WhatsApp status allows you to share photos, videos, and GIFs that disappear after 24 hours. By default, your status updates can be viewed by all of your WhatsApp contacts. However, you may want to limit who can see your status updates to only certain people. WhatsApp gives you the option to change your status privacy settings. You can select specific contacts who can view your status or choose to hide it from certain people.
Why Would You Want to Change Your WhatsApp Status Privacy?
Here are some common reasons why people change their WhatsApp status privacy:
- To avoid sharing personal or confidential information with professional contacts.
- To prevent ex-partners, former friends or family members from seeing your updates.
- To stop contacts you don’t talk to regularly from viewing your status.
- To hide your status from coworkers and only share with close friends.
- To increase privacy and selectively share status updates.
By tweaking your WhatsApp status settings, you can control exactly who gets access to view your updates.
How to Change Who Can See Your WhatsApp Status
Changing your WhatsApp status privacy is easy and can be done right from the app. Here are step-by-step instructions:
On iPhone
- Open WhatsApp and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
- Tap on “Settings” and select “Account”.
- Tap on “Privacy”.
- Tap on “Status”.
- You will then see the following options:
- My Contacts – Your status updates will be visible to all of your contacts.
- My Contacts Except… – Your status updates will be visible to all contacts except those you exclude.
- Only Share with… – Your status updates will only be visible to contacts you specifically select.
- Tap on your preferred option and select the contacts you want to include or exclude.
On Android
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the 3 dots menu icon in the top right.
- Select “Settings” > “Account” > “Privacy”.
- Tap on “Status”.
- You will then see the following options:
- My Contacts – Your status updates will be visible to all of your contacts.
- My Contacts Except… – Your status updates will be visible to all contacts except those you exclude.
- Only share with… – Your status updates will only be visible to contacts you specifically select.
- Tap on your preferred option and select the contacts you want to include or exclude.
How to Hide Your Status From Specific Contacts
If you only want to prevent certain people from seeing your status, here is how to hide it from specific contacts:
- Go to the “My Contacts Except…” or “Only Share with…” option on iPhone or Android.
- This will bring up your contacts list. Tap to unselect any contacts you want to hide your status from.
- Make sure to tap “Ok” to confirm your selection.
These contacts will no longer be able to view any of your WhatsApp status updates. You can repeat these steps at any time to change who has access.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp Status Privacy
Here are some tips if you are having trouble getting your status privacy settings to work as expected:
- Confirm the contacts you want to hide your status from are unchecked in your contacts list.
- Check that you selected the correct status privacy option, not “My Contacts”.
- Force close and restart the WhatsApp app if your changes don’t seem to apply immediately.
- Update to the latest version of WhatsApp in case of a bug with older versions.
- Toggle your status privacy settings off and on again to trigger a refresh.
- As a last resort, log out of WhatsApp completely and log back in.
Following these troubleshooting steps should help resolve any issues getting your preferred status privacy settings to work properly.
What Happens When You Hide Your Status
When you hide your WhatsApp status from specific contacts:
- Those contacts will no longer see your status updates or view history.
- It will appear to them as if you have no status shared.
- You can still see the statuses and updates of contacts you have hidden your status from.
- If you post a status update, the hidden contacts will not get a notification and it will not show as “seen” for them.
- Hidden contacts can send you messages normally and will not know you have hidden your status.
Hiding your status only prevents certain contacts from viewing your updates. It does not affect messaging in any other way.
WhatsApp Status Privacy vs Blocking Someone
It’s important to note the difference between hiding your WhatsApp status from someone and blocking them:
| Status Privacy | Blocking a Contact |
|---|---|
| Hides your status updates from specific people. | Prevents any interaction with blocked contacts. |
| You can still see their statuses and send messages. | You cannot see their profile info, status or send messages. |
| The contact is unaware you hid your status. | The contact knows you have blocked them. |
| Can be changed at any time. | Blocking is more permanent. |
So status privacy is more discreet and focused only on your status updates. Blocking cuts off all communication with a contact.
Can Contacts Tell You Viewed Their WhatsApp Status?
If you have viewed someone’s status update on WhatsApp, they can see that you have seen it. This is true even if you have your status hidden from that contact.
When you view a contact’s status, it will show up as “seen” for them. There is no way to view someone’s status privately without the other person knowing.
The only exception is if you have completely blocked the contact. Blocked contacts will not know if you have viewed their status.
Apart from blocking, the status privacy settings only prevent others from seeing your status, not the other way around. All of your status views will still be visible.
Limitations of WhatsApp Status Privacy
While adjusting your status privacy settings is useful, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- It only applies to your status updates, not your online presence or messages.
- Contacts can tell if you viewed their status updates.
- If someone else takes a screenshot of your status, they can still share it.
- Third-party apps may be able to access your status without restrictions.
- Banned contacts can still see your status from someone else’s phone.
- Status updates are end-to-end encrypted but metadata like views can be intercepted.
For complete privacy, many experts recommend avoiding posting sensitive information to your status that you would not want to be shared further.
WhatsApp Status Ideas With Custom Privacy
Here are some ideas for fun, creative ways to use WhatsApp status while taking advantage of the custom privacy options:
- Create exclusive status updates just for your close friends and family.
- Share funny moments from your day without worrying about coworkers seeing.
- Post inside jokes that only certain friends would understand.
- Show off new hairstyles, fashion looks or purchases to select contacts.
- Let close friends follow along on a fun trip or night out.
- Share motivational quotes privately with your support system.
- Recommend songs and playlists exclusively to music buddies.
Customizing your status audience gives you freedom to get more personal. Just remember to be thoughtful about who really needs access.
Conclusion
WhatsApp status privacy allows you to take control of who sees your updates. By changing your settings to “My Contacts Except” or “Only Share With”, you can limit status access to only certain people. This helps increase privacy and personalize who gets glimpses into your daily life. Just be aware contacts can still see when you view their statuses. Overall, adjusting your WhatsApp status settings provides a simple way to share more selectively and intelligently.