After Years of User Complaints, Google Messages Beta Build v20260306 Now Allows Android Users to Long-Press and Drag Inside a Message Bubble to Highlight and Copy Only a Specific Portion of Text Ending the Need to Copy an Entire Message and Manually Edit It Elsewhere…
Finally Google Messages Gets Copy Paste Update
Google Messages gets copy paste update in the form of selective text copying a feature that millions of Android users have requested for years and that competing apps like Telegram and iMessage already offered.
The change, spotted in Google Messages beta version v20260306, allows a user to long-press any message, tap inside the selected bubble, and then drag to highlight only the specific text they want to copy rather than grabbing the entire message as the app has done until now.
Android Police, gHacks, and Android Central all independently confirmed the feature’s presence in the latest beta build in mid-February 2026, and a wider rollout to stable channel users is expected later this year.
Why This Update Matters: The Long-Standing Frustration It Fixes
The problem that this update solves is simple but daily: Google Messages currently offers only one copy behaviour copy the entire message. Long-pressing a message and tapping “Copy” captures everything including parts the user does not need and then requires the user to paste the full text into another app, manually select the unwanted sections, and delete them before using only the relevant portion.
For messages containing addresses, tracking numbers, multi-part instructions, or OTP codes that the app did not auto-detect, this manual trimming added unnecessary friction to a basic daily task.
Android developer and Reddit user AlwaysDeath captured the community’s frustration precisely: “The problem is that for over ten years, we’ve been unable to highlight text within a message bubble. Is this really such a challenging feature to implement?
The answer is no.” With over 1,300 upvotes on the r/Android thread discussing this update, the selective copy feature ranks among the most-awaited quality-of-life improvements in Google Messages’ recent history.
How the New Feature Works: Step by Step
The interaction model for selective text copying in the new beta build works as follows:
- Open any conversation in Google Messages
- Long-press the message bubble containing the text you want to partially copy
- The standard long-press menu appears — do not tap “Copy” immediately
- Instead, tap inside the selected message bubble — a text cursor and selection handles appear within the message text
- Drag the selection handles to highlight only the specific words, sentence, or number you need
- Once highlighted, tap Android’s standard “Copy” button — the system copies only the selected portion
- Paste anywhere — only the highlighted text transfers, not the full message
If you tap “Copy” from the long-press menu directly without using the text selection step, the app still copies the entire message preserving backward compatibility for users who prefer the old one-tap full-copy behaviour.
Who Can Access It Now: Beta vs Stable Rollout
As of mid-March 2026, selective text copying remains available only in the Google Messages beta channel and specifically in the v20260306 build it is not yet live on the stable public version of the app. Even within the beta channel, the feature is not uniformly active for all users reports suggest access depends on server-side flags, meaning two users on the same beta version may see different behavior.
To check whether your device has received the feature:
- Ensure you have enrolled in the Google Messages beta via the Play Store
- Update to the latest available beta version
- Long-press any message and tap inside the selected bubble to check for text selection handles
Google has not published an official timeline for the stable channel rollout the broader public release date is not publicly disclosed as of publication.
Other New Features Coming to Google Messages in 2026
The selective copy update arrives alongside several other significant changes rolling out across Google Messages’ beta and stable channels throughout early 2026:
| Feature | Status |
| Android-iPhone Encrypted RCS | Rolling out in beta |
| Real-time location sharing | Rolling out in beta |
| Read receipts redesign | In testing |
| @mentions in group RCS chats | In testing |
| Gemini-powered Scam Detection | Live on stable |
| Edit History in Details page | Live on stable |
| Wear OS “Mark as Read” button | Rolling out on stable |
| Redesigned long-press menu | Rolling out on beta |
The redesigned long-press menu, already appearing for many beta users, replaces the old toolbar-style interface with a floating contextual menu containing options including Remix, Reply, Forward, Copy, Star, Delete, Select More, Info, and Save making previously buried functions directly accessible in one long-press.
Where Google Messages Now Stands vs Competitors
The selective copy update narrows a noticeable gap between Google Messages and the messaging apps that compete with it directly on Android:
- Telegram — has offered granular text selection inside message bubbles for years
- iMessage — supports partial text selection natively on iOS
- WhatsApp — still copies the entire message by default, similar to how Google Messages behaves currently
- Google Gmail and Chrome — already support selective text copying, making Messages the last major Google app to adopt the behaviour
The Android‑iPhone encrypted RCS rollout currently in beta will represent an even larger shift when it reaches the stable channel, enabling end-to-end encrypted messaging between Android and iPhone users for the first time through a standards-based protocol.
