They also allow contacts to see your status updates, and any users can add you to groups. Jump to
WhatsApp is the mobile messaging app that allows you to send text messages and make phone calls and video calls to friends and family in different countries without paying international fees.
By default, the app has specific privacy settings in place that allow any user to see when you've last used the app (last seen), your profile photo, your "about" information, and read receipts. They also allow contacts to see your status updates, and any users can add you to groups.
If you'd like more privacy on the app, these settings can be changed at any time. Here's how to do it.
1. Open the WhatsApp app.
2. Tap the gear "Settings" icon in the bottom menu.
3. Tap "Account."
You can find the Account menu in Settings above the Chats icon. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Business Insider4. Choose "Privacy."
Privacy settings are the first option under the Account menu.
Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Business Insider 5. Tap on the privacy setting you want to change, including Last Seen, Profile Photo, About, Groups, and My Status.
Quick tip: If you turn off read receipts, you won't be able to view read receipts for other users. You also cannot turn off read receipts for group chats.
There are numerous privacy settings you can adjust to keep yourself hidden on WhatsApp. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Business InsiderQuick tip: If you make your "last seen" information private, you won't be able to view the "last seen" for other users.
6. Select a group from the list of options for that setting:
While the above are your main privacy control settings, consider a few WhatsApp tools and features that may help maintain your privacy while using the app.
Abigail Abesamis Demarest
Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a contributing writer for Insider based in New York.
She loves a good glazed donut and nerdy deep dives into the science of food and how it's made.
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WhatsApp is among the best instant messengers out there, and if you are using it, there are some steps you should take to protect your security and privacy. This is above and beyond WhatsApp's built-in end-to-end encryption, enabled by default.
The encryption ensures that your messages can only be read on the recipient's phone. It's the same for voice calls and video calls, both of which are encrypted. However, here are key tips to help improve your WhatsApp privacy and security.
Even though WhatsApp encrypts all chats by default, sometimes you also want to be sure that there's no copy of your conversation in the future. This helps ensure that even if your device or the recipient's device falls into bad hands, you can be certain that none of your secret conversations can be seen.
WhatsApp's disappearing messages feature ensures that exchanged messages are automatically deleted for everyone after a specific period.
To activate Disappearing messages in a given chat, tap the contact's name at the top and select Disappearing messages. Next, choose a period after which a message will be deleted.
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Turn On Security Code Change Notifications On WhatsApp, you can verify whether your chats are end-to-end encrypted using security codes. In the contact info screen, you can view these codes as a QR code or a 60-digit number.
When a new phone or laptop accesses an existing chat, a new security code is generated for both phones. And WhatsApp can send a notification when the security code changes. This way, you can check the encryption with your friend over a different messenger, ensuring its security.
To turn on security code change notifications, go to WhatsApp > Settings > Account > Security > Show security notifications and flip the toggle to green.
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On Android, tap Settings > Account > Security Notifications and toggle on Show Security Notifications on This Phone.
If a service supports it, you should be using two-factor authentication (2FA).
This adds a periodic passcode to WhatsApp, bolstering security by ensuring your data isn't accessed by someone else. You can enable 2FA on WhatsApp, across all supported platforms.
With 2FA, WhatsApp allows you to create a six-digit PIN code that you can easily remember. Importantly, add your email address to retrieve that code in case you forget it. To reduce the chances of forgetting your code, WhatsApp has random, periodic checks for the passcode prompting you to enter it when you open the app. But that's not 2FA's purpose, anyway.
The purpose is to stop someone else from accessing your WhatsApp account without your consent, even if they have access to your number, like in SIM swap scams.
Another cool feature to improve the privacy of your WhatsApp messages is to lock the app with your fingerprint or face. This ensures that only you can access WhatsApp even if you give someone else your device without a screenlock.
The only catch is this feature is only available on phones with facial or fingerprint verification. As such, there's no way to lock your WhatsApp app with a password. You'll have to use a third-party locking app if that's what you want.
On Android, you can lock your WhatsApp app by hitting the three-dot menu in the top right, selecting Settings > Privacy > Fingerprint lock, then toggling Unlock with fingerprint. You'll then be asked to add a fingerprint, and then you can select the standby time before WhatsApp is automatically locked.
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On iOS, go to Settings > Privacy > Screen Lock and toggle on Require Touch ID or Require Face ID. Finally, select the time standby time before WhatsApp automatically locks.
The end-to-end encryption is awesome, but there's one loophole: WhatsApp backs up chats to Google Drive or iCloud.
That way, if you reinstall it later, you can retrieve your old messages. But this backup isn't encrypted by default.
So if you really care about your privacy, you must enable end-to-end encryption for your WhatsApp backups. Remember, storing your data with Apple and Google might not protect you against eavesdropping by governments.
On Android, tap the three-dot menu in the top right and select Settings > Chats > Chat backup > End-to-end encrypted backup > Turn on. You can do the same on iPhone by going to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end encrypted backup > Turn on.
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On the next page, select one of the two methods (password or encryption key) that you prefer and finish the setup by following the guidance.
Since it's an instant messenger, you might get some scams on WhatsApp periodically.
You need to know some of the popular ones and not fall for them. Socially engineered attacks are one way your WhatsApp messages can be hacked.
The most persistent ones talk about a premium version of WhatsApp, "WhatsApp Gold," or your account expiring. No matter how it's worded, the scam is about making you pay for WhatsApp. It shouldn't need to be said, but don't ever pay money for WhatsApp. The company has made it clear that WhatsApp will forever be free.
Read up on the most common WhatsApp scams and how to recognize and avoid WhatsApp spam, so you know what to avoid.
To use WhatsApp on your computer, you need to link your phone with WhatsApp Web or the WhatsApp desktop apps. To be on the safe side, get the official desktop app. Unlike Android and iOS, where app stores are tightly regulated, the wider internet is less regulated.
You, therefore, might be tricked into accessing malicious websites masquerading as WhatsApp Web.
There have also been some instances in the past of hackers creating malicious software that is advertised as WhatsApp desktop apps. These are two of the common WhatsApp security threats you should beware of.
To avoid such cases, use WhatsApp's official desktop clients. Sure, there could be better options than the official WhatsApp desktop client, but don't trade in security for a few extra features.
Download: WhatsApp for Windows | Mac (Free)
WhatsApp isn't the most private messenger out there, but it gives users at least some control. Go to Settings > Account > Privacy to see everything at your disposal.
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You can control who can see your WhatsApp Last Seen and online status, Profile photo, About, Status, and Live location. You can also turn off Read receipts here, so the blue check marks are switched off, and even adjust who can add you to groups.
Additionally, use the Disappearing message timer to set a default timer when you enable the feature in a given chat.
There's no recommendation here; you can choose what works best for you.
Even with all these features, you should know that WhatsApp isn't completely secure. There are other more secure communication apps you can try instead. But for 99 percent of regular users, WhatsApp's security protocols should be good enough.
It happens that you need to temporarily disable all applications and notifications from them, but somehow you don’t want to delete them and reinstall them. Therefore, now we will tell you how to log out of WhatsApp for a certain period without losing messages and other data.
First, let's look at how to log out of WhatsApp on your phone. In fact, there are several such methods, we will try to list them all.
So how do you exit the application without losing anything. If you are just afraid that by closing WhatsApp you will miss new messages, then you should know that notifications will come to your phone even after that. All applications in modern gadgets by default work in the "smart background" (not to be confused with the smartphone itself) - a special mode in which the application "sleeps" until you receive a message on it. Then it wakes up and sends you a notification about it. This option is needed so that the program does not run constantly in the background, mercilessly devouring the battery of your device.
Therefore, you can safely close WhatsApp and not be afraid that you will miss something important. However, this function may work slightly incorrectly on some phones, it all depends on the developers. If you always need to stay in touch 100%, you can put WhatsApp to work in the background. You can do this in your phone's settings.
If you are determined to log out of WhatsApp or disable the app temporarily to save data or battery power, there are two things you need to know:
You can sign out of WhatsApp so that no one sees that you are online. You can do this in the settings of the messenger. Just note that if no one sees you online, you won't be able to see others online either.
To be sure that you are definitely out of WhatsApp, turn it off in your phone's task manager. Just go into it and stop all processes.
Now let's take a look at the individual options for the various systems. Let's start with how to log out of WhatsApp on Android:
To hide your status and still see everyone else, you can use third-party programs. Now let's take a closer look at ways to log out of WhatsApp on iPhone:
The method of how to log out of WhatsApp on a computer is to do it from your phone:
And, of course, you can always just delete whatsapp from your computer.
We have already written about how to leave a WhatsApp group. We recommend that you read the article, everything is written there in more detail. But the standard algorithm is usually this:
Done. Now you know how to log out of WhatsApp on any platform and in any situation.
QUESTION! Hello! Please tell me how can I log out of my WhatsApp account on my phone? I've looked all over the menu, but there is no exit button. There is only account deletion, but as I understand it, this is a complete deletion with data.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
QUICK ANSWER! There is no such button in the program. The thing is that in addition to the account and the program itself, it constantly accumulates additional data: chats, photos, audio messages, correspondence history, contacts. That is, we need to delete all this information before exiting. But so that it is not lost, we will additionally create a backup copy that can be used on another smartphone. Next, I will describe all the steps in more detail. If you have any questions during the process - write in the comments.
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Let's see how you can log out of WhatsApp without deleting your account.
The problem with the WhatsApp program is that you can’t just exit it. But we already understood it. But why? - the thing is that the program, when used, constantly stores various chat data. Periodically, a backup is saved to Google Cloud Storage on Android. Therefore, before leaving, we need to save the current data to the cloud - that is, make a backup copy. If you do not need a backup copy of all existing chats, you can skip this step and proceed to the next one.
After that, immediately click "Backup".
The first method is quite simple - we will simply delete all additional data that the program itself uses.
The item can be called differently, for example, "Memory" or "Data" (be guided by the logic of the section). Next, delete the storage or memory data.
The second method is simpler - to delete all data, we just need to delete the program itself. To do this, we find it on the desktop, then place any finger on top of the icon and wait until an additional menu with commands pops up. Select the "Delete" item. On some Android firmwares, a trash icon will appear on top - you need to drag the icon to the trash without releasing your finger and confirm the deletion. A window will pop up where you will be asked: “Delete application data?” - select "Yes".
On iPhone, you can log out of your WhatsApp account in the same way - hold your finger on top of the program icon. As soon as the icon starts shaking and a cross button appears, click on it!
Okay, we've logged out of the account, but how do we log back in now? - everything is done very simply.
This is much easier to do here - next to the chat, find three dots to open the menu.
