WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps, but many users don’t take full advantage of its privacy features. By adjusting your settings, you can protect your personal data, prevent unwanted messages, and control who sees your information.
In this guide, we’ll explore the top 10 WhatsApp privacy settings you should enable right now for better security.

🔹 1. Enable Two-Step Verification (2FA) for Extra Security

Two-step verification adds an extra layer of protection to your WhatsApp account by requiring a six-digit PIN when verifying your phone number.

How to Enable Two-Step Verification:

  1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings
  2. Tap Privacy > Two-step verification
  3. Click Enable and set a 6-digit PIN
  4. Add a recovery email (optional but recommended)
✔ Why? It prevents hackers from accessing your account, even if they have your SIM card.

🔹 2. Hide Your Profile Picture from Strangers

By default, your profile picture is visible to everyone, including people who are not in your contacts. You can limit this to prevent scammers from misusing your image.

How to Hide Your Profile Picture:

  1. Go to Settings > Privacy
  2. Tap Profile photo
  3. Select My Contacts or My Contacts Except… (to block certain people)
✔ Why? Prevents strangers from downloading or misusing your profile picture.

🔹 3. Control Who Can See Your "Last Seen" and Online Status

Your Last Seen and Online status show when you were last active. If you don’t want people tracking your activity, you can hide it.

How to Hide Last Seen & Online Status:

  1. Open Settings > Privacy
  2. Tap Last Seen & Online
  3. Choose Nobody or My Contacts Except…
  4. For Who can see when I’m online?, choose Same as Last Seen
✔ Why? Stops people from monitoring your activity and messaging you when you're online.

🔹 4. Disable Read Receipts (Blue Ticks)

If you don’t want people to know when you've read their messages, disable Read Receipts.

How to Turn Off Read Receipts:

  1. Go to Settings > Privacy
  2. Tap Read Receipts and toggle it off
✔ Note: This also means you won’t see when others read your messages.

🔹 5. Stop Strangers from Adding You to Groups

Anyone with your phone number can add you to a WhatsApp group without your permission. You can prevent this with privacy settings.

How to Block Unknown Group Invites:

  1. Open Settings > Privacy
  2. Tap Groups
  3. Select My Contacts or My Contacts Except…
✔ Why? Prevents spam group invites from unknown numbers.

🔹 6. Use Disappearing Messages for More Privacy

WhatsApp’s Disappearing Messages feature automatically deletes messages after a set time, reducing data storage and keeping conversations private.

How to Enable Disappearing Messages:

  1. Open a chat
  2. Tap the Contact’s Name at the top
  3. Select Disappearing Messages
  4. Choose 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days
✔ Why? Great for sensitive conversations that shouldn’t be stored forever.

🔹 7. Lock WhatsApp with Fingerprint or Face ID

To prevent unauthorized access, you can lock WhatsApp with Fingerprint (Android) or Face ID (iPhone).

How to Enable Fingerprint/Face ID Lock:

  1. Go to Settings > Privacy
  2. Scroll to Fingerprint lock (Android) / Screen lock (iPhone)
  3. Turn it On and set the unlock time
✔ Why? Adds an extra layer of security to your messages.

🔹 8. Prevent People from Seeing Your Status Updates

If you don’t want certain contacts to see your WhatsApp Status, you can block them from viewing it.

How to Control Who Sees Your Status:

  1. Open Settings > Privacy
  2. Tap Status
  3. Select My Contacts, My Contacts Except…, or Only Share With…
✔ Why? Keeps personal updates private from certain people.

🔹 9. Delete Messages for Everyone Before They Are Seen

WhatsApp allows you to unsent messages within a limited time.

How to Delete a Message for Everyone:

  1. Long-press the message
  2. Tap Delete
  3. Select Delete for Everyone
✔ Why? Helps correct mistakes or remove messages you didn’t mean to send.

🔹 10. Be Careful with WhatsApp Web Sessions

If you use WhatsApp Web, always log out when you're done to prevent unauthorized access.

How to Check and Log Out of WhatsApp Web:

  1. Open WhatsApp > Tap three dots > Linked Devices
  2. Check for active sessions
  3. Tap on Log out if you see any suspicious sessions
✔ Why? Protects your account from being accessed on other devices.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can I hide my WhatsApp number from everyone?


No, WhatsApp requires a phone number, but you can limit who sees it by restricting group invites and using privacy settings.

2. Can I see someone’s last seen if they hide it?


No, unless they have allowed you to see it. If they hide it, you won’t be able to check when they were last online.

3. What happens if I disable read receipts?


Others won’t see blue ticks when you read their messages, and you won’t see blue ticks for their messages either.

4. How do I stop someone from seeing my online status?


Go to Privacy > Last Seen & Online and set Who can see when I’m online? to Nobody or My Contacts Except…

5. Can someone hack my WhatsApp account?


Yes, if you don’t have Two-Step Verification enabled or if you fall for phishing scams. Always enable 2FA and never share your verification code.

📝 Final Thoughts

By enabling these 10 privacy settings, you can protect your WhatsApp account from hackers, scammers, and unwanted contacts. Always keep your app updated and be cautious about the information you share online.


👉 Want more WhatsApp security tips? Check out our latest guides on Ndayamcitytech.com!


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