You can easily share someone else’s WhatsApp status update with your own contacts by taking a screenshot. Here’s a quick 60-word summary on how to do it: Open WhatsApp, view the status update you want to share, take a screenshot using your phone’s screenshot feature, crop the screenshot if needed, go to your own WhatsApp contacts, select who to send it to, attach the screenshot and send. That’s it!
Understanding WhatsApp Status Sharing
WhatsApp status updates are photos, videos or GIFs that you can post which will disappear after 24 hours. By default, status updates are only visible to your WhatsApp contacts. However, there may be times when you want to share a friend’s interesting or funny status update with your own contacts.
While WhatsApp doesn’t allow you to directly forward someone else’s status update, you can easily screenshot or screen record it. This captures the status update in an image or video format which you can then share as you would any other photo or video.
Steps to Share Someone Else’s WhatsApp Status
Follow these simple steps to share a WhatsApp status update from your friends with your own contacts:
- Open WhatsApp – Launch the WhatsApp app on your phone.
- View the status update – Go to the Status tab in WhatsApp and tap on the status update you want to share from one of your contacts. Let it play through once.
- Take a screenshot – To capture the status update, take a screenshot using your phone’s screenshot feature. On iPhone, press the Volume Up and Side Button at the same time. On Android, press Power + Volume Down.
- Crop the screenshot (optional) – If needed, edit the screenshot to crop it to only show the status update itself and not other parts of your screen.
- Go to your contacts list – Exit out of your friend’s status update and go to your WhatsApp contacts list.
- Select contacts to share with – Tap and hold on the names of the contacts you want to share the status update screenshot with.
- Attach the screenshot – Tap on the attach button and select the screenshot from your photo gallery.
- Send – Hit send to share the screenshot with your selected contacts.
And you’re done! The status update screenshot will be sent as a photo to your contacts. This allows you to easily share funny, interesting or informative status updates from your WhatsApp friends with the people in your contacts list.
Screen Recording a WhatsApp Status
In addition to taking a screenshot, you can also screen record a WhatsApp status update. This captures a video of the entire status playing from start to finish.
Screen recording may capture things like multiple photos in a status update better than a single screenshot. Here’s how to screen record a status:
- Open the status update – View the status update you want to record.
- Start screen recording – On iPhone, swipe up from the bottom to open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button. On Android, open Quick Settings and tap Screen Recorder.
- Stop recording – When the status finishes playing, stop the screen recording.
- Trim the video (optional) – Edit the video if needed to remove any unnecessary parts at the beginning or end.
- Share the video – Attach the screen recording video to share just like you would a photo.
Things to Keep in Mind
Here are some important things to be aware of when sharing someone else’s WhatsApp status updates:
- Don’t overshare – Be thoughtful about what statuses you share and who you share them with. Make sure the original status poster would be comfortable with you sharing their update.
- Respect privacy – Do not screenshot or share statuses from contacts who have their status privacy set to “My Contacts Except…”.
- Delete screen recordings – Unlike statuses, screen recordings don’t automatically disappear. So remember to delete them after sharing.
- You can’t stop sharing – There is no way to prevent someone from taking screenshots or screen recordings of your statuses. So only post statuses you are comfortable being shared.
- Check saved media – To see screenshots and screen recordings of your statuses that other people have saved, go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Saved Media on iOS or Settings > Chats > Saved Messages on Android.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp Status Sharing
In some cases, you may run into issues trying to share a WhatsApp status update. Here are some common problems and fixes:
Can’t View Someone’s Status Update
If you can’t view a contact’s status update to share it, they may have their status privacy set to exclude you. You’ll need to ask them to change their settings to allow you to view their status.
Black Screen Instead of Status
If you only see a black screen when trying to view a status, close and relaunch WhatsApp to refresh the app. This should load the status properly.
Status Disappears Before Screenshot
If the status update disappears before you can take a screenshot, ask the person to repost it so you can view it again and capture it quickly.
Partial Screenshot of Status
If your screenshot only captures part of the status, double check that you are allowing time for the entire status to load before taking the screenshot. Taking it too fast may capture just a portion.
Can’t Attach Screenshot
If WhatsApp isn’t letting you attach the status screenshot to share, make sure it saved properly to your phone’s gallery. If not, take the screenshot again before attempting to share it.
Status Without Sound
Any video screen recordings of statuses will not include the audio. This is due to WhatsApp’s privacy restrictions on recording audio. The only way around this is to use a second device to record the audio separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sharing statuses without permission illegal?
No, it is not illegal to share someone’s status as long as you are doing it for personal non-commercial use. However, it is best to get their permission whenever possible to respect their privacy.
Can you tell if someone screenshots your status?
No, WhatsApp does not send any notification when someone screenshots or screen records your status update. The only way to know is to check your Saved Media.
Why can I only see “New updates” and not the actual status?
If you only see “New updates” for a contact’s status, it means they have restricted viewing their status to exclude you. You will need to ask them to update their privacy settings to view and share their status.
Is there a way to share statuses directly in WhatsApp?
Unfortunately, no. Because of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption and privacy policy, there is no native way to directly forward or share someone else’s status updates.
Can I auto-download and share new statuses from a contact?
No, you cannot automatically or bulk download statuses from someone else to share. You have to manually view and screenshot each status update you wish to share.
How do I enable WhatsApp status sharing?
You don’t need to enable any settings to share statuses. Just view the status, take a screenshot or recording, and attach it to send to contacts as you normally would.