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How to set last seen on whatsapp


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

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How to Freeze "Last Seen" on WhatsApp in 4 Easy Steps

Privacy settings are important especially for messaging apps like WhatsApp.

WhatsApp has a lot of privacy features—end-to-end encryption, stored messages, and more.

You’re also given the ability to control your privacy via your settings.

For instance, if you don’t want others to know when you were last online on WhatsApp, you can freeze/hide your “Last Seen” status.

Things can get awkward if someone knows when you were last online on WhatsApp.

In the event that someone sent you a message while you’re online on WhatsApp, they would expect an immediate reply.

However, you might not be able to think of a reply right off the bat.

If you don’t reply, they might think that you’re intentionally ignoring them—which is not necessarily the case.

To avoid all that tension, you can freeze your “Last Seen” status on WhatsApp using the 4-step guide below.

  1. How to Freeze “Last Seen” on WhatsApp
  2. How do I freeze my last seen on WhatsApp on iPhone?
  3. Can you freeze your timestamp on WhatsApp?
  4. Is it possible to show the wrong last seen on WhatsApp?

How to Freeze “Last Seen” on WhatsApp

To freeze your “Last Seen” on WhatsApp, you need to navigate to your privacy settings.

Once you’re on your privacy settings, you can freeze your “Last Seen” by changing it to “Nobody”.

Freezing your “Last Seen” will prevent others from knowing when you were last online on WhatsApp.

However, you won’t be able to see when they were last online as well.

So, before you decide to freeze your “Last Seen”, keep in mind that you won’t be able to see other people’s “Last Seen”.

That being said, there is a trick that you can use to see when someone was last online on WhatsApp while your “Last Seen” is hidden.

In a nutshell, the trick is to switch your “Last Seen” privacy setting to “Everyone” to see someone’s online status and quickly switch it back to “Nobody” again.

That way, you’ll be able to see when someone was last online on WhatsApp if they didn’t hide it.

Anyhow, below is a step-by-step guide on how you can freeze your “Last Seen” on WhatsApp.

Step #1: Go to WhatsApp Settings

Open WhatsApp > Settings > Account.

Firstly, open WhatsApp on your mobile device.

Then, tap on the Settings icon on the bottom navigation bar to go to your Settings.

Do note that you won’t be able to do this on WhatsApp web as the privacy setting is not available there.

Once you’re on the Settings page, you’ll see multiple tabs.

You can edit your profile, check your starred messages, scan the QR code for WhatsApp Web/Desktop, and more.

Below the “WhatsApp Web/Desktop” tab, you’ll see a tab that says “Account”.

Tap on “Account” to go to your account settings.

The account settings page allows you to edit your account’s privacy and security settings.

You’ve successfully navigated to your account settings.

In the next step, you’ll have to navigate to your privacy settings.

Step #2: Tap on “Privacy”

Account > Privacy.

Once you’ve tapped on the “Account” tab (from the previous step), you’ll land on your account settings.

On the account settings, you can set your privacy and security settings.

You can also request your account info or delete your account.

Tap on “Privacy” (the first tab) to go to your privacy settings.

The privacy settings are where the “Last Seen” setting is located.

You’ll be using it to hide your online status on WhatsApp.

You’ve successfully navigated to your privacy settings.

In the next step, you’ll learn how to navigate to the “Last Seen” setting to freeze it.

Step #3: Tap on “Last Seen”

Privacy > Last Seen.

Once you’ve tapped on the “Privacy” tab (from the previous step), you’ll land on your privacy settings.

WhatsApp has a lot of privacy features that you can customize.

You can add a two-step verification, lock your WhatsApp (using Touch ID, Face ID, or Android Fingerprint lock), choose who can see when you last opened WhatsApp, and more.

On the privacy settings page, you can choose who can see your “Last Seen”, “Profile Photo”, “About”, “Groups”, and “Status”.

The option that you want to be customizing is your “Last Seen” as you want to hide it.

Tap on the “Last Seen” tab to proceed to your “Last Seen” privacy settings.

In the last step, you’ll learn how to hide your “Last Seen” from others in a single tap.

Step #4: Change last seen to “Nobody”

Last Seen > Nobody.

Now that you’re on your “Last Seen” privacy settings, you can choose who can view it.

There are three options where you can choose from—”Everyone”, “My Contacts”, and “Nobody”.

Firstly, “Everyone” means that everyone including your contacts and those that are not in your contacts will be able to see your “Last Seen”.

“My Contacts” means that only your contacts can see your “Last Seen”.

Thirdly, “Nobody” hides your “Last Seen” from everyone, which means that nobody will be able to see it.

Tap on “Nobody” to freeze your “Last Seen” on WhatsApp.

After you’ve tapped on “Nobody”, your “Last Seen” will be frozen.

In other words, other people will not be able to know when you last opened WhatsApp.

Similarly, as long as your “Last Seen” is set to “Nobody”, you won’t be able to know when other people last opened their WhatsApp as well.

If you want to see when someone was last online on WhatsApp, your “Last Seen” needs to be set to “Everyone” or “My Contacts”.

How do I freeze my last seen on WhatsApp on iPhone?

Freezing your last seen on WhatsApp on iPhone is similar to how you can do it on an Android device.

To freeze your last seen on WhatsApp on iPhone, open WhatsApp > Settings > Privacy > Last Seen > Nobody.

After you’ve set your last seen to “Nobody”, it’ll be frozen to others.

In other words, nobody will be able to see when you were last online on WhatsApp.

Can you freeze your timestamp on WhatsApp?

Yes, you can freeze your timestamp on WhatsApp.

You can freeze your timestamp by opening WhatsApp and navigating to Settings > Privacy > Last Seen > Nobody.

After you’ve set your last seen to “Nobody”, your timestamp will be frozen to others.

Alternatively, you can set your last seen to “My Contacts” which only allows people in your contacts to see your timestamp.

Is it possible to show the wrong last seen on WhatsApp?

Yes, WhatsApp “Last Seen” can be wrong.

At times, the “Last Seen” is inaccurate because WhatsApp might be still running on your background even though you’ve exited it.

To prevent this from happening, you need to force close WhatsApp after exiting it.

Force closing WhatsApp will ensure that your “Last Seen” is always accurate.

Conclusion

Hiding your “Last Seen” on WhatsApp is important as you might not want others knowing when you were last online.

If you’re a slow texter, it makes even more sense to hide your online status to prevent others from thinking that you’re deliberately ignoring them.

In reality, some slow texters are not deliberately ignoring a text.

Some people are either too busy, they forgot about the message, or they just need more time to think of a reply.

Either way, “freezing” your “Last Seen” on WhatsApp is the best way out.

Further Reading

How to Set YouTube Video As WhatsApp Status

How to Make a Poll on Discord: A Step-by-Step Guide

Is WhatsApp Considered Social Media?

Lim How Wei is the founder of Followchain. Feel free to follow him on Instagram.

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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 conversation 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