WhatsApp’s read receipts feature allows you to see when a recipient has read your message. It’s indicated by a double checkmark turning blue when the other person opens your chat. But what happens when you or the recipient has airplane mode turned on? Let’s take a look at how read receipts work with airplane mode on WhatsApp.
How WhatsApp Read Receipts Work
When you send a message on WhatsApp, it will initially show one checkmark, indicating the message was successfully sent from your device. When the recipient’s device receives the message, a second gray checkmark appears. This tells you the message reached their device.
The checkmarks turn blue once the recipient opens the WhatsApp chat where you sent the message. At this point, you’ll know they’ve seen your message. This is WhatsApp’s read receipt feature at work.
Read receipts are on by default for all one-on-one chats in WhatsApp. For group chats, only admins can turn read receipts on or off. You can also disable read receipts entirely in your WhatsApp settings if you don’t want senders to know if you’ve read their messages.
How Airplane Mode Affects WhatsApp Read Receipts
Airplane mode disconnects your phone from all wireless networks, including mobile data and WiFi. This means your device cannot send or receive anything from the internet while airplane mode is enabled.
So what happens when airplane mode is turned on while using WhatsApp?
- You will not receive new WhatsApp messages once airplane mode is enabled. Any incoming messages will remain undelivered on the sender’s end until you turn airplane mode off and reconnect to the internet.
- Any messages you previously received will still be visible in your chat history. You can continue reading messages, but you won’t be able to send any replies.
- For any messages you’ve sent before enabling airplane mode, the single checkmark indicating “sent” status will remain. The second checkmark for “delivered” status will not show up until you turn airplane mode off and the message can actually reach the recipient.
- You will not trigger read receipts on messages you read while airplane mode is on, since your device cannot communicate this info back to WhatsApp’s servers.
In summary, while airplane mode stops read receipts from being sent, it does not allow you to secretly read messages without the sender knowing. As soon as you turn airplane mode off, any messages you read will immediately trigger read receipts.
Does Airplane Mode Hide Your Online Status?
Along with read receipts, your online/offline status is also visible to your WhatsApp contacts. Does enabling airplane mode hide your online status from others?
Yes, when airplane mode is turned on, your online status will disappear for all your contacts after a few minutes. They will no longer see if you’re online or when you were last seen on WhatsApp.
Your profile photo will also disappear from group chats once airplane mode disables your internet connection. Others will see your name, but not your profile photo in groups.
When you turn airplane mode off and reconnect, your online status will immediately become visible to all contacts again. There is no way to secretly read WhatsApp messages without the sender knowing – the read receipts will be triggered as soon as you regain internet access.
Can the Sender Tell if You Read the Message in Airplane Mode?
To recap, here’s what happens when you read a WhatsApp message while in airplane mode:
- The message will show as delivered, not read.
- Your online status disappears.
- No read receipt is sent to the sender.
So for all intents and purposes, it will seem like the message is still unread and pending your acknowledgment. The sender has no indication that you actually read their message in airplane mode.
However, as soon as you turn airplane mode off, WhatsApp will immediately send a read receipt to the sender, letting them know the exact time you first opened their chat. There is no way around this.
So while it’s possible to temporarily hide read statuses, you cannot avoid the receipts entirely. The other person will know as soon as you reconnect to the internet.
Can You Trick WhatsApp to Avoid Read Receipts?
Because read receipts happen automatically when you regain internet access, there is no way to prevent WhatsApp from sending them without completely disabling the feature.
However, there are a few tricks users attempt to hide their read status:
- Enable airplane mode before opening a chat, then turn it off after reading the messages. This only delays the inevitable read receipt.
- Open and read messages from the notification panel. However, this causes the receipts to send as soon as you open WhatsApp.
- Use a third party app like Unseen to auto-mark chats as read. But WhatsApp still sends receipts, so your contacts see you’ve read them.
While these tricks seem to work temporarily, you cannot prevent read receipts from being sent forever when you go back online. The only way is to completely disable read receipts in your WhatsApp settings, but keep in mind this applies to all your conversations.
Can You Read WhatsApp Web Messages in Airplane Mode?
WhatsApp Web allows you to access your WhatsApp chats from a desktop browser by linking to your mobile account. But WhatsApp Web requires an internet connection on your phone to sync messages across devices.
So if your phone has airplane mode enabled, you will not be able to access your chats or send/receive WhatsApp messages from your computer. WhatsApp Web will remain disconnected until you turn off airplane mode on your phone and reconnect to the internet.
Conclusion
To summarize:
- Airplane mode prevents read receipts from sending while it’s turned on.
- As soon as you reconnect, WhatsApp sends receipts for all messages you read during airplane mode.
- There is no way to prevent read receipts from sending eventually when you disable airplane mode.
- While you can temporarily avoid sending receipts, you cannot hide them forever.
So ultimately, while enabling airplane mode may seem like it allows you to secretly read messages, the sender will still see read receipts as soon as you regain internet access. There is no way to completely avoid WhatsApp sending read statuses without disabling the feature entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I read WhatsApp messages without triggering read receipts?
No, there is no way to read WhatsApp messages without eventually sending a read receipt when you go back online. Airplane mode only temporarily hides your read status until you reconnect to the internet.
Do deleted WhatsApp messages show as read?
If you delete a message before reading it, it will not show as read. But if you read the message first before deleting, a read receipt will still be sent. There is no way to take back the receipt after reading.
Can I hide my online status if read receipts are disabled?
No, disabling read receipts has no impact on your online/offline visibility in WhatsApp. Your online status remains visible regardless of your read receipt settings.
Do WhatsApp notifications show message previews?
You can enable or disable message previews for WhatsApp notifications in your phone’s settings. Disabling them will show just the sender’s name rather than the message content in notifications.
Can WhatsApp notify if someone screenshots your chat?
Unlike read receipts, WhatsApp does not send any notification if someone takes a screenshot during a chat. There is currently no way to know if someone screenshots your end-to-end encrypted chats.
Key Takeaways
- Airplane mode only temporarily hides read receipts until you reconnect to the internet.
- There’s no way to avoid read receipts eventually being sent when online.
- Your online status also disappears in airplane mode and returns when disabled.
- You cannot use WhatsApp Web without an internet connection on your phone.
- Fully disabling read receipts is the only way to avoid them permanently.
| Scenario | Read Receipt Sent? |
|---|---|
| Read message normally | Yes |
| Read message in Airplane Mode | Yes, when airplane mode disabled |
| Read receipt setting off | No |