How to change your privacy settings

By default, WhatsApp sets your privacy settings to allow:
  • Any user to see your profile photo, read receipts and when you’re online.
  • Your contacts to see your status updates, about and when you were last seen.
  • Any users to add you to groups.
Note: Users you’ve saved as a contact or who you’ve messaged before can see your last seen and online.
Change privacy settings
  1. On:
    • Android: Tap
      > Settings > Privacy.
    • iPhone: Tap Settings > Privacy.
    • KaiOS: Press Options > Settings > Account > Privacy.
    • Desktop: Click
      > Settings > Privacy.
  2. You can change:
    • Who can see your Last Seen and Online.
    • Who can see your Profile Photo.
    • Who can see your About information.
    • Who can see your Status updates.
    • Whether Read Receipts get sent.
    • Who can add you to Groups.
    • Which calls get silenced.
    • Who can call you.
Alternatively, you can change your privacy settings through privacy checkup. Learn more about privacy checkup in this article.
Note:
  • If you don't share your last seen or online, you can’t see other users’ last seen or online.
  • If you turn off read receipts, you won't be able to see read receipts from other users. Read receipts are always sent for group chats.
  • If a contact has turned off read receipts, you can’t see if they’ve viewed your status updates.
  • If you select Everyone in settings for last seen or online, only those you’ve called and messaged before, or who you’ve saved as a contact, can see when you’re last seen and online.
Related resources
About privacy checkup
Does this answer your question?
Yes
No