WhatsApp’s “last seen” feature allows your contacts to see the last time you were actively using the app. If you would like to hide your “last seen” from specific contacts, WhatsApp allows you to exempt contacts from seeing this information.
Why Would I Want to Hide My Last Seen?
There are a few reasons why you may want to hide your last seen from certain contacts:
- Privacy – You may not want some contacts to know when you were last online.
- Reduce distractions – Hiding your last seen can help reduce messages from certain contacts when you want to focus.
- Avoid awkwardness – You may not want some contacts to see when you’ve left them on “read.”
The ability to customize your last seen settings for different contacts gives you more control over your availability and privacy on WhatsApp.
How to Hide Last Seen from Specific Contacts
Hiding your last seen from specific contacts is easy to do right in your WhatsApp settings:
- Open WhatsApp and go to the Settings menu (the 3 dots or 3 line icon).
- Select “Account”> “Privacy”.
- Tap on “Last seen & online”
- You will see options to hide your last seen from “Everyone”, “My Contacts”, “My Contacts Except…” and “Nobody.”
- Tap on “My Contacts Except…”
- This will bring up your contacts list. Tap on the contacts you want to exclude from seeing your last seen.
- Make sure a check mark appears next to the contacts you have selected.
- Tap “OK” to save your settings.
Now the contacts you have excluded will not be able to see your last seen or online status. You can change these settings anytime to add or remove specific contacts.
Other Ways to Increase WhatsApp Privacy
In addition to hiding your last seen, there are a few other WhatsApp settings you can adjust for more privacy:
- Profile Photo – Set who can see your profile photo (Everyone, My Contacts, Nobody)
- About – Choose who can see your profile “About” info
- Read Receipts – Turn read receipts off if you don’t want contacts to see when you’ve read their messages
- Groups – Adjust who can add you to groups (Everyone, My Contacts, My Contacts Except…)
Taking the time to go through your WhatsApp privacy settings can help you feel more in control of your availability and online presence.
Other WhatsApp Tips
Here are some other useful WhatsApp tips beyond privacy settings:
- Use WhatsApp on multiple devices – Link up to 4 devices to your WhatsApp account.
- Star important chats – Star your most important conversations so they appear at the top of your chats list.
- Archive chats – Archive old chats you don’t use often but don’t want to delete.
- Back up chats – Back up your chat history to Google Drive or iCloud so you can restore it if needed.
- Format text – Bold, italicize, and strikethrough your messages by surrounding text with symbols like * for bold.
- Send documents – Send PDFs, documents, spreadsheets and more up to 100MB right in chats.
Take some time to explore WhatsApp’s settings and features to customize the app to your preferences. The options for privacy, utility and ease of use make WhatsApp one of the top messaging apps available today.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about hiding your last seen on WhatsApp:
Can contacts who I’ve hidden my last seen from tell I’ve done this?
No, your contacts will not get any notification that you’ve hidden your last seen from them. They simply won’t be able to see your last seen or online status when they look at your chat.
Can I hide my last seen from specific groups?
Unfortunately you cannot hide your last seen from specific groups. The last seen setting applies to all individual contacts and cannot be set for groups.
Will hiding my last seen also hide my profile picture and “About” status?
No, hiding your last seen will only affect your active online status and last seen time. Your profile photo and About info have their own separate privacy settings.
Can I see someone’s last seen if they have hidden it from me?
If someone has restricted you from seeing their last seen, it will not show up when you look at their chat. There is no way to override this on your end to view someone’s last seen if they have hidden it from you.
Will hiding my last seen also hide when I’m typing or recording audio?
No, the settings for hiding last seen and hiding “typing” or “recording” statuses are separate. You can hide one or both from contacts as desired.
Conclusion
Hiding your last seen on WhatsApp is simple to do by going to Privacy Settings and selecting contacts to exclude. This gives you more control over your availability and online presence. Be sure to also explore other privacy options like profile photo and read receipts. With a few taps, you can increase your WhatsApp privacy and communication preferences.