WhatsApp Adds @all Group Mentions, Anonymous Poll Voting and Poll Deadlines
WhatsApp is rolling out three changes to group chats, and the one people will notice first is @all — a single mention that pings every member of a group at once instead of forcing you to tag names one by one. Alongside it, polls gain anonymous voting, an automatic closing time and a short editing window, and there is a new shortcut for spinning off a second group from an existing one.
How @all works, and who is allowed to use it
Typing @all in a group message notifies everyone in that chat. WhatsApp frames it as a tool for genuinely time-sensitive messages — a school or office closing, a deadline, a last-minute change of plan — rather than everyday chatter.
There is a deliberate brake on it. In any group with more than 32 members, only admins can send an @all. In smaller groups, any member can. That threshold is the single most important detail here: it is what stops a 400-person community group from being pinged by anyone who feels like it, and it means the feature behaves differently depending on which of your groups you are in.
It reaches you even in a muted chat
An @all mention breaks through a muted group. That is the point of it — but it also means a chat you deliberately silenced can now buzz your phone.
WhatsApp has added a separate control for this, so you can keep a group muted and switch off @all alerts specifically rather than choosing between everything and nothing. If a noisy group starts abusing the feature, that toggle in your notification settings is the fix, not leaving the chat.
Polls get the three things they were missing
Poll changes are arriving in the same release, and they close some long-standing gaps:
- Anonymous voting — the poll creator can hide voter names, so people answer without the rest of the group seeing what they picked.
- A closing time — set an end time when you create the poll and voting locks itself automatically once it passes.
- A 15-minute edit window — the creator can fix a typo or reword the question for 15 minutes after posting.
Anonymous voting is the meaningful one. Until now, a WhatsApp poll asking a group anything mildly awkward — a date that suits people, splitting a bill, a preference someone would rather not broadcast — showed every name against every option.
Spinning off a second group
The third addition is a Create a similar group button in a group's details screen. It starts a new chat pre-populated with the same members, so you do not have to re-add everyone by hand. WhatsApp's own example is the classic one: a surprise party group that needs everybody except the person having the party.
Where to find the new options
These are in-app changes rather than a redesign, so the paths are short:
- @all — type
@in a group's message box;allappears in the mention list if you are eligible to use it in that group. - Poll settings — the anonymous, closing-time and multiple-answer options sit in the poll creation screen, before you send it.
- Similar group — open the group name at the top of the chat and look in the group details screen.
- Muting @all — in your notification settings, not in the individual group's mute menu.
When you will actually see it
WhatsApp described the features as launching on Tuesday, but has not published a per-country or per-platform schedule, and it has not said the rollout is complete anywhere. Its feature releases are typically staged over days or weeks and reach different devices at different times, so an option missing from your app today is not evidence that it is unavailable in your country.
The practical advice is unchanged from any WhatsApp rollout: update the app from the Play Store or App Store, then wait. There is no toggle that forces a staged feature to arrive early, and no beta channel is required. If you are auditing what else is worth having on your phone while you wait, our roundup of the best Android apps of 2026 covers the messaging category in detail, and Google's own messenger has been moving in a similar direction with live location sharing in Google Messages.
Taken together, the three changes point at the same thing: WhatsApp treating large groups less like an oversized private chat and more like a place that needs moderation tools. The 32-member admin limit on @all is the clearest sign of that.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you use @all in a WhatsApp group?
Type the @ symbol in a group's message box and pick 'all' from the mention list that appears. Everyone in the group is notified when you send the message. The 'all' option only shows up if you are allowed to use it in that particular group.
Can anyone send an @all mention on WhatsApp?
Not in larger groups. In any group with more than 32 members, only admins can use @all. In groups of 32 members or fewer, any member can send one. The limit exists to stop large groups being pinged by every participant.
Does an @all mention notify me if the group is muted?
Yes. An @all mention is designed to reach you even in a chat you have muted, because it is meant for urgent messages. WhatsApp has added a separate setting that lets you switch off @all alerts specifically while keeping the group muted.
Can people see how I voted in a WhatsApp poll?
Only if the poll creator left voter names visible. The new anonymous voting option lets whoever creates the poll hide names, so members can vote without the rest of the group seeing their choice. It is set when the poll is created, not afterwards.
Why do I not have the new WhatsApp group features yet?
WhatsApp stages its feature releases, so they reach devices and accounts at different times rather than all at once. No per-country or per-platform schedule has been published for these changes. Updating WhatsApp from the Play Store or App Store is all you can do — there is no way to force a staged rollout.
