On WhatsApp, you can see the status updates of all your contacts who have shared their status, except for those you have blocked or who have blocked you. The visibility of status updates depends on your privacy settings and your contacts’ settings.
Who can see your status updates
When you share a status on WhatsApp, you have control over who can view it. You can choose between three options:
- My Contacts: Only the contacts saved in your phone’s address book can see your status update.
- My Contacts Except: All contacts can see your status except those you exclude.
- Only Share With: You select individual contacts who can view your status.
The default setting is My Contacts, which shares your status with everyone in your contacts list. To change this, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Status > choose who can see my status.
Seeing someone’s status updates
Whether you can view a contact’s status depends on their privacy setting for status sharing and your relationship with that contact.
- If a contact has set their status to be visible to My Contacts Except, you won’t see it if you are on their exceptions list.
- If a contact has set status to be visible to Only Share With and has not included you in that list, you cannot see their status.
- If you have blocked a contact, you cannot see their status updates.
- If a contact has blocked you, you cannot see their status updates.
Apart from these exceptions, you can view the status of all your other contacts who actively update their status on WhatsApp.
Seeing status updates of non-contacts
By default, you cannot see the status updates of people not saved in your contacts. However, there are a couple of cases where you can view non-contacts’ statuses:
- If you have the phone number of someone not in your contacts but they have settings to My Contacts, you’ll be able to see their status updates.
- If someone in your contacts has shared a status update of a non-contact, you can view the non-contact’s status through that shared update for the next 24 hours.
Media visibility in status updates
Along with controlling who can see your text status updates, you can also choose who sees the media (photos/videos) you share to your status.
To do this, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Status > Who can see my media. Choose from:
- Everyone: All your contacts can see the photos/videos in your status updates.
- My Contacts: Only your contacts can see the media you share in status updates.
- None: You can share text status updates but no media.
So if you set media visibility to My Contacts, non-contacts will be able to view your text status updates if your settings allow, but not the media. With Everyone, even non-contacts can see the photos/videos you post.
Seeing status updates of groups
Similar to individual contacts, you will be able to view the status update of a WhatsApp group only if:
- You are a member of the group.
- The group has not blocked you.
- You have not muted notifications for the group.
The group admin sets the privacy for status updates under Group Settings > Status Privacy. The available options are:
- Only Admins: Only group admins can share status updates for the group.
- All Participants: Any group member can update status for the group.
So as a group member, you can view the group’s status updates only if the status privacy is set to All Participants.
Turning off status updates
If you don’t want anyone to see your status for a while, you can turn off status sharing:
- Android: Tap More Options > Settings > Account > Privacy > Status > No One.
- iPhone: Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Status > Off.
You can turn status sharing back on at any time by selecting an option other than Off or No One.
Deleting status updates
Your status updates automatically disappear after 24 hours. But you can also manually delete a status update:
- Android: Go to your profile and tap on the status update you want to delete > Delete.
- iPhone: Go to Settings > Privacy > Status Privacy > tap the three dots next to a status update > Delete.
Once deleted, the status update disappears from WhatsApp for you and your contacts.
Blocking someone from seeing your status
If you don’t want a specific contact seeing your status updates, you can block them:
- Android: Go to their chat > More > Block.
- iPhone: Go to their chat > tap contact’s name > Block Contact.
Blocked contacts cannot see your profile picture, about info, or status updates. To unblock them later, follow the same steps and tap Unblock.
Reporting inappropriate status updates
While most people share status updates in good faith, sometimes inappropriate content is posted. If you see a status update that goes against WhatsApp’s terms of service, you can report it to WhatsApp:
- Android: Open the status update > tap More > Report.
- iPhone: Open the status update > tap and hold on it > Report.
WhatsApp will review the reported status and take appropriate action if it violates their policies.
Limitations of WhatsApp Status
While WhatsApp status updates have their uses, they have some limitations:
- Only the latest status is shown, previous ones disappear.
- Limited to photos, short videos (up to 30 secs), and text.
- Status updates only last 24 hours.
- Can’t post status when your phone is on Do Not Disturb.
- Notifications for status updates are muted by default.
For these reasons, some users prefer sharing moments that they want to persist on other social media platforms instead.
Conclusion
WhatsApp gives you complete control over who can view your status updates. While your contacts may be able to see your status by default, you can change this anytime by tweaking privacy settings. To see someone’s status, they must have a privacy setting that allows you to view it. Blocked contacts and non-contacts usually cannot see your status or have theirs seen. Overall, setting clear status privacy rules helps avoid misunderstandings on who can see what on WhatsApp.