WhatsApp has a multitude of great features, some of which are easy to find and some of which are a little more hidden. One of our favourites is the ability to speed up voice notes because let's face it, sometimes you need a story to be told a little quicker, especially when you're short of time and your friend is telling you what colour socks they put on that morning.

You can read all of our top WhatsApp tips in our separate feature, but here we are focusing on previewing a voice note before you send it - if only so you have to put yourself through the same listening experience as the recipient.

The Facebook-owned messaging service launched an update in early December 2021 that added the ability to review a voice message before you send it. It's not super obvious how to do it though so we're going to tell you.

How to review a voice note on WhatsApp before you send it

You'll need to make sure you are running WhatsApp version 2.21.240 or later in order to review voice notes before you send them. Go to the App Store or Google Play Store and make sure WhatsApp is updated.

After that, follow these steps to listen back to a voice note message before you send it:

  1. Open the chat with the person you want to send a voice note to
  2. Press the microphone record button in the bottom right corner to the right of the message input field
  3. Swipe up with your thumb to record your voice note hands free
  4. A stop button will appear at the bottom of your display, tap on it
  5. This will pause the voice note and bring up a preview of the voice note
  6. Tap on the play button next to the voice note to listen back to the voice note
  7. Tap on the bin icon in the bottom left to delete it 
  8. Or, tap on the blue arrow icon in the bottom right to send your voice note

It's worth noting that once you press the stop button and the voice note preview appears, you can't then carry on where you left off or edit it. You can either send it or delete it. If you want to continue the voice note, you'll need to start again.