WhatsApp status has become an important way for people to share updates, photos, and videos with their contacts. When someone posts a status update, it appears at the top of the chat lists for all their contacts. This allows people to get quick updates from their friends and family easily.
However, sometimes you may not want to see someone’s status updates. Whether it’s bombarding your feed with too many updates or posting something you’d rather not see, you have the option to mute that person’s status updates.
Why Would You Mute Someone’s Status?
There are a few common reasons why you might want to mute someone’s status updates on WhatsApp:
- They share too many status updates and it clutters your feed
- Their updates are irrelevant or uninteresting to you
- Their updates contain sensitive content you’d rather avoid
- You are no longer close with this person and don’t care to see their updates
- You had an argument with the person and want to avoid contact for a while
Muting their status allows you to avoid seeing any updates from that person without fully blocking or deleting them as a contact. It’s a simple way to tailor your WhatsApp experience.
How to Mute Someone’s Status
Muting a contact’s status updates is easy to do right within WhatsApp:
- Open WhatsApp and go to your Chats tab
- Tap and hold the chat with the contact whose status you want to mute
- Tap Mute from the pop-up menu
- Select Mute Status from the next menu
That’s it! You’ll no longer see any status updates from that contact at the top of your chat lists until you unmute them again.
What Happens When You Mute Status
When you mute someone’s status updates, here is exactly what happens:
- You will no longer see their status updates at the top of your chat lists or on the Status tab
- Any new status updates they post will not show up for you
- You can still view their profile picture and “About” information
- You can still chat with them normally
- Your name will still show up under their status views unless you also block them
- They will not be notified or aware that you muted them
- You can unmute them at any time to see their status updates again
Essentially, muting only prevents their status updates from appearing to you. All other elements of your chats and contact remain the same. It’s like tuning out one channel of your communication with them.
What Happens When You Block Someone
In contrast to muting, blocking a contact on WhatsApp has much more significant effects:
- You cannot see any of their status updates
- They cannot see any of your status updates
- You will no longer see their profile photo, “About” info, or when they were last online
- Any messages sent to you by the blocked contact will not show up
- They will see messages they send you as “Sent” but you will not receive them
- You will be removed from their contacts list and vice versa
- Calls and video calls cannot be placed between blocked contacts
Blocking is more severe and noticeable to the other user. Use mute if you only want to avoid status updates but maintain your regular chats.
Can Muted Contacts See Your Status?
Yes, muting a contact only disables their status updates from appearing to you. It does not affect whether they can view your status updates.
When you post a new status, it will still appear for the muted contact at the top of their chat lists. They can view, react, and reply to it like normal.
Your name will also still show up under “Seen by” when they check who has viewed their own status updates, unless they have also muted you.
The muting essentially only works one way for status updates. You won’t see theirs but they can still see all of yours.
Do Muted Contacts Get Notified?
No, when you mute someone’s status updates, WhatsApp does not notify them or the contact in any way. There is no indication to the muted person that you can no longer view their status updates.
This prevents any unwanted confrontations or awkward conversations about why you muted them. It allows you to silently tailor your feed instead of making a statement.
Can You See Updates After Muting?
Muting someone’s status updates completely removes their new updates from your view. Any statuses they post after you mute them will not show up in your app at all.
However, there is one exception – if they tag you in a status update, it will still appear to you even if you have muted them. This helps avoid missing important updates directed at you.
The only way to see their regular statuses again is to unmute them. This will make their future status updates visible to you again.
How Long Does Muting Last?
Muting someone’s status updates will remain in effect indefinitely until you manually unmute them. There is no time limit or expiration on muted statuses.
The contact will stay muted across any uninstalls/reinstalls of WhatsApp or switching of phones. It remains tied to your account and that specific chat.
You have full control to decide when to unmute them again and resume seeing their status updates. WhatsApp will not undo the muting automatically.
Can You Mute Group Statuses?
Yes, along with individual contacts, you can also mute status updates from any WhatsApp groups that you are a part of.
The process is the same:
- Long press the group chat
- Tap Mute
- Select Mute Status
This will prevent statuses posted in that group from appearing at the top of your chat list. You can unmute the group at any time to see new updates again.
Can Contacts Tell You Muted Them?
No, when you mute someone on WhatsApp, they have no indication that you can no longer see their status updates. WhatsApp does not notify them or reveal this information to the muted contact in any way.
So you don’t have to worry about them realizing you muted them or feeling offended. It remains private on your end.
The one exception is if you mute someone who has you muted. Since muting is one-way, when you both mute each other, it effectively works like blocking one another’s statuses. In this case, they may discern that you muted them as well.
Should You Mute or Block Someone?
If you only want to avoid seeing someone’s status updates, muting them is the best approach. You maintain your normal chats and contact but their statuses disappear.
Blocking should only be used when you want to cease all communication with someone and prevent them from viewing your profile or contacting you entirely.
In most cases, muting statuses strikes the right balance. But blocking provides a more complete approach when needed.
Can You Recover Muted Statuses?
Unfortunately, there is no way to retroactively recover or view status updates from someone after you mute them. Any statuses they posted before you muted will no longer be accessible.
Muting tells WhatsApp to stop showing you their updates, so those statuses effectively disappear from your perspective.
The only way to potentially see their old statuses again is to temporarily unmute them and hope they reshare some of the same statuses. But there is no guarantee or archive.
Best Practices for Muting
Here are some best practices to make the most of muting status updates on WhatsApp:
- Use muting instead of blocking whenever possible to maintain positive relationships
- Remember that muting is one-way – they can still see your status updates
- Mute with discretion to avoid offending contacts
- Feel free to liberally mute noisy group statuses
- Unmute again if circumstances change with a contact
- View muting as a useful tool for curating your WhatsApp experience
Pros of Muting Statuses
Some of the key advantages of muting someone’s status updates include:
- Avoids clutter from frequent statuses
- Hides potentially sensitive or inappropriate content
- Prioritizes statuses from closer contacts
- Tailors your WhatsApp experience
- Prevents unnecessary confrontations
- One-way nature is often preferable
Cons of Muting Statuses
Some potential drawbacks to keep in mind include:
- You may miss important updates if tagged
- The muted person can still see your statuses
- No notification that you muted them
- Cannot recover old statuses from before muting
- Contacts may be offended if they realize you muted them
WhatsApp Status FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about WhatsApp statuses and muting:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I mute contacts’ stories too? | No, muting only applies to text status updates, not stories. |
| Do my views still increase their status counts? | Yes, they can still see your name in their views. |
| Can I mute someone who muted me? | Yes, you can mute them back and hide their statuses. |
| Is there a limit to how many I can mute? | No, you can mute an unlimited number of contacts. |
| Do muted statuses still take up storage space? | No, WhatsApp doesn’t store their muted statuses. |
| Can I mute contacts globally? | No, you have to mute each contact one by one. |
| Will uninstalling WhatsApp unmute them? | No, muting remains in effect if you reinstall. |
Conclusion
Muting WhatsApp status updates is an easy yet powerful way to curate your feed and avoid unnecessary content from contacts. While their normal chats remain intact, muting lets you take a break from their statuses.
Just be mindful that muting is one-sided and they can still view your updates. Use this selective feature as needed without going overboard to mute everyone.
With great power comes great responsibility! Mute statuses judiciously and your WhatsApp experience will benefit.