WhatsApp status updates allow users to share photos, videos, and messages that disappear after 24 hours. While status updates can be fun, some users may find them annoying or want more control over what they see in their feed. Luckily, WhatsApp provides options to block status updates from specific contacts or disable viewing them entirely.
Quick answers
– Yes, it is possible to block status updates on WhatsApp for specific contacts or disable viewing them for everyone.
– To block a contact’s status updates, open the chat, tap the contact’s name, select View Contact, and turn off View Status Updates.
– You can disable viewing all status updates by going to Settings > Account > Privacy and turning off Read Receipts.
Blocking status updates from specific contacts
If you only want to block status updates from certain contacts and still view updates from others, you can block contacts individually.
Here are the steps to block status updates for a specific contact on Android:
- Open WhatsApp and go to your Chats tab.
- Tap on the contact whose status updates you want to block.
- In the contact’s chat window, tap on their name at the top.
- Select View Contact from the menu.
- Toggle off the View Status Updates switch.
And here are the steps for iPhone:
- Open WhatsApp and go to your Chats tab.
- Swipe left on the contact whose status updates you want to block.
- Tap More.
- Toggle off View Status Updates.
Once you toggle this off for a contact, you will no longer see any of their status updates. You can always go back and enable seeing their status updates again if you change your mind.
Disabling viewing all status updates
If you want to completely disable viewing status updates from all your contacts, you can do so through your WhatsApp settings.
On Android:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the three dot menu.
- Go to Settings.
- Select Account > Privacy.
- Turn off Read Receipts.
On iPhone:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Account.
- Go to Privacy.
- Toggle off Read Receipts.
With read receipts disabled, you will no longer see any status updates from any contacts. You can still post your own status updates, but others will not be able to view them either.
Other options for controlling status updates
In addition to blocking status updates per contact or disabling viewing them entirely, WhatsApp provides some other options for controlling status updates:
- Mute status updates: If you don’t want to completely block a contact’s status updates but find them annoying, you can mute their updates for either 8 hours, 1 week, or 1 year. Their updates will not show in your feed during the muted period.
- Report status updates: You can report offensive, abusive, or inappropriate status updates by long pressing on them, tapping More, and selecting Report.
- Turn off your own status updates: If you don’t want any of your contacts to see your status updates, you can disable posting your own status under Settings > Account > Privacy.
Can blocked contacts see if you’ve viewed their status updates?
If you block a contact, they will not be able to see if you have viewed their status updates. The Read Receipts setting only applies to contacts who can still see your status.
So when you block someone, it is completely anonymous and they have no visibility into whether you have viewed their status updates or not.
Can you see who views your status updates?
WhatsApp does not have a built-in feature for seeing who specifically has viewed your status updates.
However, if you have Read Receipts enabled under Privacy settings, you can see which of your contacts have read your latest message. This can give you an indication of who may have seen your status updates.
But there is no guarantee that just because someone read your message they also viewed your status update. There is no way to get a complete list of status views unfortunately.
Conclusion
WhatsApp provides flexible options for controlling status updates, ranging from blocking specific annoying contacts to disabling viewing status updates entirely. Make use of these options if you find status updates overwhelming or want more privacy over who can view your updates.
Key takeaways include:
- Block contacts individually by toggling off View Status Updates for each contact.
- Disable viewing all status updates by turning off Read Receipts in Settings > Account > Privacy.
- You can mute updates instead of fully blocking contacts.
- Blocked contacts cannot see if you’ve viewed their status updates.
- There is no surefire way to see exactly who has viewed your status updates.
With these WhatsApp settings, you have control over the status updates you see and who can view your own updates.