WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, allowing users to easily communicate with individuals or groups. Group chats make it simple to connect with multiple people at once for family chats, work projects, or just chatting with friends. However, there may be times when you want to hide your messages and activity from specific people in a group chat.
Why Would You Want to Hide Your Messages?
There are a few reasons why someone may want to hide their messages and activity from certain members in a WhatsApp group chat:
- Privacy – You may not want certain individuals to see all of your messages and when you’re online in the group chat.
- Avoiding drama – Hiding your messages can help you avoid unnecessary drama or arguments with specific members of the group.
- Limiting contact – You may want to limit contact with someone in the group due to previous conflicts or other interpersonal issues.
Hiding your messages and activity from specific group members on WhatsApp gives you more control over your privacy and experience in the group chat.
How to Hide Messages from Someone in a WhatsApp Group Chat
WhatsApp currently does not have a built-in feature to hide your messages or activity from specific members in a group chat. However, there are a few workarounds you can use:
Turn Off Read Receipts
One simple option is to turn off your read receipts in WhatsApp. This prevents anyone in the group from seeing when you’ve read their messages. To disable read receipts:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Account > Privacy.
- Turn off Read Receipts.
With read receipts disabled, you can read messages without the sender seeing when you’ve viewed them. However, this affects all your WhatsApp chats, not just specific group chats.
Use WhatsApp’s Archived Chats Feature
You can also use WhatsApp’s archived chats feature to hide a group chat:
- In the WhatsApp chat screen, long press the group chat you want to hide.
- Tap Archive chat at the top of the screen. This removes the chat from your main chat list.
When a chat is archived, you won’t receive notifications from the group and it won’t show up in your main chat list. To view archived chats:
- At the top of your chat list, tap Archived.
- Tap any archived chat to open it.
This prevents specific group members from seeing when you’re viewing the chat. But keep in mind it also removes notifications, so you’ll need to check manually for new messages.
Create a New Group Without Specific Members
If there are only a few members you want to hide your activity from, consider removing them from the current group and creating a new one without them. For example:
- Back up your current group chat history and media if needed.
- Delete the current group chat.
- Create a new group with the same name, adding everyone except those you want to hide your messages from.
- Re-share your chat history and media to the new group.
While this takes more effort, it ensures those specific members won’t see any of your latest messages or activity going forward.
Block Users in the Group
Blocking another member in a WhatsApp group will hide your messages and status activity from them. To block someone:
- In the group info screen, long press on the member’s name.
- Tap Block [contact name].
This will block that member from seeing your messages in the group chat. Keep in mind that other members will still see your messages and the person you blocked can still participate in the group chat with others.
Leave the Group Chat
If you can’t remove specific members from a group chat, the nuclear option is to simply leave the group yourself. This will completely hide all your messages and activity from everyone remaining in the group. You can also mute the group chat to avoid notifications before leaving.
The downside is you’ll no longer see messages from other members you didn’t intend to hide from. Exiting a group chat should be a last resort if you can’t use other methods to hide your messages.
Third-Party Apps to Hide WhatsApp Activity
There are also third-party apps that claim to help hide your WhatsApp activity from specific contacts, even in group chats:
- Unseen – Hides your online status, read receipts, typing indicator, and more.
- WAMR – Removes read receipts and typing indicators.
- WhatsRemove – Removes messages after they are read and hides online status.
However, be cautious when using third-party apps – some may violate WhatsApp’s terms of service or impact your account if detected. Proceed at your own risk.
Can Group Admins Hide from Members?
Unfortunately, even WhatsApp group admins cannot hide their messages or activity from specific group members. The methods and workarounds listed above apply to admins as well.
An admin cannot control visibility or read receipts for individual members in a group chat. The only option to hide messages would be to remove or block the member you want to hide from, or leave the group entirely.
Key Takeaways
Here are some key tips to recap hiding your messages and activity from specific members in a WhatsApp group chat:
- Turn off read receipts in your WhatsApp privacy settings to prevent contacts from seeing when you view messages.
- Archive the group chat to remove notifications and hide it in your main chat list.
- Create a new group without the members you want to hide from.
- Block contacts in the group to prevent them seeing your messages and status updates.
- Leave the group as a last resort if you can’t use other options.
- Be cautious with third-party apps that hide activity as they may violate WhatsApp’s terms.
- Admins cannot hide from specific members – they must use the same workarounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I hide my last seen or online status from specific people?
There is no way to hide your last seen or online status from specific contacts only on WhatsApp. You can turn off last seen and online visibility for all contacts in WhatsApp settings, but this applies to all users, not individual ones.
How can I view messages in a group chat without others knowing?
To read group messages without users knowing, turn off read receipts in WhatsApp’s settings. You can also use a third-party app like Unseen to hide read receipts and online status. But be aware this hides the information from all your contacts, not specific group members only.
Can I get removed from a group chat without the admin knowing?
No, there is no way for a regular group member to leave or be removed from a WhatsApp group without the admin being notified. Even if you block the admin, they will still receive a message that you left the group chat.
What happens when you block someone in a WhatsApp group?
Blocking a member in a WhatsApp group will hide your messages and status updates from that specific user. You will both still remain part of the group, but your activity will be invisible to each other. Other group members will not be affected.
Can I mute specific people within a group chat?
WhatsApp does not currently allow you to mute certain members within a group chat. Your only options are to mute the whole group, or mute individual members by blocking them. But this will also hide your messages from view for those members.
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Turn off read receipts | – Prevents contacts seeing when you read messages – Simple to enable in settings |
– Affects all chats, not just the group – Others can still see you online and typing |
| Archive the chat | – Hides the chat from your inbox – Stops notifications from the group |
– Have to manually look for new messages – Can only archive entire chat |
| Leave the group | – Totally hides your activity from the group | – You won’t see future group messages – Obvious you intentionally left the group |
| Block members | – Only blocks activity from specific members | – Other members will still see your activity – Can cause interpersonal issues |
Is there a way to have private conversations within a WhatsApp group?
WhatsApp does not currently allow you to have private conversations with one member while in a group chat. Some potential workarounds include:
- Messaging the member individually outside the group chat.
- Using coded language that only the intended member would understand.
- Temporarily creating a new group with just the two members to chat privately.
But there’s no way to selectively hide messages from the rest of the group participants on WhatsApp.
Conclusion
Hiding your WhatsApp activity and messages from specific group members takes some workarounds, since the platform doesn’t natively support it. Turning off read receipts and archiving chats can help, but you may need to create a new group or block users to fully hide your messages.
Keep in mind that fully hiding your WhatsApp activity from individuals without the rest of the group knowing is difficult. Any solution usually means you lose visibility for the entire group chat as well. With creative use of settings and features, you can achieve more privacy, but true selective hiding of messages is limited on WhatsApp.