WhatsApp polls have become a popular way for groups and individuals to quickly gather opinions and feedback. With just a tap, you can create a poll and send it to any WhatsApp group or contact. But who exactly can see the poll results?
What are WhatsApp polls?
WhatsApp polls allow users to create simple yes/no questions or multiple choice polls and send them to groups or individual chats. Polls are a handy way to make decisions or get quick feedback. For example, you could ask a group to vote on a meeting time or survey friends on what movie to watch.
Creating a WhatsApp poll is easy from within any chat. On iOS, tap the clip icon then select ‘Poll’. On Android, tap the attachment icon then select ‘Poll’. You’ll be prompted to enter your question and choice options. Polls can have up to 12 choices.
Once created, the poll is sent as a message within the chat. Recipients can tap to cast their vote, and live results are visible to everyone in the chat. This makes it easy to gather opinions from groups or friends.
Who can see WhatsApp poll results?
Only users within the chat a poll was created in can view and vote on that poll. The poll creator and recipients in the chat can see live poll results update in real-time as votes are cast.
However, users not included in the chat the poll was created in cannot view or interact with that poll at all. The poll, options, and results are confined to the chat it originated from.
For example, if you create a poll and send it to a group chat, only members of that group can participate. If you create the same poll and send it to a friend, only you and that friend would see it. Users outside the chat would not know about the poll.
Group chats
For group chats, any current member of the group can see and interact with polls created within that chat. If someone leaves or is removed from the group, they can no longer access the poll.
Likewise, any new members who are added to the group will gain access to ongoing polls and be able to view past poll results within that chat.
Individual chats
For direct chat between two users, only those individuals can see polls created within their chat thread. No one else can view, vote on, or see results for that poll.
Are WhatsApp poll results anonymous?
Poll results seen within a WhatsApp chat are not anonymous. While votes are technically anonymized, the small scale of most chats means it is fairly obvious who voted what.
In a two-person chat, you can clearly see who voted for each poll option. In a group chat, while individual votes are not revealed, the participants are visible and it is easy to deduce who voted for what based on the live results.
There is no built-in setting in WhatsApp to make poll voting anonymous. Because of the visibility of results, users can see how each person voted. So polls are not truly anonymous.
Can you see how someone voted in a WhatsApp poll?
You cannot see exactly how each person voted in a WhatsApp poll. Votes are anonymized and not tied to specific usernames.
However, with the live results visible to all participants, it is fairly easy to deduce how certain people likely voted based on the poll options and number of voters. But you cannot conclusively see any individual’s specific vote.
Can you see WhatsApp poll results after voting?
Yes, after you vote in a poll, you can still view the live results within the chat. Participants can check back on the poll at any time to see updated results and how voting is progressing.
The live results remain visible within the chat thread alongside the poll. To quickly see the results, simply tap on the poll again. The current results will be displayed.
This allows you to track how the poll results change as more votes come in. You can see how opinions shift over time based on the ongoing results.
Can you see Who voted on a WhatsApp poll?
You cannot see exactly who voted for each option in a WhatsApp poll. Votes are anonymous to the extent that they aren’t tied to specific usernames.
However, depending on the number of participants and options, it is usually easy to deduce who voted for what based on the live results you can view. But you won’t see confirmation of any individual user’s vote.
Can you access old WhatsApp polls?
WhatsApp does not have a built-in feature to view old polls you’ve sent or participated in. However, there are a couple of ways to retrieve previous polls:
- Scroll up in the chat history to find the old poll message.
- Perform a chat export to download past messages including polls.
- Use a third-party backup tool to access previous chat data including polls.
As long as the poll message has not been deleted, you can find it again and view the last results by tapping on it. But there is no poll archive or history.
Do deleted WhatsApp polls disappear?
Yes, if a WhatsApp poll is deleted by the creator or a chat admin, it will disappear from the chat for all participants. The poll, voting options, and results will no longer be accessible.
When a poll is deleted, participants in the chat will see a message saying “This poll was deleted” where the poll previously was.
There is no way to retrieve a deleted WhatsApp poll or its results. The only record will be in any device backups that included the poll prior to its deletion.
Conclusion
In summary, WhatsApp polls are only visible to users within the chat they are created in. Anyone in a group chat can participate in polls in that group. For individual chats, only those users can see and interact with polls.
Poll results are not anonymous due to the small scale of most chats. While individual votes are not revealed, participants can deduce how others likely voted based on live results.
There is no permanent record of polls. Deleting a poll removes it entirely. But past polls can be accessed if the messages are not deleted.
While not fully private, WhatsApp polls provide an easy way to gather opinions from friends or groups. Just remember that everyone in the chat can view and interact with any polls created there.