WhatsApp in private mode: our guide to becoming invisible

Although secure, by default the WhatsApp instant messaging application does not hesitate to share information about you with your contacts. Acknowledgments of receipt, time of last presence online, profile photo… so many elements that you may prefer to hide to be more peaceful. With its ever-increasing options and functionalities, Meta's solution can also be a bit complex to configure. Don't panic, we'll explain how to easily change these settings in a few minutes.

First of all, head to the Settings from WhatsApp. On Android in particular, the menu is hidden behind the “…” at the top right of the interface. There, go to the menu Confidentiality.

Perhaps then a message at the top invites you to check privacy and select the settings that suit you. If this is the case (otherwise it is present in the form of a menu at the very bottom), press “Start checking” and four menus will be offered to you. The one you're especially interested in is called “Control Your Personal Information,” but the others have a few options that might also interest you. Whether you go through this verification or through the classic WhatsApp options in the Confidentiality menu, the steps that will follow are identical.

First of all, in “Profile picture” you can choose who can see it: everyone, your contacts, your contacts except certain people (to be defined) or no one.

Even more useful, “Online presence” allows two things to refine your degree of visibility on the application. The first proposes to put, next to your name in a conversation, the time at which you were online the last time on the messaging service. Not ideal for privacy, and it is therefore possible to totally or partially deactivate (by contacts) this functionality. Note that if you deactivate it, you will no longer see the connection times of your contacts either. Always in “Online presence”. , you can use the same levels of settings to indicate live or not to your contacts when you are connected to WhatsApp.

Another essential tool to configure to best manage your online visibility: Read receipts. If you uncheck the relevant box, your contacts will not see if you have read their message (via the gray checkmarks, which will then not turn blue). Once again this option goes both ways: if you deactivate it for yourself, you will also no longer be able to see if your messages have been read.

Some additional options

Here are the main options to modify to stay invisible on WhatsApp. But others exist.

Still in the Confidentiality menu, it is also possible to choose from Info who can see your bio and current status. Here you can also adjust the duration of ephemeral messages (useful for not leaving a trace), as well as who can add you to groups and who can call you. Waiting blocking messages from strangersit is also possible to force calls to silence when they come from unknown numbers.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a free and secure instant messaging service that allows you to keep in touch with all your friends or family, you can download and install it on all platforms.

• Downloads:
  18926
• Release date:
  10/10/2024
• Author :
  WhatsApp
• License:
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Communication

• Operating system:
  

  Android, Online Service, Windows 10/11, iOS iPhone, macOS