WhatsApp allows users to control who can view their status updates through privacy settings. One of the options is “My contacts except…” which allows you to exclude specific contacts from viewing your status while still allowing all other contacts to see it. This can be useful if you want to prevent certain people like coworkers, acquaintances or exes from being able to view your status updates.
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into how the “My contacts except…” privacy setting works on WhatsApp and the implications of using it.
What is WhatsApp Status?
WhatsApp status is a feature that allows users to share text, photo, video and GIF updates that disappear after 24 hours. It’s similar to the “Stories” feature on other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.
When you post a status, it goes out to your contacts who have permission to view your statuses based on your privacy settings. They can view your status updates by tapping on your profile photo in the contacts tab.
Statuses allow you to share fleeting moments and updates with your WhatsApp contacts in a casual way. They only stay visible for 24 hours before disappearing.
Understanding WhatsApp Status Privacy Settings
WhatsApp provides three main options for status privacy:
- My Contacts – Your status updates will be visible to all of your contacts.
- My Contacts Except – Your status updates will be visible to all of your contacts, except for specific contacts you exclude.
- Only Share With – You can select specific contacts who you want to view your status updates.
The “My Contacts Except” setting essentially allows you to restrict status updates from certain contacts while leaving it visible to everyone else by default.
How to Use “My Contacts Except” Status Privacy
Using the “My Contacts Except” status privacy setting is simple:
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the More options (three dots) icon in the top right.
- Go to Settings > Account > Privacy.
- Tap on Status.
- Select the “My Contacts Except” option.
- You will then see a list of all your contacts. Tap the circle next to each contact you want to exclude from seeing your status updates.
- Once you have selected the contacts to exclude, tap OK at the bottom.
Your status updates will now be visible to all your contacts except for those you have excluded.
To change who is excluded or switch to a different privacy setting, just go back into your Status Privacy settings.
Important Things to Know About “My Contacts Except”
Here are some key points to understand about how the “My Contacts Except” status privacy works:
- Excluded contacts will not get any notification or indication that they are restricted from seeing your status. Your profile picture will still show up normally in their contacts.
- There is no limit on how many contacts you can exclude.
- Excluding a contact will only affect their ability to view your status updates. They will still be able to chat and call you normally.
- If you exclude contacts who have added you to their own status privacy exceptions, they will still be able to view your status updates.
- You can change your status privacy settings and the excluded contacts at any time.
- If you exclude all your contacts, your status will become completely private and invisible to everyone.
Why Use “My Contacts Except”?
Here are some common reasons you may want to utilize the “My Contacts Except” status privacy setting:
- Exclude coworkers or professional contacts – You likely don’t want work colleagues seeing personal updates meant just for close friends and family.
- Avoid contacts seeing certain types of status updates – You can strategically exclude contacts that you don’t want viewing statuses with location details, political commentary or other sensitive subjects.
- Prevent exes or past relationships from seeing your status – This lets you avoid any awkwardness or problems arising from an ex-partner following your statuses.
- Stop specific people from spying on you – If you suspect contacts are checking your status too often, you can proactively exclude them.
- Reduce unwanted attention or messages – Some contacts may barrage you with messages or calls after seeing certain status updates.
The “My Contacts Except” option gives you precision control over your audience while still keeping your statuses visible to the majority of your contacts.
Limitations of Excluding Contacts
While the “My Contacts Except” setting is useful, there are some limitations to understand:
- On group chats, anyone in the group can view statuses regardless of your privacy settings.
- Excluding a contact does not prevent them from taking screenshots or recordings of your statuses through other devices if they gain access.
- If you get a new phone and restore your WhatsApp backup, excluded contacts may be able to see your old statuses saved in the backup.
- Contacts you exclude can still see when you were last seen online or if you read their messages.
- Third-party apps claiming to allow viewing of restricted statuses likely violate WhatsApp’s terms of service.
While not flawless, the exclude option represents the maximum privacy WhatsApp currently provides natively for statuses.
Who Can See My Status When Excluding Contacts?
When using the “My Contacts Except” status privacy setting, the following people are able to view your status updates:
- All your contacts except those you have specifically excluded
- Anyone else you have directly shared your status link with
- Members of any WhatsApp groups you are in
- WhatsApp Business accounts following your WhatsApp Business profile
Note that if you completely exclude all contacts, your status will be fully private to just yourself.
Troubleshooting Problems With Excluded Contacts
In some cases, you may exclude a contact but still find they are able to view your status updates. Here is how to troubleshoot:
- Double check that the contact is properly excluded in your status privacy settings.
- Make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed.
- Force close and restart the WhatsApp app on your device.
- Toggle your status privacy setting to a different option, close WhatsApp, then switch it back.
- Log out of WhatsApp on the excluded contact’s device to force refresh your privacy settings.
- As a last resort, uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp to clear any glitches.
If problems persist, you will likely need to contact WhatsApp support for additional help.
Conclusion
The “My Contacts Except…” status privacy setting gives you a simple way to exclude specific contacts from viewing your WhatsApp status updates. This allows you to prevent certain people like coworkers, acquaintances or exes from being able to view your personal, time-sensitive status updates while still keeping it visible to the rest of your contacts.
Understanding how to configure and manage your status privacy is important for maintaining your privacy and security on WhatsApp. While there are some limitations, judiciously using the available settings can help you craft the ideal audience for your statuses and avoid any unwanted attention or awkward situations.