Encrypted chats have become a must-have feature in messaging apps. Whether you’re using Signal, WhatsApp, or Messenger, end-to-end encryption helps keep your conversations private. Even X (formerly Twitter) jumped on board in 2023. But now, they’re hitting pause on that feature.
“Starting today we will be pausing the encrypted DMs feature while we work on making some improvements. You will still be able to access your encrypted DMs, but won’t be able to send new ones.”
— @XEng on May 28, 2025
So, what’s going on?
According to X’s engineering team, this is just a pause — not a full shutdown. The company says it’s making some improvements, but hasn’t shared when encrypted messaging will return. Hopefully, it’s just a temporary break.
But to be honest, encrypted DMs on X were already pretty limited.
For starters, the feature was only available to paid subscribers — which sparked a lot of debate. When Elon Musk took over and made X a private company, he introduced a bunch of changes. One of the most talked about was the blue checkmark becoming a paid perk, giving anyone the appearance of being “verified” for $8 a month — no real vetting required.
Encrypted messaging was another one of those perks. But even then, it had its limits:
- Only one-on-one messages could be encrypted — no group chats allowed.
- No encryption for GIFs, images, videos, or other media — just plain text and links.
In short, it wasn’t exactly a fortress of privacy. And it may have given users a false sense of security, thinking their messages were more protected than they actually were.
Maybe this pause is a sign that X is finally working on full encryption, including for media and group chats. That would be a welcome upgrade, especially for users who care about privacy.
Let’s just hope the relaunch includes more features, not just behind-the-scenes fixes. So far, there’s no timeline on when encrypted DMs will be back.
Stay tuned.
