How do I stop receiving messages on WhatsApp without blocking them?

Quick Answer

There are a few ways to stop receiving messages from someone on WhatsApp without outright blocking them:

• Mute notifications for the chat – This will stop you getting notified of new messages but you can still open the chat to view them.
• Turn off read receipts – The sender won’t be able to see if you’ve read their messages.
• Archive the chat – This will remove the chat from your main messages view.
• Turn off your internet connection/put your phone on airplane mode – You won’t receive any messages until you reconnect.

Blocking should be a last resort if you want to remain contacts. The above options allow you to reduce interruptions without severing contact on WhatsApp.

In-Depth Explanation

Here is a more detailed look at the various options available for muting chats and turning off read receipts on WhatsApp without going as far as blocking someone:

Mute Notifications

Muting notifications from a chat is a good middle ground if you don’t want to receive constant pop-ups from someone’s messages but also don’t want to outright block them. When you mute a chat:

• You will no longer receive sound/vibration alerts for new messages from that chat.
• The chat won’t show up as a new message notification at the top of your chats screen.
• The chat won’t pop up as a heads up/banner notification at the top of your phone screen.

To mute a chat’s notifications:

1. Open the chat you want to mute.
2. Tap the name/profile picture at the top of the screen.
3. Tap ‘Mute notifications’ (Android) or tap the ‘Mute’ switch (iOS).

You can choose to mute for 8 hours, 1 week or always mute. The chat will remain muted until you unmute it.

Important notes about muting:

• It only mutes notifications – you can still open the chat to view new messages.
• Message senders will have no indication you’ve muted them.
• Muting only works per chat – you’ll need to manually mute each one.

So if you just want to eliminate constant interruptions from a particular chat, muting is an easy option.

Turn Off Read Receipts

Read receipts show when you’ve read a chat message. Turning these off for an individual chat means the sender won’t get visual ‘seen’ confirmation that you’ve looked at their messages, even if you have.

To disable read receipts for a chat:

1. Open the chat.
2. Tap the contact’s name at the top.
3. Turn off the ‘Read receipts’ toggle.

This can be useful in conjunction with muting as it removes the expectation that you immediately read messages from the chat.

Points to note:

• Disabling read receipts only works per chat.
• The sender won’t know you’ve turned read receipts off.
• You can still see if they’ve read your messages.
• On iPhone, disabling read receipts also disables typing indicators.

Archive Chats

Archiving a chat removes it from your main messages view so it’s out of sight and mind. Archived chats will be tucked away in the ‘Archived chats’ section which you can enter separately.

To archive a chat:

1. Long press on the chat you want to archive.
2. Tap ‘Archive’ (Android) or swipe left and tap ‘Archive’ (iOS).

The chat will now only be visible in your archive. Benefits of archiving:

• Gets overly busy chats out of your messaging view.
• Chat remains accessible if you need to look back at messages.
• You can still receive new messages from an archived chat.

Archiving is ideal for hiding chats temporarily rather than resorting to blocking.

Turn Off Internet Connection

If you want to temporarily pause all incoming WhatsApp messages, turning off your internet access will disable message delivery. Options to do this:

• Switch your phone to airplane mode – this disables all internet connectivity.
• Temporarily disable your WiFi and mobile data.
• Switch off mobile data if you don’t have WiFi.

As soon as you reconnect to the internet, any undelivered messages will come through. This is a bit of a nuclear option but can be useful as a quick short-term fix if you need to focus without WhatsApp interruptions.

When to Avoid Blocking

Blocking contacts should be avoided where possible as it has more permanent effects:

• You appear offline and can receive no further messages from a blocked contact.
• Any current chat history will be deleted.
• The contact will have no indication they are blocked.
• On Android, the contact will be deleted from your address book.

So blocking is best reserved for extreme cases of harassment or spam. If you merely want less distraction from certain chats, use the muting, archive and read receipt options outlined above.

Can Contacts Tell if You’ve Muted Them?

A key advantage of the muting, archiving and read receipt options is that they are not detectable by the chat sender:

• Muting – Completely invisible to the muted contact.
• Archiving – The contact can’t see their chat is archived.
• Read receipts off – Senders see no change in your read receipts.

So you can use these to subtly reduce WhatsApp interruptions without anyone knowing. The one exception is turning off your internet – contacts may notice if your online status disappears for a long time. But this can always be explained away as a connectivity issue.

Conclusion

Rather than blocking contacts completely, make use of WhatsApp’s muting, archiving and read receipt options to discreetly reduce distractions from busy group chats or overactive contacts. This avoids severing important contact ties while still letting you control notifications and focus when needed.

Method	Effect on Notifications	Visibility to Sender
Mute Chat	No sound/banner notifications	Not detectable
Disable Read Receipts	No change	Not detectable
Archive Chat	No notifications if archived	Not detectable
Disconnect Internet	No messages received	Offline status visible

With easy access to mute, archive and no read receipt options, you should never have to outright block a contact just to gain more control over your WhatsApp notifications and interruptions. Use these smart tools to reduce distractions selectively per chat without cutting contact.