WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms around, meaning chances are there’s someone online you don’t feel like talking to today. Here’s how to hide your online status on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp’s ‘last seen’ feature can be really handy when you want to know if someone is online and likely to respond to a message or available for a chat. It can also give you a decent idea if someone is genuinely too busy to check the app or if they’re dodging your messages for whatever reason. But, what if you’re the one trying to hide from a certain person?
It’s possible to hide your ‘last seen’ status on WhatsApp to prevent contacts from seeing whether you’re online or, if not, when you last opened the app. However, switching this feature off will prevent you from seeing anyone else’s status.
If you’re happy with this compromise, follow these steps below to hide your online status on WhatsApp in the iOS or Android app.
What you’ll need
- An iOS or Android phone
- The WhatsApp app
The Short Version
- Open WhatsApp
- Tap the three dots in the top-right corner (iOS users can skip this step)
- Tap Settings
- Tap Privacy
- Tap Last Seen And Online
- Change your Last Seen visibility to Nobody
- Change your online visibility to Same As Last Seen
How to hide your online status on WhatsApp
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Step
1Open WhatsApp
The first step is to open WhatsApp on your phone. We’ll be using the Android app in these screenshots, but you can follow the same steps on an iPhone by skipping step 2.
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Step
2Tap the three dots in the top-right corner
This will open up the quick settings menu in the Android app. If you’re using the iOS app, you can skip this step.
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Step
3Tap Settings
From the mini menu, tap Settings. If you’re using an iPhone, tap the cog icon in the bottom-right corner to head straight to your Settings.
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Step
4Tap Privacy
From the WhatsApp settings menu, tap Privacy. From here out, the steps are the same on iOS and Android.
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Step
5Tap Last Seen And Online
Within the Privacy Menu, you should see a Last Seen and online heading. Tap it.
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Step
6Change your Last Seen visibility to Nobody
You’ll see four options for who can see the last time you were online. Tap Nobody to hide your status.
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Step
7Change your online visibility to Same As Last Seen
You’ll also see a section titled Who Can See When I’m Online. This controls who can see your online status. To hide your online status from everyone on WhatsApp, select Same As Last Seen.
Troubleshooting
When you stop sharing your online status, you’ll lose the ability to see when others are online and when they were last online.
There are plenty of reasons someone might want to hide their online status on WhatsApp. A few examples include not wanting to feel pressured to respond to a message from a friend immediately or wanting to maintain a healthy work/life balance when receiving out-of-hours messages from colleagues and customers. It’s also generally an easy way to establish boundaries and maintain privacy.
