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How to hide online time on whatsapp android


How to Hide Your 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.

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.

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

1. Open WhatsApp on your phone and head to the settings.

2. Open the account settings, and then head to the privacy settings.

3. Go to the Last Seen settings.

4. Tap either My Contacts, My Contacts Except, or Nobody to 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. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone or Android.

2. Go to your WhatsApp settings.

  • On iPhone, tap Settings – the gear icon – in the bottom right corner.
Tap the gear icon to access WhatsApp's settings on iPhone. Stefan Ionescu
  • On Android, tap the More icon – the three vertical dots – in the top right corner, and then select Settings in the menu.
Tap the three vertical dots to access WhatsApp's settings on Android. Stefan Ionescu

3. In Settings, tap Account.

4. On the Account page, tap Privacy.

5. Tap Last Seen to change your online status.

Tap "Last Seen." Stefan Ionescu

6. You have two options to hide your online or Last Seen status — you can choose for only My Contacts to see your status or for Nobody to see your status.

You can also choose My Contacts Except and select people from your contacts list who you don't want to see your "Last Seen" status. Then, tap Done in the top right corner on iPhone or the check mark in the bottom right corner on Android.

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.

7. Once you've made a selection, your online or Last Seen status will be visible to just your contacts, no one at all, or the contacts you didn't exclude, depending on your selection.

Meira Gebel

Meira Gebel is a freelance reporter based in Portland, Oregon. She writes about business, culture, and technology for Insider. Her work has been featured in Digital Trends, Willamette Week, USA Today, and more. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and San Francisco State University.  Feel free to reach out to her on Twitter, where she can be found most of the time, @MeiraGebel.

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How to Hide Your Online Status on WhatsApp (Android, iOS, and Web)

The Meta-owned messaging giant has been trying to make it easier to use WhatsApp on multiple devices (without internet on the primary device) and transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone. But, over the past year or so, users have started giving importance to privacy online. It has forced the company to rethink its privacy policy, and it’s now testing new features to fulfill these needs. Now, a common gripe most users have with WhatsApp is that you appear online even when you open the app for a split second. And it makes others think you are active and available to chat when that might not be the case. If you are facing this issue and want to appear offline on WhatsApp, it’s easier to do than you think. In this guide, we have explained how to hide your last seen and online status while chatting on WhatsApp. It will help safeguard your privacy and keep snoopy individuals at bay, so let’s get started.

We have explained the step-by-step process (with pictures) to turn off your last seen and online status on WhatsApp in this guide. We have even added an unofficial tool you can use to hide the online status on WhatsApp Web. Use the table below to check out the method suitable for your needs.

Table of Contents

How to Hide Last Seen on WhatsApp (Android)

Before you can hide your online status in the messaging app, you first need to learn how to turn off your last seen status on WhatsApp. And here’s what that process looks like:

1. Open WhatsApp and tap on the ellipses (three dot) icon at the top right corner. Then, select the “Settings” option.

2. Next, navigate to “Account -> Privacy” to access the last seen status setting.

3. Now, tap on the “Last seen and online” privacy setting. After that, select “Nobody” under the “Who can see my last seen” option to hide when you were last online on the messaging app from everyone.

Note: You can also select the “My contacts except..” option if you wish the last seen time to be displayed to select people in your contacts list.

How to Hide Online Status on WhatsApp (Android)

Now that you know how to hide the last seen time on your WhatsApp account, you can also choose who can view whether you are online on the messaging app or not. Here’s how you can appear offline on WhatsApp for everyone but still continue to text whoever you like:

Note: The ability to hide your online status is only available to WhatsApp beta testers on Android and iOS at the moment. For this guide, we used WhatsApp version 2.22.21.12 on the OnePlus 9RT running Android 12.

On the same settings page as the “Last Seen” status, you will now see a new “Who can see when I’m online” option. You just need to select “Same as last seen” here.

And now, if you have selected “Nobody” as the “Last Seen” status, then no one will be able to see the “Online” text under your name in the chat window when using WhatsApp. This way, no one will be able to snoop on your online messaging activity and question why you are not replying to them even though you are active.

How to Hide Last Seen on WhatsApp (iPhone)

The steps to disable the last seen status in Meta’s messaging app on iPhone are pretty much the same as Android, so let’s look at how to go about it:

  1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone and tap on “Settings” in the bottom navigation bar. Then, move to the “Account” settings.

2. Next, move to “Privacy -> Last Seen & Online” under the “Account” settings.

Note: The “Last Seen & Online” setting and the option to hide them is only available in WhatsApp beta versions right now. You will only see the option to disable “Last Seen” on your device.

3. Finally, select “Nobody” under the “Who Can See My Last Seen” option to hide your activity on WhatsApp. Now, other users will not be able to see when you were last online and using the messaging app.

How to Hide Online Status on WhatsApp (iPhone)

Similar to the Android settings, you will have to select the “Same as last seen” option under the “Who can see when I’m online” section in the privacy settings. Note: Since this feature is only available to beta testers at the moment, we tried it out on WhatsApp beta version 2.22.20.75 on iPhone 11 running iOS 16.

Also, as you can see in the screenshot, WhatsApp mentions that disabling the last seen and online options for yourself would mean that you won’t be able to see the status of other users.

How to Hide Last Seen and Online on WhatsApp PC

Now, if you are someone who relies on WhatsApp Web to communicate with friends and family, there’s nothing to worry about, as you can turn off your last seen and online status there as well. On your Mac, Linux, or Windows PC, here’s how you can hide the last seen status:

Hide Last Seen Status on WhatsApp Web

1. WhatsApp Web includes an official way to disable the last seen status, and it is similar to the Android and iPhone versions. So, open the web app, click the three dot (ellipses) icon and select “Settings” from the dropdown.

2. Then, click on “Privacy” under the Settings menu.

3. After that, head to the “Last seen” privacy setting.

4. Next, as we did in the Android and iOS sections, select “Nobody” under the “Last Seen” setting to stop sharing the exact time when you last opened WhatsApp to check your messages.

Hide Online Status on WhatsApp Web

5. Now, the ability to hide your online status is yet to officially reach the web version of WhatsApp, but you can use a third-party tool for the time being. So let’s take a look at how it works.

6. First, download the WA Web Plus for WhatsApp extension from the Chrome Web Store (visit). It’s a popular Chrome extension with a stellar 4.6 rating and 21,000 reviews. Click the “Add to Chrome” button to install the extension.

7. Once the extension is installed, click the “Extension” icon to the right of the address bar and select “WA Web Plus for WhatsApp” from the dropdown menu.

8. The extension settings will now open up. Under the “Enhancements” tab, enable the “Hide online status (Invisible Mode)” option to appear offline while chatting. You can also enable the “Hide typing status” to further make your activity private on WhatsApp.

Note: It takes a couple of seconds for the extension to become active after you open WhatsApp Web on your desktop, so you will appear online for a second or two. We suggest you wait a little before you go ahead and start typing messages to your contacts.

And that’s it. People will no longer see the “Online” tag under your contact name when you are using the messaging app. They would not even see the typing indicator if you enable the said feature and use the web app for all communication purposes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does online on WhatsApp mean they are talking to someone?

The online status under a contact’s name indicates that they are currently using WhatsApp, but it doesn’t explicitly mean they are talking to someone. They could have just left the messaging app open on their phone. Or could be checking Status updates, setting up fingerprint lock on WhatsApp, and more.

Can I hide when I’m online on WhatsApp?

WhatsApp not only allows you to disable your last seen status but hide your online status as well. That means you can use the messaging app without worrying about others seeing you are active on WhatsApp.

Learn How to Appear Offline on WhatsApp

So yeah, these are all the methods you can use to prevent someone from seeing that you are online on WhatsApp in 2022. You can uphold your privacy while chatting on the messaging app and appear offline to all users. However, remember that you will also not be able to view their online status once you enable this privacy setting. Though, you can always retrace your steps to turn off the feature. Also, we suggest using the WhatsApp Web extension to hide your online status right now instead of waiting for the feature to graduate out of beta. So, did this guide prove helpful for you? Let us know in the comments below.

How to hide visiting time on WhatsApp: detailed instructions for Android and iOS

Contents

  • 1 How to hide visiting time on WhatsApp in the program settings in WhatsApp settings on Android
  • 1.2 On an iOS phone
    • 1.2.1 Video: how to hide visiting time in WhatsApp on iPhone
  • 2 or multiple contacts
    • 2. 1 On Android
    • 2.2 On iPhone

    • In the factory settings of WhatsApp, the display of the time and date of the last visit is enabled for all users of the service. However, users have the right to disable this time when there is such a need: if, for example, you do not want someone to follow you. How to do it on different mobile platforms? What methods exist?

    How to hide visiting time in WhatsApp in the program settings

    Showing the time of the last visit is disabled free of charge in the regular settings of the messenger.

    However, in this case, you lose the right to see the time of visiting other users of the service.

    Another important point is that by hiding the time, you will not turn off the display of the statuses "Online" and "Printing".

    On an Android smartphone

    Where to go and what to change to turn off the time in the messenger on Android:

    1. Launch the utility - immediately tap on the three dots in the upper right corner. In the white menu, click on "Settings".
    In the messenger menu, tap on "Settings"

    Expand the first block with "Account" parameters.

    Click on the first line "Account"

    Go to the section to configure privacy.

    Go to the "Privacy" block

    Click on the parameter "Visiting time".

    Expand the "Time of visit" item to change the default value

    In the new small box, highlight the desired value: "My contacts" or "No one". In the first case, the time and date of your last visit will be visible to people from your phone book. In the second, the information will not be shown to any user.

    Set either "My contacts" or "No one"
    Video: remove the last visit time in the WhatsApp settings on Android

    On an iOS phone

    The WhatsApp interface for Android and iOS is different, so for Apple phones will have a separate instruction:

    1. Go to the last tab "Settings" on the bottom panel with section names. Expand the item for account settings.
    Go to the "Account" section

    Open the first menu "Privacy".

    Click on the first item "Privacy"

    Tap on the line "Visiting time".

    Expand the Visit time parameter

    Check the box to the right of My Contacts or Nobody.

    Click on the third value "Nobody"

    In the "Privacy" menu, you can at the same time deactivate read reports - the interlocutors will not see that you have read their message.

    You can optionally turn off read receipts so users don't know if you've read their messages or not
    Video: how to hide visiting time in WhatsApp on iPhone

    Another way to turn off the time is to block one or more contacts

    If you are basically not going to communicate with a person and do not want him to follow your visits " Vastapa", add it to the blacklist. This method disables the display of time pointwise - for certain users of the service. In this case, you will see information from other users, but you will not be able to contact the contact that you have blocked through this messenger until you remove it from the black list.

    The user will not receive any notification that you have blocked them. He will be able to guess about the bath only by indirect signs.

    A blocked contact does not have the right to know when you last logged into WhatsApp

    On Android

    How to ban a contact in the messenger on Android:

    1. In the same "Privacy" section in the application settings, tap on the line " Blocked".
    Go to the "Blocked" section

    The list may already show some users that you have previously blacklisted. Click on the profile with a plus at the top right. Select the contact you want to block from the list.

    Click on the plus at the top to add a contact from the address book to the blacklist

    Or, directly in the dialogue with the user, tap on the icon with three dots at the top right and in the menu give the command "Block".

    You can ban a person directly from the chat menu

    On iPhone

    How to add a person to the black list on iOS:

    1. Go to the "Privacy" block in the settings (in the "Account" section). Open the currently empty "Blocked" list.
    Go to the section with blocked users in the "Privacy" section

    Click on the "Add new" link.

    Tap on "Add new" and find the desired contact in the list

    In the list of your contacts, find and select the person to whom you do not want to show the time of your last visit. If the person is not in your address book on your phone, tap on the phone number in the correspondence with the contact and on the next page click on "Block".

    Go to the person's profile in WhatsApp and click on the "Block contact" option there. Its disadvantage is that you will not see the time of visits of your contacts. If you want to disable the display of your visit time for specific contacts, you will have to block them. You will not be able to send messages and call them while they are on your black list.

    • Author: Ekaterina Vasilyeva