When you send a message on WhatsApp, you can see when the recipient has read your message. A read receipt or “double check mark” will display under your message, indicating it has been opened and read. However, you may be wondering – can the other person tell if you’ve read their messages too?
The short answer is yes, read receipts work both ways on WhatsApp. If you have read receipts enabled, the other person will see when you’ve read their messages. However, there are a few exceptions and ways to hide your read status which we’ll explain below.
How Read Receipts Work on WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s read receipts feature shows when a message has been successfully delivered and read. Here’s a quick breakdown of how it works:
- When you first send a message, one grey check mark displays under your message. This indicates your message has been successfully sent from your device.
- When the recipient’s device receives your message, a second grey check mark displays. At this point, your message is now delivered to them.
- When the recipient opens your chat and views your message, the grey check marks turn blue, indicating they have read your message.
So in summary, one grey tick means your message is sent, two grey ticks means delivered, and two blue ticks means read.
These read receipts are mutual – if you can see when a contact has read your messages, they can also see when you’ve read theirs. So if you have read receipts enabled, your contacts will know when you open their messages.
Can You Disable Read Receipts?
If you don’t want others to know when you’ve read their messages, you can disable read receipts in your WhatsApp settings:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the 3 dot menu in the top right
- Go to Settings > Account > Privacy
- Toggle off ‘Read Receipts’
This will prevent your read status from being visible to your contacts. However, you will still be able to see read receipts from other people.
Disabling read receipts only prevents your last seen and online status from being visible to contacts. Any messages that already showed as read will still display the blue double ticks.
Exceptions Where Messages Show as Unread
There are a couple cases where your read status may not show, even if you have viewed a message:
- Previewing Messages – On Android, you can swipe a chat from the home screen to preview the latest message without opening the chat. This will not trigger the ‘read’ notification.
- Notification Previews – If you view a message preview from a notification without opening the WhatsApp chat, it will remain unread.
- Deleted Messages – If a message is deleted after you’ve read it, the read receipt is deleted too.
So in these cases, the message will not show as read in the other person’s chat. The only foolproof way to mark a message as read is by opening the chat screen.
Using Airplane Mode to Read Messages Privately
If you want to read messages without the sender knowing, you can use airplane mode:
- Open WhatsApp and go to the chat you want to read.
- Turn on airplane mode on your device. This will disable all connections.
- Read the new messages you want while in airplane mode.
- Close and re-open WhatsApp before turning off airplane mode.
Because there’s no internet connection, WhatsApp won’t be able to send read receipts during airplane mode. When you reopen WhatsApp after disabling airplane mode, the messages will still appear unread to the sender.
Third-Party Apps for Hiding Your Online Status
Some third party apps like Flychat and Who Read Me for WhatsApp let you hide your online and read status from specific contacts.
These apps work by intercepting the read receipt signal before it’s sent to the other user. So it will appear like you haven’t read their messages.
However, being unofficial apps, their functionality can break whenever WhatsApp makes updates. And they require extra permissions that may be invasive. Use third party apps at your own discretion.
Disadvantages of Disabling Read Receipts
While disabling read receipts gives you more privacy, there are some downsides to consider:
- You won’t be able to see read statuses from your contacts anymore
- Conversations can become ambiguous without the confirmation of knowing if your message has been read
- You may miss out on important messages if contacts think you’ve already read them
So weigh the pros and cons before fully disabling read receipts. Some compromise could be hiding your status from specific contacts rather than disabling it completely.
Business Accounts Don’t Have Option to Disable Read Receipts
One limitation is that WhatsApp Business accounts don’t have the option to turn off read receipts. The feature is missing from their settings.
So if you use WhatsApp for business, your contacts will always be able to see when you’ve read their messages.
The only workaround is using a separate personal account and transferring important chats to that, where you can disable read receipts.
Conclusion
To summarize, while WhatsApp read receipts are mutual, you do have some control over hiding your read statuses:
- Disable read receipts in settings (except for business accounts)
- Preview messages from notifications only
- Use airplane mode to read messages offline
- Third party apps can intercept read receipts before they’re sent
However, disabling read receipts means you won’t see other people’s read statuses either. There are valid reasons on both sides for enabling or disabling the feature. Choose based on your own priorities and messaging habits.
WhatsApp Read Receipts FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about WhatsApp read receipts and online status:
Can I hide my online status on WhatsApp?
Yes, you can hide your online status and last seen timestamp from specific contacts or all contacts:
- Open WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy
- Tap ‘Last Seen’ and choose ‘Nobody’ to hide it from everyone
- You can also select ‘My Contacts Except’ to hide it from specific contacts
Can I read WhatsApp messages without others knowing?
To read WhatsApp messages secretly, you can:
- Enable Airplane mode, read messages, close app, disable Airplane mode
- Preview messages from notifications without opening chat
- Use third party apps to intercept read receipts (unreliable)
However, the only way to permanently hide your read status is by disabling read receipts.
Why are my messages showing single tick on WhatsApp?
If your message has a single grey tick, it means WhatsApp has successfully sent the message from your phone. However, the recipient hasn’t received it yet.
This usually happens when the other person is offline. The single tick will eventually turn double grey once delivered, and blue when read.
Can I see deleted WhatsApp messages?
Unfortunately, once a WhatsApp message is deleted, there is no way to retrieve it or see what it contained, either for you or the receiver.
Even if you had viewed the message before deletion, the read receipt disappears too. There is no feature to recover deleted WhatsApp messages.
Why is my WhatsApp not showing read receipts?
If read receipts are not showing at all, some possible reasons are:
- You have disabled read receipts in WhatsApp settings
- The other person has disabled read receipts
- There is an unstable internet connection
- WhatsApp is experiencing a temporary glitch
Check settings and internet connectivity first. Read receipts may take some time to send on a slow connection.
Comparison of Read Receipts Across Apps
Here is how read receipts work on some other major messaging apps:
| App | Read Receipts? | Can disable? |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | |
| Facebook Messenger | Yes | Yes |
| iMessage | Yes | Yes |
| Telegram | No | N/A |
| Signal | No | N/A |
| Skype | Yes | Yes |
| Slack | No | N/A |
| Hangouts | No | N/A |
| Viber | Yes | Yes |
| Hike | Yes | Yes |
| Snapchat | Yes | No |
| No | N/A | |
| Discord | No | N/A |
As you can see, about half of popular messaging apps have read receipts while the other half don’t. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are examples that provide the feature but allow disabling it.
The Evolution of Read Receipts and Online Presence Indicators
Read receipts and online presence indicators have become commonplace features in most modern messaging apps. But this hasn’t always been the case.
Let’s take a quick look at the history and origins of these features:
1990s – Instant Messaging Begins
The first instant messaging (IM) programs like ICQ and AIM gained popularity in the late 90s. They displayed basic online or offline presence. However, there were no read receipts for messages.
Early 2000s – MSN Messenger Read Receipts
MSN Messenger (later Windows Live Messenger) introduced delivery and read notifications in the early 2000s. This allowed seeing when messages were delivered and read for the first time.
Users could also choose to disable read receipts for more privacy.
2007 – WhatsApp Launches
When WhatsApp first launched in 2009, there were no read receipts or online presence indicators. The focus was only on quick messaging.
Read receipts were introduced later as the app added more social and notification features.
2010s – Read Receipts Go Mainstream
Through the 2010s, read receipts became a standard feature in most new messaging apps like iMessage and Facebook Messenger.
More apps also began showing detailed online and last seen statuses. Read receipts are now commonplace in both work and consumer messaging apps.
Today – Control and Privacy Features Added
While read receipts are now widely available, apps are also providing more control over them. WhatsApp, iMessage, and other apps now allow disabling read receipts or hiding your online status.
This balances utility for messaging with user privacy. The functionality continues to evolve across different platforms.
The Psychology and Etiquette of Read Receipts
The advent of read receipts has introduced some new nuances to digital communication and etiquette.
Some psychological perspectives on how read receipts change messaging:
- They can sometimes feel like social pressuring or obligation to respond immediately upon reading a message.
- The lack of read receipts can cause ambiguity and miscommunication in conversations.
- Seeing messages marked as read but not responded to can feel like being ignored.
- Read receipts remove some excitement and anticipation from waiting to see if someone received your message.
- They can be distracting or stressful for people who want to read messages privately without responding right away.
Ultimately, expectations around response times haven’t fully caught up to this technology. There are still debates around etiquette and best practices.
Some generally recommended guidelines are:
- Don’t assume someone is ignoring you just because they have read but not responded to a message.
- Don’t feel pressured to respond immediately just because your read status is visible.
- Disable read receipts if they cause stress or anxiety in conversations.
- Communicate clearly about expectations and norms that work for you.
Open communication and reasonable expectations are key to making this technology work smoothly for everyone.
Potential Future Evolution of Read Receipts
As with all technology, we can expect the capabilities and uses of read receipts to continue evolving over time. Here are some potential directions:
More Privacy Controls
Apps may provide more granular controls over read receipt preferences, like setting it on a per chat or per person basis.
New Notification Options
We could see new notification types like a “processing” receipt when you’ve read but haven’t answered a message yet.
Integration with Other Platforms
Read receipts may become integrated across different messaging apps and channels for universal visibility.
Use Outside Messaging
The concept could expand to services like email, documents, videos or other content to indicate when something has been viewed.
Artificial Intelligence
AI could analyze patterns around response times and read receipts to provide suggestions for improving message scheduling or etiquette.
Augmented Reality
AR messaging interfaces may visualize read statuses and typing indicators in more graphical, animated ways.
Conclusion
To wrap up, read receipts have become a prominent part of the messaging landscape today, with the ability to indicate message delivery and read status on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other apps.
While this provides useful confirmation that messages have been received, it also introduces new privacy considerations, etiquette challenges and psychological impacts. Approaching these indicators with reasonable expectations and norms can allow us to benefit from the information they provide without as much interpersonal friction.
As technology continues advancing, we can expect the future to bring new capabilities and subtleties around read receipts. But the core principles of clear communication, empathy and respect will continue guiding our digital interactions.