You can control who gets to view your WhatsApp status updates by customizing your privacy settings. By default, your status is visible to all of your WhatsApp contacts. However, you can limit visibility to select contacts or no one at all.
Who can see my WhatsApp status by default?
When you first set up WhatsApp, the app’s default setting makes your status updates visible to all of your contacts. Anytime you post a photo, video, or text update as your status, it will automatically be viewable by everyone in your contacts list.
How to customize WhatsApp status privacy
WhatsApp gives you granular control over your status privacy. You can choose to share your status with the following groups:
- All Contacts: Default setting – anyone in your address book can view your status.
- My Contacts: Only contacts you’ve exchanged messages with can see your status.
- My Contacts Except: Choose specific contacts to exclude from seeing your status.
- Only Share With: Select individual contacts who can view your status.
- Nobody: Disable status sharing completely so it’s visible to no one.
Change status privacy on Android
1. Open WhatsApp and tap the 3-dot menu in the top right corner.
2. Select Settings > Account > Privacy.
3. Tap Status to see status privacy options.
4. Choose who can view your status from the list of options.
Change status privacy on iPhone
1. Open WhatsApp and tap Settings at the bottom.
2. Tap Account > Privacy.
3. Tap Status to view available status privacy settings.
4. Select your desired visibility option.
Set custom privacy for each status update
In addition to the global status privacy setting, you can also set custom visibility for each individual status update you post. This allows you to override your default privacy on a case-by-case basis.
Whenever you upload a new photo, video, or text status update, look for the option to customize its audience. You’ll see it after selecting the status and before posting it.
Customize audience when posting new status
Follow these steps each time you want to change who can view a specific status update:
- Open WhatsApp and tap Status at the bottom.
- Select the type of status you want to post – Photo, Video, Text.
- After choosing the status, tap Next.
- Tap the audience icon to customize who can see this status update.
- Select your desired visibility option.
- Tap Done after picking the audience.
- Post your status update.
This status will be visible to the custom audience you selected. Your global privacy setting will not apply. You can use this method to override the default on a case-by-case basis.
Status privacy and groups
Your individual contacts aren’t the only ones who can view your WhatsApp status updates. When you post a new status, it’s also visible to all members of any WhatsApp groups you belong to. There is no way to exclude specific groups.
However, when customizing status privacy, you do have the option to limit views to “My Contacts Except…” This allows you to exclude specific individual contacts from seeing your status, even if they are members of your WhatsApp groups.
See who viewed your status
Wondering who’s peeping your WhatsApp status updates? You can check who has viewed each status post you share. This lets you keep tabs on exactly who is seeing your statuses.
To see views for an individual status update:
- Go to your profile on WhatsApp.
- Tap the specific status update to open it.
- You’ll see a list of who has viewed the status and when.
The list shows your contacts’ profile pictures for easy identification. You can tap a contact to view details like when they opened your status. Views are sorted with the most recent person first.
Limitations of view tracking
- You can only see the last 15 viewers of a given status update.
- Once 15 viewers have seen your status, WhatsApp begins to trim the list by removing earlier viewers.
- Contacts can opt out of view tracking in their WhatsApp privacy settings.
While not perfect, checking views is a handy way to glean additional insight into who interacts with your statuses on WhatsApp.
Prevent specific contacts from viewing status
If you want to bar particular contacts from seeing your status altogether, you have two options:
- Set status privacy to “My Contacts Except…” and select contacts to exclude.
- Block unwanted viewers outright, which removes them from your contacts.
Using the first method prevents contacts from viewing only your status. They can still send you messages. Blocking contacts completely removes their ability to interact with you on WhatsApp.
Block contacts on Android
- Open your contacts list in WhatsApp.
- Tap the name of the contact you want to block.
- Tap More options > Block contact.
Block contacts on iPhone
- Go to your contacts list and swipe left on the contact’s name.
- Tap Block Contact to confirm.
If you later change your mind, you can always unblock contacts to restore communication.
Hide your online status from specific contacts
In addition to your status updates, your online status is also visible to contacts by default. Your online status shows when you’re actively using WhatsApp. You can hide this from specific people.
To disable online status visibility for certain contacts:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy.
- Tap Last Seen & Online to manage settings.
- Select “My Contacts Except” and pick contacts to exclude.
This prevents chosen contacts from seeing when you’re online or last active on WhatsApp. You will appear offline and they won’t see your “last seen” timestamp.
Frequently asked questions
Can I hide my status from someone who has my phone number saved, but isn’t my WhatsApp contact?
No, there is no way to prevent non-contacts who have your number from viewing your status if they add you on WhatsApp. To entirely prevent specific people from seeing your status, you must block their contacts or exclude them after adding them.
Can I see who screenshots my status updates?
Unfortunately, WhatsApp does not notify you when a contact takes a screenshot of your status. The app only shows who has viewed your status, not who has taken screenshots.
If I post a status while my privacy is set to “Nobody”, will previous statuses be visible?
No, if your status privacy is set to “Nobody”, none of your status updates will be visible, including existing statuses you’ve already posted. Once you change the privacy setting back to a different option, your previous statuses will become visible again according to that setting.
Can I post a status that’s only visible to specific groups or chats?
WhatsApp doesn’t allow you to limit status visibility to only certain groups or chats. The available audience options are: all contacts, individual contacts, or no one. There is no setting to show a status to just selected groups.
Is there a way to post an anonymous status?
There is no built-in way to post an anonymous status in WhatsApp. Because statuses are always linked to your account, there is no option to hide your identity when posting a status update.
Conclusion
WhatsApp offers flexible options to control who views your status updates. By adjusting your privacy settings, you can easily customize status visibility on a granular level to match your preferences. Limiting views to select contacts or groups can help you share statuses more selectively.
While statuses are visible by default, utilizing WhatsApp’s privacy settings gives you more discretion over your sharing on the platform. Understanding these options enables you to decide exactly who gets access to your status posts.