How to use status

Android
iOS
Web
We’re building and testing out new features, like Status Mentions, and they may not be available to you yet. In the meantime, we recommend keeping WhatsApp updated on your device so you can get the feature as soon as it's available.
You can use Status to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. You’ll find the Status section in the Updates tab.

Create and share a status

From the Updates tab, you can share a photo or video status by tapping your profile photo under Status.
You can choose who can see your status by adding them to your status audience or mentioning them.
Note:
  • People you mentioned can reshare the content of your status to their audience.
  • You can mention people who aren’t in your contacts.
Learn more about status mentions or status privacy.

Text and voice status

  1. Tap the Updates tab, then tap the pencil icon to write a text update.
    • Tap T to pick a font and text color.
    • Tap
      change color
      to pick a background color.
    • Hold
      microphone
      to record a voice status update.
  2. Tap
    send
    to share your status.
Note: You can’t mention people in a text or voice status for now.

Photo status

  1. Tap Updates.
  2. Tap your profile photo.
  3. Status will open on Photo.
  4. Tap Gallery icon in the bottom left and choose a photo. Or, take a photo.
  5. From here, you can choose to:
    • Tap
      stickers
      to add stickers or emojis.
    • Tap T to add text. You can customize the color and layout. To add a link, copy and paste it into the text editor.
    • Tap Status (Contacts) in the bottom left to customize your audience.
    • Tap @ to privately mention up to 5 people in your status. This notifies them about your status, and they can reshare the content of your status to their audience.
  6. Tap
    send
    to share your status.
Note:
  • HD media isn’t supported for status updates.
  • The quality of media, such as images, GIFs, videos, and pictures uploaded into WhatsApp Status may be lower than the original version.
  • Upload high quality images to status to prevent low quality photos.

Video status

  1. Tap Updates.
  2. Tap your profile photo.
  3. Tap Video.
  4. Tap Gallery icon in the bottom left to choose a video. Or, record a video.
    • Note: WhatsApp supports 3GP and mpeg4 video formats.
    • Tap Status (Contacts) on the bottom left to customize your audience.
    • Tap @ to privately mention up to 5 people in your status. This notifies them about your status, and they can reshare the content of your status to their audience.
  5. Tap
    send
    to share your status.
Or, you can create and share a picture or video status from the Chats tab by tapping
camera
.
Note:
  • WhatsApp supports 3GP and mpeg4 video formats.
  • Videos can be up to 60 seconds long.

View status

Tap the contact to view their status.
If someone has shared a status you haven't seen yet, you'll see a green ring around their profile picture.
You can see statuses you’ve already viewed.
If you follow channels, you’ll find viewed updates under Status. They’ll have a grey ring around them.
If you don’t follow channels, tap the down arrow next to Viewed updates.
When you view someone's status they can tell you’ve seen it unless you or they have disabled read receipts.

Respond or react to status

To respond to a status:
  1. Tap a status.
  2. Tap Reply.
  3. Type your reply.
    • Tap
      attach
      to attach something.
    • Or, tap
      stickers
      to include a sticker, emoji, or your avatar. As soon as you tap a sticker or emoji, it’ll be shared.
  4. Tap
    send
To react to a status:
  1. Tap a status.
  2. Swipe or tap Reply.
  3. Tap an avatar sticker. You'll only see this if you've created one.
  4. Or, tap an emoji to react with.
  5. As soon as you tap an avatar sticker or emoji, it'll be shared.
To reshare a status you were mentioned in:
  1. From the chat with the private mention, open the status.
  2. Tap the Forward icon.
  3. Edit as you would with any status, select your audience, and tap
    send
    to share.
Note: For now, you can’t mention people:
  • In a reshared status.
  • In a text or voice status.

Delete or edit status

Learn how to delete a status.
You can’t edit a status. However, you can edit a photo or video before you upload it as a status.
Note:
  • You’ll need at least 1GB of storage available on your device to view statuses. If you’re having any problems, try clearing your phone storage.
  • If you delete a status after mentioning people, they’ll see an error message when trying to view the status.

Save a status

You can save your own status on Android. You can’t save anyone else’s status. If you choose to reshare a status you were mentioned in as your own, you can save it normally.
To save your status:
  1. Tap your status.
  2. Tap
    more
    on the status you want to save.
  3. Tap Share.
  4. Save your photo or video.

Related resources

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