To see your friends’ WhatsApp statuses, simply open the WhatsApp app and tap on the “Status” tab at the top of the screen. This will display a list of your contacts who have recently updated their status. Tap on any contact name to view their latest status update.
1. Open WhatsApp and go to the Status tab
The first step to viewing your friends’ WhatsApp statuses is to open the WhatsApp app on your phone. Once the app is open, you’ll see a row of tabs along the top – Calls, Chats, Status, and Calls. Tap on the Status tab to go to the status screen.
This is where you’ll see the list of your contacts who have posted a status update within the last 24 hours. The names will appear in bold if you haven’t yet viewed that contact’s status.
2. View statuses from your contacts list
On the Status screen, you’ll see your contacts listed in chronological order, with the most recent statuses at the top. To view a status, simply tap on the contact’s name or profile picture.
This will open their status content. Statuses can include photos, videos, or text updates. Photos and videos will automatically play, while text statuses will display on screen for you to read.
You can tap and hold on a photo or video status to pause it. Tap once more to resume playback. For video statuses, you can also slide your finger left or right to rewind or fast forward.
3. View statuses from individual chat windows
In addition to the main Status tab, you can also view your contacts’ statuses directly from your chat windows with them. To do this:
- Open an individual chat window with a contact.
- Look for their profile picture in the top left corner.
- If the circle around their profile picture is colored, it means they have an updated status.
- Tap on their profile picture to view their status update.
This way allows you to check if a specific contact has posted a new status before going to the main Status tab. The colored circle is a handy visual indicator letting you know there’s a new status available.
4. View statuses anonymously
By default, WhatsApp shows your contacts when you view their status updates. A “Seen by” list appears under their status showing who has viewed it.
If you want to view statuses anonymously without letting your contacts know, there are a couple options:
- Airplane mode: The easiest way is to turn on Airplane mode before viewing statuses. WhatsApp won’t be able to send read receipts while in Airplane mode.
- Disable read receipts: In WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy, you can disable read receipts altogether. This will stop statuses from showing if you’ve viewed them.
Keep in mind you won’t be able to see who views your statuses either with these methods turned on.
5. View statuses without audio or data
Statuses with photos or plain text will load normally without an internet connection. However, video statuses require a WiFi or mobile data connection to load and play.
If you want to view new video statuses without using mobile data or playing audio, there are a couple things you can do:
- Download the statuses: Tap and hold on a video status and choose “Download”. This will save it to your device so you can watch it later without internet.
- Turn off mobile data: On Android, toggle off mobile data before viewing the status. The video will load but won’t play until you’re back online.
- Mute audio: You can mute the audio before viewing a video status so the video plays silently.
6. Change Who Can See Your Status settings
By default, your status updates on WhatsApp are visible to all of your contacts. You can change this in your WhatsApp privacy settings if you only want to make your statuses visible to certain people.
To update the privacy settings for your status:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings.
- Tap Account > Privacy.
- Tap Status.
- Choose one of the following options:
- My Contacts: Your statuses will be visible to all of your contacts.
- My Contacts Except: Choose specific contacts to exclude.
- Only Share With: Choose specific contacts to include.
You can also toggle the “Read Receipts” switch in this menu on or off. This controls whether contacts can see if you’ve viewed their status update.
7. Set custom privacy for your status
For even more control over who can view your statuses, you can set custom privacy settings for each status you post.
To do this:
- Before posting a status, tap the menu icon next to your status field.
- Tap Status Privacy.
- Select one of the options:
- My Contacts: Visible to all contacts.
- My Contacts Except: Choose who to exclude.
- Only Share With: Restrict it to certain contacts.
- Only Me: Keep it private so no one else can see it.
Your custom privacy selection will apply to only that specific status update. Your default privacy setting under WhatsApp Settings will continue applying for future statuses.
8. Save and share statuses with contacts
Want to save a funny status you saw or share an interesting one with a friend who missed it? WhatsApp lets you save and share status updates.
To save a status:
- View the status you want to save.
- Tap the 3 dots menu in the top right.
- Tap “Save”. This saves it to your phone’s internal storage.
To share a status:
- View the status.
- Tap the forward arrow icon.
- Select the contacts to share it with.
Sharing statuses via WhatsApp compresses media like photos and videos. For uncompressed media quality, save the status and then send it as an attachment in WhatsApp instead.
9. Post your own status updates
In addition to viewing friends’ statuses, you can also post your own status updates for your contacts to see.
To post a status:
- Go to the Status tab in WhatsApp.
- Tap “My Status” at the top.
- Capture or upload a photo/video, or type text.
- Tap Send to post it as your status.
Photo and video statuses last 24 hours. Text statuses last 24 hours by default, but you can set a custom duration up to 7 days.
Make sure to manage your privacy settings appropriately before posting new statuses.
10. Turn status notifications on or off
By default, every time one of your contacts posts a new status, WhatsApp will send you a notification to let you know.
If you find these notifications annoying, you can disable them:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Notifications.
- Tap Status.
- Toggle off “Show Status Previews” and “Notify Me”.
With notifications off, you’ll need to periodically check the Status tab manually instead of being notified about new statuses.
Conversely, if you want WhatsApp to notify you about status updates from specific important contacts, you can pin their chats to get notified whenever they post.
11. Hide your Viewed Updates from specific contacts
While your contacts can see when you’ve viewed their status updates, you can hide your viewed updates from specific people.
To do this:
- Go to the chat window for the contact.
- Tap the 3-dot menu.
- Select Viewed Update > Hide From This Contact.
Now your viewed updates will not show for this particular contact when you view their status.
12. Turn off Read Receipts for Groups
In addition to your personal contacts, WhatsApp also has Groups where multiple users communicate together.
By default, read receipts are enabled when viewing statuses in groups. This means group members can see if you’ve viewed their status.
If you prefer to view group member statuses privately, you can turn off read receipts:
- Go to the group’s settings.
- Tap Read Receipts > Off.
Now you can view group member statuses anonymously without anyone knowing.
13. Delete or unsend statuses
Accidentally posted an embarrassing status, or shared an old status you didn’t mean to? Not a problem, you can delete statuses after posting them.
To delete a status update:
- Go to your status.
- Tap the 3 dots menu.
- Select Delete.
This will remove the status from your profile and contacts won’t be able to see it.
To delete a status update you already shared:
- Long press on the status in your feed.
- Tap Delete For Me.
This will delete it from your feed and statuses tab, but not for contacts you already shared it with.
Conclusion
Viewing friends’ WhatsApp statuses is a fun way to get quick visual updates on what they’re up to. With WhatsApp’s range of privacy controls, you can comfortably explore statuses and share your own while controlling precisely who gets to view them.
Some key things to remember are:
- Tap the Status tab or contact profile pictures to view statuses.
- Use Airplane mode or disable read receipts to view statuses anonymously.
- Customize your status privacy in Settings or before posting.
- Save statuses you like or share interesting ones with friends.
- Turn off notifications if you don’t want to be notified about new statuses.
With these tips, you can master the art of using WhatsApp statuses like a pro!