How to get rid of last seen on whatsapp


How to Hide Online Status on WhatsApp

  • You can hide online status on WhatsApp — known as Last Seen — in your Privacy settings. 
  • Choose whether only your contacts or nobody should see your Last Seen status.
  • You can also choose to exclude certain people from seeing your Last Seen status.

If you use WhatsApp regularly, chances are you've spotted the login status next to the name of some of your contacts. 

Though WhatsApp makes your online status visible to everyone by default, you can easily change it.

In fact, because WhatsApp has been known in the past for a variety of security and privacy issues, you may want to minimize your online footprint in the app. 

Quick tip: If you are looking for a messaging app that doesn't reveal your online status at all, consider trying Signal. For a direct comparison of Signal and WhatsApp, refer to our guide on these two apps. 

What is WhatsApp online status? 

WhatsApp online status allows users to see the last time their contacts were active on the platform and whether they are currently using the app.

When someone is online, it doesn't necessarily mean they've seen your message — it simply means they're currently using the app. 

Last Seen refers to the last time the person used WhatsApp and also doesn't mean that they have seen your most recent message. The only way to tell if someone has seen your message is the blue check marks beside the message.

If you don't want your WhatsApp contacts to know your Last Seen or online status, you can easily hide your status from everyone, make it available to only your contacts, or exclude certain contacts from seeing it through the app's settings.

Note: When you hide your own WhatsApp online status, you also can't view other people's statuses, though it's a more polite alternative to blocking someone outright.

The steps to hide your Last Seen or online status on WhatsApp are simple:

1. Start the WhatsApp app on your phone and go to Settings.

2. On the Privacy page, open Last Seen & Online.

3. Choose how you want to hide your Last Seen status.

Here's the full guide on how to hide your online status on WhatsApp:

How to hide WhatsApp online status 

1. Start WhatsApp and go to Settings. 

  • On iPhone, tap Settings (the gear icon) at the bottom.
Tap the gear icon to open WhatsApp's settings on iPhone. Dave Johnson/Insider
  • On Android, tap the More icon (the three vertical dots) at the top, and then select Settings in the menu.
Tap the three-dot menu to find Settings in WhatsApp for Android. Dave Johnson/Insider

2. On the Settings page, tap Privacy.

3. Tap Last Seen & Online to change your online status.

On the Privacy page, tap Last Seen & Online to control whether other people can see your online status. Dave Johnson/Insider

4. Everyone is probably already selected by default. Choose My Contacts, My Contacts Except, or Nobody to fine-tune who can see your status.

On this page, you can control when you were last see as well as who can see when you are actually online. Dave Johnson/Insider

My Contacts and Nobody is fairly self-explanatory; choose one of these to allow only your contacts or no one at all to see your online status. You can also choose My Contacts Except and select people who you don't want to see your "Last Seen" status. 

When you're finished, tap Done in the top right corner on iPhone or the check mark in the bottom right corner on Android. For a full overview of your options here, check out our guide to changing privacy settings in WhatsApp. 

Note: While hiding your Last Seen means people won't be able to see when you were last online, it will still show them when you're currently online. To tweak that setting, adjust the Who Can See When I'm Online option on the same page as Last Seen & Online.

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

Read moreRead less

How to Hide Your 'Last Seen' Status in WhatsApp

For a long time now, WhatsApp has included a feature that shows when a user was last online or last active on the messaging platform, which can be either helpful or a hindrance, depending on your personal or business situation.


As regular WhatsApp users will know, the "Last Seen" status of a contact sits atop the conversation thread, informing you when that contact last opened the app and was active on the platform. But if you don't want people to know when you were last active, WhatsApp includes a setting to hide your Last Seen status or limit its visibility to certain users.

You can set it so that your Last Seen status can be seen by everyone, no-one, or only your contacts. Just bear in mind that if your Last Seen is hidden from another person, you won't be able to see their Last Seen either. Here's how it works.

  1. Open the WhatsApp app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap the Settings icon in the bottom-right.
  3. Tap Account.
  4. Tap Privacy.

  5. Tap Last Seen.
  6. Tap to select Everyone, My Contacts, or Nobody.

WhatsApp is currently working on giving users the option to adjust the visibility of their Last Seen status on a contact-by-contact basis, according to a September 2021 report, although the option has yet to be rolled out as of writing.

At the end of 2021, WhatsApp also made a privacy change to prevent people on its messaging platform from viewing the Last Seen status of users whom they have never chatted with, however people and businesses a user knows or has previously messaged are not affected by the change.

Tag: WhatsApp

iPhone 15 Pro's Next-Gen Chip Capabilities Expected to Spark Upgrade Demand Among Current iPhone Owners

Thursday March 2, 2023 4:08 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 Pro models may spark a "replacement demand" among owners of older iPhones, due to the significant improvements enabled by the A17 processor, Apple's first iPhone chip based on TSMC's first-generation 3-nanometer process. That's according to suppliers involved in Apple's iPhone supply chain. Quoting from the latest DigiTimes industry report: TSMC's N3E (3nm...

Sources: Apple Planning Product Briefing Next Week as iPhone 14 Rumored to Launch in Yellow

Friday March 3, 2023 7:35 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple plans to make the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus available in Yellow this spring, according to a Weibo post shared by Japanese blog Mac Otakara. However, we cannot independently confirm if the Weibo account has a proven track record. Multiple sources informed MacRumors that Apple's PR team is planning a product briefing next week. Apple announced new Green colors for the iPhone 13 series ...

Apple Rumored to Announce 15-Inch MacBook Air and More in March to April

Friday March 3, 2023 1:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol

The calendar has turned to March and Apple is rumored to have at least three product announcements planned between now and the end of April, including a 15-inch MacBook Air, a new Mac Pro tower, and a new iPhone 14 color option. Below, we have recapped what to expect from Apple this March and April based on rumors. This story was originally published in February and has been updated with new ...

iPhone 15 Pro Could Feature Solid-State Unified Volume Rocker, Mute Button Instead of Switch

Friday March 3, 2023 4:05 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Multiple rumors have indicated that a handful of design changes are coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max, but one that until now has gone under the radar is the possibility that the volume controls on the side of the device will be a single unified rocker button. As noted by YouTuber ZoneOfTech on Twitter, Apple typically uses two pins to attach each button to the chassis, but ...

Apple Increases Trade-In Values for Select iPhones, iPads and Macs

Wednesday March 1, 2023 10:35 am PST by Juli Clover

Apple today announced increased trade-in values for a limited number of older iPhone models in an effort to encourage customers to upgrade to the iPhone 14 lineup. Trade-in values have gone up for the iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and iPhone 7 Plus, with the new pricing listed below. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Up to $600 (vs. $570) iPhone 13 Pro: Up to $500 (vs. $470) iPhone 13: Up to ...

Apple Permanently Closes North Carolina Store After Multiple Shooting Incidents

Wednesday March 1, 2023 5:08 pm PST by Juli Clover

Apple is closing its Northlake Mall location in Charlotte, North Carolina, after multiple shootings in the area, according to a report from Bloomberg. Employees were informed that the location would be shutting down immediately, even though it was open on Wednesday morning. Apple's website for Northlake Mall store now says that the store will be permanently closing on Wednesday, March 1 at...

How to make Whatsapp not see you online?