages sent by brands as part of efforts to curb business messaging spam.
