Google Messages has seen numerous updates over the past several months. However, not all updates work as intended, and some can even break or remove existing features. This is exactly what happened in July, when an overhaul of the Details page removed the Edit History section that displayed edits made to the RCS text message.

People who didn’t pay much attention to the Edit History section in the past probably didn’t even realize it was gone. However, a quick online search reveals at least a couple of complaints specifying this omission following the July Google Messages update.

Thankfully, it looks like the app wants to bring Edit History back to the Details page, though it’s not exactly clear when. The code sleuths at Android Authority dug into version 20260121 of the messaging app and managed to activate the long-gone section within the message details page.

Evidently, Google doesn’t want to make drastic changes to the Details page following its overhaul back in July. This means most of the same elements will be retained, including a preview of the message itself, containers for the message status (Sent, Delivered, Read), and the sender.

Keep an eye on those sneaky message edits

Current vs upcoming

When available, Edit History should appear directly below the section that highlights the message type (RCS or standard text). Both the original message and the edited version will appear one below the other. However, it’s unclear whether the section will highlight more than one edit to the message.

As you can see in the comparison screenshots above, the current Details page has plenty of real estate to accommodate the returning Edit History section. The additional details you see in Android Authority’s screenshot, such as Message ID, Encryption protocol, and others at the bottom of the Details page, are not expected to be part of the final update.

You can currently access the Details page in a chat by long-pressing a message and tapping the Info button in the dynamic menu that pops up.

Given that the Edit History section looks pretty close to complete, it shouldn’t be long until it makes an appearance in a future Google Messages beta. Exactly when that will be is still a mystery, since the feature had to be manually activated and won’t automatically appear when you download the aforementioned version of Google’s messaging app.

What do you make of this minor, but potentially important feature’s return to Google Messages?