Whatsapp allows you to choose exactly who can view your status updates. By default, your status is shared with all of your contacts. However, you can limit visibility to only specific people by customizing your privacy settings.
Overview of Whatsapp Status Privacy Settings
Whatsapp gives you three options for controlling who can see your status updates:
- My Contacts: Your status updates will be visible to all contacts in your address book.
- 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.
“My Contacts” is the default setting. This shares your status with everyone in your contacts list. The “My Contacts Except…” and “Only Share With…” options give you more control over status privacy.
How to Share Your Whatsapp Status With Only Specific Contacts
Follow these steps to limit your Whatsapp status visibility to certain contacts:
- Open Whatsapp and tap the three dot menu in the top right corner.
- Select Settings > Account > Privacy.
- Tap Status.
- Select “Only share with…”
- Tap the “+” icon and select the contacts you want to share your status with from your contacts list.
- Confirm your selection by tapping the check mark icon.
That’s it! Now when you post a status update, it will only be visible to the contacts you selected. Everyone else will not be able to view your status.
How to Stop Sharing Your Status With Specific Contacts
You can also do the reverse and stop sharing your status with certain contacts while still sharing it with everyone else. Here’s how:
- Open Whatsapp and tap the three dot menu.
- Select Settings > Account > Privacy > Status.
- Tap “My Contacts Except…”
- Select the contacts you want to block from seeing your status.
- Confirm your selection.
This will prevent the contacts you excluded from viewing your status, while still allowing all your other contacts to see it.
Things to Know About Whatsapp Status Privacy
- Contacts won’t be notified when you stop sharing your status with them. The status will simply disappear from their view.
- If you stop sharing your status with someone, any past status updates they could previously view will also disappear.
- You can change your status privacy settings at any time to add or remove contacts.
- If you post a status mentioning someone, they will be able to view it even if your privacy is set to exclude them.
- Anyone you directly share a status update with using the share button can view it regardless of your privacy settings.
- If you save someone’s status that later gets privacy restricted, you’ll still be able to view the saved status in your gallery.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know who can see my status updates?
Open your status privacy settings and look at which option is selected – “My Contacts”, “My Contacts Except…”, or “Only Share With…”. This shows exactly who your status updates are visible to.
Can I choose different privacy settings for different status updates?
No, your status privacy settings apply to all status updates. You can’t set a custom audience on a per-update basis.
What happens if I post a status and then change my privacy settings?
Changing your privacy settings only affects new status updates going forward. It does not retroactively apply to statuses you already posted.
Can I prevent specific groups or contacts from seeing my status indefinitely?
Yes, by using the “My Contacts Except…” option you can permanently exclude specific contacts or groups from seeing your status updates now and in the future.
If I share a status mentioning someone, who can see it?
If you mention someone in a status update, it will be visible to both that person and the audience your privacy settings allow. Mentions override your default privacy.
Can I prevent someone from saving my status updates?
No, you cannot prevent someone from taking screenshots or otherwise saving your status updates if they can view them. Your only option is to restrict who can view the status in the first place.
The Benefits of Customizing Your WhatsApp Status Privacy
Adjusting your WhatsApp status privacy settings gives you more control over who can view your updates. Here are some of the benefits:
- You can share personal or sensitive updates only with your closest contacts.
- You can avoid acquaintances or contacts seeing statuses they may take out of context.
- You can test status updates with a smaller audience before sharing more widely.
- You can permanently block specific contacts from accessing your status if desired.
- Granular privacy settings let you share statuses broadly while excluding specific people.
Overall, customizing your status privacy in WhatsApp is an easy way to stay in control of who sees your updates. The ability to segment audiences for status sharing makes the feature more useful and powerful.
Conclusion
WhatsApp offers flexible options for controlling status privacy. You can share status updates with all contacts, selected contacts only, or all contacts except a custom exclude list. Adjusting these settings is simple and lets you target status sharing more precisely. Understanding the ins and outs of WhatsApp status privacy gives you greater command over who views your personal updates.