- How to hide your WhatsApp status from certain people
- Your three status privacy options
- Ways your status can reach people you excluded
- How to mute someone else's status
- Hiding your status vs hiding your online status
- A sensible setup for business owners
- Can people tell you've hidden your status?
- Who has seen your status?
- My verdict
- Frequently asked questions
To hide your WhatsApp status from someone, go to the Updates tab, open the menu, tap Status privacy and choose My contacts except, then pick the people to hide it from. To show it to only a few people, choose Only share with instead. The change only applies to statuses you post afterwards.
WhatsApp status is shared with all your contacts by default, which includes your boss, your plumber and that person you met once years ago. If you'd rather some people didn't see your updates, you don't need to block anyone. Status privacy lets you hide your status from specific contacts, or share it with a hand-picked few. There are also a couple of ways your status can reach people you didn't intend, which most people don't know about.
How to hide your WhatsApp status from certain people
- Open WhatsApp and tap Updates.
- Tap the menu (three dots) and choose Status privacy.
- Select My contacts except...
- Tick the contacts you want to hide your status from and confirm.
Your three status privacy options
| Option | Who sees your status | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| My contacts | Everyone saved in your contacts | The default, fine for most people |
| My contacts except... | All contacts apart from the ones you exclude | Hiding from a few people, such as work contacts |
| Only share with... | Only the contacts you choose | A private circle, such as family |
Whichever you pick, WhatsApp says the change won't affect statuses you've already posted. If you've just shared something you'd rather someone hadn't seen, delete it and post it again after changing the setting.
Ways your status can reach people you excluded
This is the part most guides miss. WhatsApp lists several situations where your status privacy setting doesn't decide who sees it:
- Mentions. If you mention someone in a status, they can see it even if they're not in your audience. Mention a group and every member can see it.
- Resharing. People you mention can reshare your status to their audience. WhatsApp says resharing shows the content but not your name, profile or number.
- Posting to a group. A status posted to a group is visible to every member of that group, whatever your privacy settings say.
- Allow sharing. If this is on, people who can see your status can reshare and forward it.
- Facebook and Instagram. If you've switched on automatic sharing to Facebook Story or Instagram Story, your status goes there too.
So if privacy matters, check Allow sharing and the Facebook and Instagram toggles on the same Status privacy screen, and think before mentioning anyone.
How to mute someone else's status
Hiding works one way: it stops people seeing your updates. If what you want is to stop seeing someone else's, mute them instead. Tap and hold their status in the Updates tab, or open it and use the menu, and choose Mute. Their updates move into a muted section, and they aren't told. To bring them back, find them in the muted section and choose Unmute. Muting doesn't stop them seeing your status, so if you want both, mute them and exclude them in Status privacy.
Hiding your status vs hiding your online status
People often mix these up. Your status is the photo, video or text update you post in the Updates tab. Your online status is the "online" or "last seen" line under your name in a chat. They're controlled in different places: status updates under Status privacy in the Updates tab, and last seen and online in your main privacy settings. This guide covers status updates. If you share Instagram content to your status, my guide on sharing an Instagram story to WhatsApp status explains how that works.
A sensible setup for business owners
If you use one WhatsApp number for both clients and friends, status privacy is your best friend. I'd set it to Only share with... and pick family and close friends, so your weekend photos never land in a client's Updates tab. If you want to use status for business, flip it the other way: post business updates with My contacts selected, and keep personal moments off status entirely. Mixing the two audiences in one feed is what makes people unfollow or mute you.
Whichever you choose, review the list every few months. New contacts are added to My contacts automatically, so someone you met at a networking event last week will see your next status unless you exclude them.
Can people tell you've hidden your status?
WhatsApp doesn't notify anyone when you exclude them. They simply won't see your new updates. If they notice you've gone quiet while others mention your posts, they might guess, but WhatsApp itself doesn't tell them.
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Who has seen your status?
You can see who viewed each status, with two catches. If a contact has turned off read receipts, you won't see that they viewed it. And if you've turned off your own read receipts, you can't see anyone's views at all. If you delete a contact who's already viewed a status, they stay on the viewer list until that status expires. For more on what WhatsApp shares, see whether WhatsApp tells people about screenshots.
My verdict
Use My contacts except to quietly hide your status from a few people, or Only share with for a private circle. Then switch off Allow sharing and the Facebook and Instagram toggles if you want it to stay contained, and be careful with mentions, because they override your audience.
Frequently asked questions
How do I hide my WhatsApp status from someone?
Go to Updates, open the menu, tap Status privacy, choose My contacts except and select the people to hide it from.
Does WhatsApp tell someone if I hide my status from them?
No. They simply stop seeing your new status updates.
Why can someone I excluded see my status?
Mentioning them, posting the status to a group they're in, or someone resharing it can all reach people outside your chosen audience.
Does changing status privacy hide old statuses?
No. WhatsApp says changes don't affect statuses you've already shared.
How do I mute someone's WhatsApp status?
Tap and hold their status in the Updates tab, or use the menu on it, and choose Mute. They aren't notified.
