WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. WhatsApp groups allow users to communicate and share information with multiple people at once. However, sometimes you may want to read a message in a WhatsApp group without showing that you’ve seen it. Here are some tips on how to do that.
Enable Read Receipts
The first step is to make sure you have read receipts enabled for your WhatsApp account. Read receipts show when a message has been read by the recipient. To enable read receipts:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings
- Tap Account > Privacy
- Turn on Read Receipts
This will allow you to see when your messages have been read in both individual and group chats. Other users will also be able to see when you’ve read their messages.
Preview Message Notifications
When you receive a new message in a WhatsApp group, you’ll get a notification preview of the message on your phone’s lock screen and in the notifications shade. You can read the beginning of the message in the preview without marking it as read. However, keep in mind that particularly long messages may only show the first few lines in the preview.
Turn Off Read Receipts for Specific Chats
If you don’t want a particular group or contact to see when you’ve read their messages, you can turn off read receipts for just their chat:
- Open the WhatsApp chat
- Tap the contact/group name at the top
- Toggle off Read Receipts
This will prevent read receipts from being sent in that chat, while keeping them enabled for your other chats. The other users in the group will not be notified when you read their messages.
Read Messages on the Web or Desktop App
The WhatsApp web and desktop apps do not send read receipts. You can use these apps to read messages without anyone knowing:
- On your computer, go to web.whatsapp.com or download WhatsApp Desktop
- Scan the QR code with your phone to link the accounts
- Open the WhatsApp group chat on your computer
- Read messages normally
The messages will be marked as delivered, but not read. This method even allows you to reply to messages without triggering the blue check mark.
Turn Off Read Receipts in Group Settings
As a group admin, you can turn off read receipts for all members of a WhatsApp group:
- Open the group chat
- Tap the subject name at the top
- Tap Group settings > Read receipts
- Toggle off Show read receipts
This will prevent any members from seeing read receipts in the group chat. However, they can still turn receipts back on for specific chats.
Airplane Mode Trick
You can read messages without sending read receipts by enabling Airplane mode on your phone:
- Open WhatsApp and go to the chat
- Turn on Airplane mode on your phone
- Read the new messages in the chat
- Close WhatsApp and turn Airplane mode off
Since internet access is disabled in Airplane mode, WhatsApp will not be able to send read receipts for those messages. When you reopen WhatsApp with data on, it will show them as delivered but not read.
Archive the Chat
Archiving a chat will mute notifications, so you can read messages without triggering the blue ticks or read receipts:
- Open the WhatsApp group chat
- Tap and hold the chat in the Chats tab
- Tap Archive chat
You can now open and read messages in the archived chat without showing read status. Just remember to unarchive it later if you want to receive notifications again.
Block the Sender
If a particular person in the group chat is sending too many messages, you can block them:
- Open the group chat
- Tap and hold on the individual’s message
- Tap More > Block
You will no longer receive messages or status updates from that person. Their messages in the group chat will show as “You blocked this user” instead of actual content. They will not know they’ve been blocked by you.
Disable Notifications for the Chat
Muting notifications from a chat allows you to read messages without them knowing:
- Open the WhatsApp group chat
- Tap the group subject
- Tap Mute notifications > 8 hours/1 week/Always
You can choose how long to mute for – either 8 hours, 1 week, or always. With notifications off, you can open the chat and read messages normally without triggering receipts.
Limit Who Can Add You to Groups
If you’re added to unwanted groups frequently, you can limit who can add you:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy
- Tap Groups
- Select My Contacts, or My Contacts Except…
This will prevent people who are not in your contacts list from adding you to groups without your permission. Choose “My Contacts Except…” to exclude specific contacts.
Leave the Group
If a particular WhatsApp group has become annoying or irrelevant to you, you can simply leave it:
- Open the group chat
- Tap the subject name
- Tap Exit group
This will immediately remove you from the group so you no longer receive messages from it. You can also block the group to make sure you’re not added back in.
Delete WhatsApp Chat History
If you don’t want a record of reading messages without the sender knowing, you can delete the chat history:
- Open the individual or group chat
- Tap the contact/group name
- Tap Delete chat > Delete for everyone
This will delete the entire chat history from your device. However, the messages will still exist on the other user’s devices.
Disable Chat Backup
WhatsApp automatically backs up your chats to Google Drive or iCloud. You can prevent a chat from being included in the backup:
- Open WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup
- Toggle off the switch for the specific chat
The chat will no longer be backed up and can be deleted from your phone without leaving a record. Just remember to manually create media backups.
Conclusion
Reading WhatsApp group messages without showing blue ticks or read receipts is possible using built-in settings and tricks. The easiest options are to turn off read receipts for specific chats or use WhatsApp on the desktop. For complete privacy, deleting chat histories or excluding chats from backups may be necessary. Using these tips, you can avoid awkward situations caused by read receipts.