When you hide your status updates from a specific contact on WhatsApp, that person will no longer be able to view your status updates. They will not receive any notification when you post a new status and will not be able to view your status in the app. The status privacy setting allows you to choose who can and cannot view your status updates.
How to hide your status from someone
Hiding your status from a contact is easy to do in just a few steps:
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the More options icon (three vertical dots) in the top right corner.
- Select Settings > Account > Privacy.
- Tap on Status.
- You will see a list of all your contacts. Tap on the contact you want to hide your status from.
- Toggle off the Show status option for that contact.
You can repeat this process to hide your status from multiple contacts. Your status updates will no longer be visible to the people you have hidden it from.
What the hidden contact will see
When you hide your WhatsApp status from someone, here is exactly what happens from their end:
- They will not receive a notification when you post a new status update.
- Your profile photo will appear without the status ring/indicator when they view your chat.
- If they tap on your profile photo, it will display “This person’s status updates are hidden.” instead of showing your status.
- Your name will appear without the “active now/last seen” text under it in group chats you have in common.
- They will not be able to view your status updates within WhatsApp.
Essentially, it will seem to that person as if you are not posting any status updates at all. They will have no indication that you are actively using status and will not know when you post something new.
Does the hidden contact receive a notification?
No, when you hide your status from someone, that person will not get notified in any way. WhatsApp does not send them any alert to indicate you have hidden your status from them.
Can you see if someone has hidden their status from you?
There is no obvious way to know if someone has hidden their status from you specifically. Since you do not get notified, the only indication is when you realize you have not seen that person’s status updates in a while. Even then, you cannot be sure if they have stopped posting statuses or have just hidden them from you.
Does hiding your status also hide your online status?
No, hiding your status has no impact on the ability for someone to see your online/last seen status and vice versa. The status privacy settings are separate from the last seen and online privacy settings in WhatsApp.
To hide your online status and last seen time, you need to go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy and adjust the options under Last Seen and Online. Hiding your status only prevents that contact from viewing your status updates.
Can you see who has hidden their status from you?
Unfortunately, there is no way to see a list of who has hidden their status from you in WhatsApp. Since it happens privately without notification, you have no definitive way of knowing who has blocked you from seeing their status updates.
The only potential indicator is noticing that someone you know actively uses status has not posted anything in a long time. Even then, you cannot confirm they have their status hidden from you specifically.
Does hiding status also hide your profile photo?
No, hiding your status has no effect on your profile photo visibility. When you hide your status from someone, they can still see your profile photo and tap on it to open your chat.
Your profile photo will not have the status ring/indicator on it when status is hidden. But the contact can still tap the photo to access your chat and see your name, message history, etc.
Can you see a hidden status by removing the contact?
No, removing and re-adding the contact will not allow you to view their hidden status updates. The status privacy settings are tied to your phone number, not your contact profile on someone else’s phone.
So if you remove the contact and then add them back, their status updates will remain hidden from you. The only way to see their status is if that person changes the privacy setting to include you again.
What happens if you delete a contact who hid status from you?
If you delete a contact who has hidden their status from you, here is what happens:
- Your chat history with that person will be deleted when you delete the contact.
- If you add them back later, their status will remain hidden from you.
- If that person posts a new status update in between, you will not be notified and will not see it.
So deleting the contact does not reset the status privacy settings. Those settings remain tied to your number unless changed by the other person.
Can someone on Android hide status from iOS or vice versa?
Yes, the ability to hide WhatsApp status works between Android and iOS users. You can hide your status from a contact using an iPhone while you use an Android phone, and vice versa.
The status privacy settings sync across platforms using your phone number. So you can hide your status from specific contacts regardless of what device they are using.
Does the contact still see your live location?
If you have live location sharing enabled with a contact, hiding your status does not affect that. They can still see your real-time location even if your status updates are hidden.
Location sharing has separate privacy settings. So you may want to turn off live location as well if you do not want that contact seeing your location.
Can you hide status from groups?
WhatsApp does not currently allow you to hide your status updates from entire groups. The status privacy settings only work on individual contacts.
If you have a group with someone you hid your status from, your updates will be hidden from that person but visible to other members of the group.
What happens in group chats?
In group chats you have in common with a hidden contact, they will see your name without the “online” indicator text under it. So they cannot see when you are actively online in that group.
When you post in the group, the hidden contact can still see the messages like normal. Your status hiding only prevents them from viewing your status updates specifically.
Can someone who hid their status from you see yours?
Yes, hiding status only goes one way. If Person A hides their status from Person B, Person A can still see Person B’s status. Person B simply has no access to view Person A’s status updates.
So if someone hid their status from you, they can continue viewing your status normally while theirs remains hidden from you.
What are the reasons to hide your status?
Here are some common reasons people hide their WhatsApp status from specific contacts:
- Privacy – Don’t want certain people seeing your status activity and updates.
- Avoid unwanted attention – Some may continuously view your status and you want to avoid that.
- Appear offline – Hide from some contacts to seem “offline” while appearing active to others.
- Personal preference – Don’t feel comfortable sharing status updates with certain contacts.
- Show exclusivity – Share updates with only your inner circle.
- Bad relationship – Hide from someone you are not on good terms with.
- Remove distractions – Hide from contacts that distract you by frequently viewing your status.
The status privacy setting gives you control over who can view your updates.
Does hiding status mute notifications as well?
No, hiding your status only prevents the contact from seeing your status updates. It does not mute or block notifications from that person.
You will still get notifications for incoming calls and messages as normal. The only difference is your status updates will be hidden.
To mute notifications, you need to mute the chat or conversation separately. Hiding status does not automatically mute notifications.
Can you hide status from strangers and businesses?
WhatsApp gives you the option to hide your status from all contacts except the ones you select. This allows you to hide your status from numbers that are not in your address book.
To do this:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Status.
- Tap “My Contacts Except…”
- Select the contacts you want to see your status.
This will hide your status from all numbers not in your contacts, businesses, and unknown senders. You can also choose to hide from “All Contacts” to only share with specific people.
Does hiding status save data?
Hiding your status from some contacts can help limit data usage since it prevents media-heavy updates like photos and videos from loading for those contacts.
By hiding status from people who view them frequently, you may see minor data savings by not having to upload status updates that they can view.
However, the data savings are minimal compared to reducing your own status posting activity. Who views your status causes very little additional data usage compared to uploading your own status updates.
Can you get in trouble for hiding status?
Using the status privacy setting as intended does not get you in trouble. You have the option to choose who sees your status, so hiding it from some contacts is not an issue.
Where it may become problematic is if you hide your status from your significant other to hide inappropriate activity. Doing so may understandably upset them and raise trust issues.
But in general, hiding status from some contacts is not a problem – it’s your personal preference and right to choose who sees your updates.