About "Waiting for this message. This may take a while."
At times, you might see the above message in place of a message.
WhatsApp protects personal messages with end-to-end encryption. This means that only you and the person you're communicating with can read or listen to messages sent between you.
There are a few issues that might cause an incoming message to be replaced with "Waiting for this message. This may take a while.”
- The message failed to deliver.
- You or the sender recently reinstalled WhatsApp.
- You or the sender aren't using the latest version of WhatsApp.
- You replaced your primary device and installed WhatsApp on a new device with the same number.
If you receive this message, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try.
Get online
Ask the sender to open WhatsApp and make sure you're both online at the same time.
Check your connection
Make sure you have a good internet connection. Try switching between Wi-Fi and mobile internet. If you have no Wi-Fi or a poor mobile internet connection, try moving to a different location.
Learn more about how to fix WhatsApp connection issues in this article.
Update WhatsApp
Make sure both you and the sender have the latest version of WhatsApp installed. Learn how to update WhatsApp in this article.
Ask the sender to resend the message
If the message failed to deliver, ask the sender to resend the message.
Switch to your primary device
Switch to your primary iOS or Android phone. This is the phone you used to register your WhatsApp account.
Note: You need to log in to your primary phone every 14 days to keep linked devices connected to your WhatsApp account.
Unlink and relink a linked device
Unlink and relink a linked device following the steps in this article.
