It makes no sense, so here’s why WhatsApp sometimes says ‘you may have new messages’

If you’ve ever seen a WhatsApp notification pop up on your phone’s lock screen that says “you may have new messages,” you probably stared at your screen for a very long time, wondering what on earth it means.

What do you mean I “may” have new messages? You either have new messages or you don’t, right? The message is so stupid, and everyone’s wondering why it happens after a tweet went viral asking: “The f**k does this even mean?”

So, what does it mean? Well, that notification usually pops up when your phone doesn’t have good internet. Basically, your data connection is poor for whatever reason, so WhatsApp can’t fully send the message notification.

It’s a common glitch where the messaging service knows you received a message from someone and wants to notify you of it. But it can’t fully sync the message, so it says “you may have new messages” instead. You had enough data connection to load the push notification, but not enough to load the entire message.

There is a very, very good reason for this https://t.co/6Nh3TS6Rd3

— Renny (@rennyzucker) May 26, 2026

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In very simple terms, as described by someone on Twitter: “This means WhatsApp received the message when you were offline, kept it for you, but now struggling to show it coz it’s lazy.” They’re not wrong.

If you do get that notification on your lock screen, all you have to do is open the app and pull down to manually refresh your chats when you have a good internet connection. Then, the message should appear.

You can generally stop it from happening by going into your phone’s settings and heading to the WhatsApp section. Then, click on “mobile data/battery” and make sure “background data” or “unrestricted background usage” is enabled. Now, your app will keep searching for new messages in the background. 

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Featured image credit: WhatsApp