Quick Answer
No, if you mute someone on WhatsApp, they will not be able to see your status updates. Muting a contact prevents them from seeing your profile photo, about info, and last seen status, in addition to your status updates. So muting acts as a sort of one-way block, where you stop sharing information with someone but they can still message you as normal.
What Happens When You Mute Someone on WhatsApp?
Muting a contact on WhatsApp prevents them from seeing certain aspects of your profile and account information. Specifically, muting someone will:
– Hide your profile photo from the muted person
– Hide your about info from the muted person
– Hide your last seen status from the muted person
– Prevent the muted person from seeing your status updates
So muting acts as a one-way restriction of information. You stop sharing profile details and statuses with a muted contact, but they can still send you messages that will come through as normal.
The mute settings can be enabled for either 8 hours, 1 week, or always (until you manually unmute). So you can use it as a temporary or indefinite way to prevent someone from seeing your WhatsApp activity and info.
Profile Photo & About Info
When you mute someone, your profile photo and about info (bio) will immediately disappear from their view in WhatsApp. Instead, they will see a default gray avatar icon and “This user has muted you” message in place of your custom profile details.
So if you don’t want a specific contact seeing your profile photo for any reason, muting them is an easy way to instantly hide it.
Last Seen & Online Status
In addition to profile details, muting also prevents a contact from viewing your last seen and online status within WhatsApp.
Normally, last seen shows the date and time you were last actively using the app. And online status displays when you are currently within the app.
But when muted, instead of seeing your actual last seen or online status, the muted person will see “Last seen long ago” and no indication if you’re actively online.
So this gives you more privacy and prevents them from knowing your precise WhatsApp activity and when you’re using the app.
Status Updates
Importantly, muting also blocks a contact from viewing any status updates you post. This includes both text and media statuses like photos, videos, GIFs, etc.
When you post a new status, it will not show up for muted contacts. And they will not be able to view any of your previous status updates either.
So if you want to prevent a specific person from seeing your statuses, the mute function provides an easy way to do that.
Why Would You Mute Someone on WhatsApp?
There are a few main reasons you may want to mute a contact’s notifications and hide your status updates from them:
Temporary Falling Out
If you had a disagreement with a friend or family member, you may want to mute them temporarily until things settle down. This avoids any awkwardness of posting statuses they can see or vice versa during the disagreement.
Hide Specific Updates
If you want to post a status update but don’t want a certain contact seeing it, muting them ahead of time ensures they won’t. This lets you choose who views certain status updates.
Reduce Distractions
Muting notifications from busy group chats or contacts you don’t talk to frequently can cut down on distractions. You can focus without constant dings from non-important conversations.
Control Privacy
As mentioned above, muting also restricts profile and account info the person can see about you. So it’s a way to control privacy if you don’t want a specific contact viewing when you’re online, your last seen status, etc.
One-Way Block
Muting someone acts as a sort of one-way block, where you stop seeing updates from them but they can still message you as normal. This gives more control than fully blocking or deleting a contact.
What Can Muted Contacts Still See?
While muting stops someone from seeing your profile details, statuses, and other activity, there are some things a muted contact can still see and do:
Send & Receive Messages
Importantly, muting does NOT block messaging. A muted contact can still send you WhatsApp messages, media, calls, and voice messages as usual. And you will receive their messages as normal.
You just won’t get notifications for their new messages until you unmute them. But the messages will be waiting for you when you open the chat, so muting does not block communication.
See You in Group Chats
Muting only applies on an individual chat basis. So if you’re both members of the same WhatsApp groups, the muted person will still see your messages and activity within group chats.
See Your Number/Name
Muting doesn’t remove you as a contact for them. They’ll still see your phone number and name/contact name in their contacts list as normal.
So it only hides selective profile info and statuses from a muted contact – not your entire existence on WhatsApp.
Can Muted Contacts Tell You’ve Muted Them?
There is no notification sent when you mute someone on WhatsApp. So the muted person will not get an alert informing them of the mute.
However, they will likely notice some clues that indicate you’ve muted them:
– Your profile photo and about info disappear and are replaced with defaults
– They always see “last seen long ago” instead of your actual last seen time
– Your online status never shows as online to them
– None of your status updates appear
So while not a direct notification, the lack of status updates and last seen info is a clear sign they’ve been muted. But there is no confirmation message sent to them about it.
How to Mute Someone on WhatsApp
Muting a contact only takes a few quick taps:
1. Open your WhatsApp chat with the person you want to mute
2. Tap the name or profile icon at the top of the chat window
3. Select Mute from the menu that appears
4. Choose to mute notifications and statuses for 8 hours, 1 week, or always until you unmute manually.
Once muted, you can still send them messages as you normally would. But your online status, profile details, and status updates will be hidden from them.
To unmute, go back into their chat settings and select Unmute. This will restore them seeing your statuses and last seen info.
Other WhatsApp Privacy Settings
In addition to muting, WhatsApp has a few other privacy settings to control what contacts can see:
Profile Privacy Settings
You can set your entire profile to be visible to your contacts only, selected contacts, or no one at all. This gives more overall control than muting specific people.
Groups Privacy Settings
Choose who can add you to groups between your contacts only, selected contacts, or anyone using WhatsApp. This prevents unwanted group additions.
Live Location Sharing
When sharing live location, you can pick the exact contacts to share with rather than your entire contacts list. This provides more location privacy.
Block Contacts
Blocking is more extreme than muting and will fully prevent any communication. But muting is better if you still want to receive their messages.
So make use of WhatsApp’s privacy controls to take charge of what contacts do and don’t see about you on the app.
Conclusion
Muting someone in WhatsApp prevents them from seeing your profile picture, about info, last seen status, online status, and any status updates you post. It provides a simple way to stop sharing your activity and info with specific contacts while still allowing messaging.
While the muted person won’t get a notification, they will likely notice clues like disappearing profile details and lack of statuses. But muting gives you greater privacy and control over what you share on WhatsApp without fully blocking communication.
| What gets muted/hidden | What can still be seen/done |
|---|---|
| Your profile photo | Send and receive messages |
| Your about info | See you in group chats |
| Your last seen status | See your name/number in contacts |
| Your online status | |
| Your status updates |
So if you need to restrict information to specific contacts, muting provides an easy and reversible way to do so. It gives more privacy control over your WhatsApp activity and presence. While not a full block, muting acts as a useful middle ground when needed.