WhatsApp Status has become a kind of mix between messaging and social network where we share photos, videos, text and even links during only 24 hoursThe problem is that, over time, we end up having contacts who post absolutely everything they do, and it can be very tiresome to constantly see their stories or for them to see ours without any filter.
Luckily, WhatsApp gives us plenty of leeway to manage this chaos: we can choose who sees what we upload, hide our status from specific contactsYou can mute other people's updates so they don't appear at the top, and even check their statuses without them knowing. All of this is done within the app itself, on both Android and iPhone, and usually only takes a few seconds.
What are WhatsApp statuses and how do they work?
Statuses are WhatsApp's version of Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook stories: ephemeral publications lasting 24 hours where you can share photos, short videos, or simple text messages that your contacts will see. They appear in the "News" tab (or "Status," depending on the version), above channels and other updates.
Unlike social networks like Instagram, where you choose who you follow, on WhatsApp anyone who has your number saved in their contacts and you have theirs can see your status updates if you don't adjust your privacy settings. This includes old contacts from high school, work colleagues, distant family or even people you sold something to on Wallapop and never deleted.
It is important to be clear that Muting a chat is not the same as muting statusesIf you mute a conversation, you'll stop receiving notifications for their messages, but you'll still see their stories as usual. To stop seeing their updates at the top of the list, you need to mute their statuses specifically, which is a separate function.
Configure who can see your WhatsApp Statuses
Before you start posting statuses like there's no tomorrow, it's advisable review privacy settingsFrom there you can decide which contacts will see your future posts and who doesn't. This setting only applies to statuses you post from that point on; it doesn't change what has already been sent.
The initial path differs slightly between Android and iPhone, but the final menu is the same for both systems. In all cases, the first step is to open WhatsApp and go to the "News" or "Status" tab at the bottom or top, depending on your phone.
Accessing status privacy on Android and iOS
On iPhone, once in "What's New," tap on the blue three dots icon associated with your status and go to "Status Privacy" or "Data Privacy", depending on the translation shown in your version.
On Android, from "News" go to the "Status" section and tap on the three vertical dots in the upper right cornerIn the drop-down menu, select "Status Privacy" to adjust who sees your updates.
privacy options available
Once inside "Status Privacy" you will always see the same three options, both on Android and iOS, which allow you fairly granular control over who sees your posts:
- Contacts: all the contacts you have saved in your address book will be able to see your statuses.
- My contacts, except ...Everyone will see your statuses except for the people you manually exclude from the list.
- Just share with…You choose one by one which contacts have permission to see what you post.
If you choose "My contacts, except…", your full address book will open and you will be able to Mark the people you want to hide your status from.Anyone marked on that list will not see any of your subsequent updates unless you change the settings again.
In "Only share with…" the process works in the opposite way: it starts from scratch and you select only the people you want to share with. Share your WhatsApp storiesThe rest of your contacts won't see anything, as if you hadn't posted any status updates.
Prevent anyone from seeing your statuses
You may want to upload statuses for a specific reason, but in practice, absolutely no one should see themAlthough it may seem counterintuitive, some people use them as a personal notebook, for testing, or simply as an experiment. To do this, you can use either of the two advanced options:
- In "My contacts, except…", tap the multi-select icon (usually in the top right corner) and dials all contactsThis way, everyone is added to the "except" list, so no one will see your status updates.
- In "Only share with…", enter and Don't mark anyone on the listIf there are no authorized contacts, no one will be able to see your posts.
Keep in mind that if you later add a new number to your contacts, it won't be included in the exclusions already set in "My contacts except…". Therefore, if you want to keep your status completely hidden, you'll need to Reopen the settings and add it to the list..
Mute specific contact statuses on WhatsApp
Another very common situation is that you don't want to compromise your privacy, but you do stop seeing the statuses of certain contacts who post all day long. This is where the mute status feature comes in: it doesn't block the person, doesn't affect messages, and doesn't prevent them from seeing your stories; it simply hides their updates from your main status feed.
When you mute someone's statuses, their posts stop appearing at the top of the list and move to a separate section called "Muted," which is only visible if you expand it. You still have the option to view them whenever you want, but Notifications and the indicator dot disappear that that person has uploaded something new.
How to mute a contact's status
The process for muting someone's status updates is virtually identical on Android and iPhone and is done from the "Updates" or "Status" tab, not from the chat:
- Open WhatsApp and go to the section "News" or "Status".
- At the top you'll see recent statuses; scroll through the list until you find the contact you want to mute.
- Press and hold (long touch) on the profile picture or status that person.
- A pop-up window will appear asking if you want to mute status updates of that contact.
- Confirm by clicking on "Mute".
From that moment on, that person's stories will no longer appear among recent updates and will be moved to the "Muted" section, located at the bottom of the status list. You'll recognize it because it appears as a collapsible block with the text "Silenced" and an arrow to unfold it.
Importantly, You can mute as many contacts as you wantThere's no limit. They're all grouped in that hidden block, so you won't see their posts unless you open that section yourself to browse.
What happens when you mute someone's status updates?
When you mute a contact's status updates, your relationship with that person on WhatsApp continues to function normally. You can continue chatting, receiving calls, and viewing their profile picture. As always. The only thing that changes is the visibility and priority of your stories in the status tab.
In addition, the other person you do not receive any notice or notification that you have muted it. It's a completely private setting that only you can see and control from your account, so you can do it without fear of conflicts or misunderstandings.
Even if their statuses are muted, you'll still have access to them. Simply expand the "Muted" section and tap on the contact's status to view it normally. Viewing their stories doesn't unmute them; It only disappears if you manually undo it..
Turn off muting a contact's status updates
If over time you regret it or simply want to rewatch the stories If you remove someone from your status, you can reverse the process in a few seconds. However, that person needs to have at least one active status for the option to appear.
To disable state muting:
- Go to the "News" or "Status" tab.
- Scroll down until you find the block "Silenced" and tap it to unfold it.
- Press and hold on the status or name of the contact you want to return to normal view.
- In the pop-up window, choose the option "Unmute" or similar.
From that moment on, that person's new status updates will reappear in the "Recent Updates" section, just like the rest of your contacts. This also doesn't apply in this case. No notification is sent to the other party, so they won't know that their stories have regained prominence on your WhatsApp.
Please note that this process It cannot be done from WhatsApp WebThe browser version lets you view statuses, pause, fast forward, or skip to another one, but it doesn't allow you to manage mute or modify privacy settings; for that, you need to use the mobile app.
Hide your status from specific contacts
In addition to muting what others post, you may want certain people Never watch your own storiesIt could be that ex you prefer to keep your distance from, an overly nosy boss, or that typical contact you don't even know but who's still in your address book.
To hide your status from specific contacts, you should use the privacy options we discussed earlier. The most practical in these cases is usually "My contacts, except…", because It keeps your content visible to almost everyone. except for your exceptions.
- Open WhatsApp and go to "News" or "Status".
- Touch the three points and enter "State privacy".
- Select "My contacts, except…".
- Select the specific contacts you want to block from accessing your status updates.
- Save the changes by clicking the confirmation icon (check).
From that moment on, the contacts you have marked They won't see any of your new updatesThe rest of the people in your contacts will still see what you post in your status, as normal, as long as they are not included on that exclusion list.
See who has viewed your status updates and adjust privacy settings.
Every time you upload a status you can check which contacts have seen it exactlyTo do this, simply open your own story and swipe up: a list will appear with the names and number of people who have accessed the content.
In parallel, when you see another person's status, you also You appear in their view listIt works similarly to Instagram or Facebook stories: the other person can "see who has been snooping".
If this makes you uncomfortable and you want to look at other people's states without leaving a traceThere is a trick in the app's privacy settings, based on the famous read receipts.
View WhatsApp statuses without your name appearing
The most direct way to see statuses without the other person knowing is to disable them. "Read Receipts"That is, the blue ticks on messages. This is done from the account settings and affects the entire app, not just statuses.
- Open WhatsApp and tap the three dots in the upper right corner (on iPhone go directly to Settings).
- Sign in «Settings».
- Go to “Account” and then “Privacy.”
- Scroll down until you find "Read receipts".
- Turn that option off.
From that moment on, you will be able to see the statuses of your contacts and You will not appear on the list of people who have viewed themThe downside is that you also won't know who has read your messages or who has viewed your own statuses, since the blue double check disappears for everyone and the list of views of your stories is lost.
This change is not retroactive: messages and statuses sent before modifying the option They will not be updated, so even if you re-enable confirmations, what has already been sent will not retrieve that read information.
Other methods for viewing states without being seen
Besides playing with read receipts, there are some additional tricks that allow check statuses without registering the displayThey are a bit more cumbersome and don't guarantee 100% results, but they can get you out of a tight spot.
Use WhatsApp Web in incognito mode and offline
One of the more unusual methods involves using WhatsApp Web combined with private browsing and disconnecting from the internet at the crucial moment. The idea is that WhatsApp will load the statuses, but I can never send the information back that you have seen them.
- Open an incognito browsing window in your browser on your PC.
- Access WhatsApp Web and scan the QR code with your mobile to log in.
- Go to the "Status" tab on WhatsApp Web, but don't open any yet.
- Disconnect your computer from the Internet (turn off WiFi or unplug the network cable).
- Now open the status you want to view; since it had already been downloaded, You can watch it offline.
- When you're finished, completely close the browser's incognito window.
- Reconnect your PC to the Internet.
If everything goes well, WhatsApp won't have had a chance to send the view information, so the contact won't see your name in the list of people who have viewed their status. Even so, since it depends on connections and timing, It's not a foolproof trick.
Explore the hidden status folder on Android
On Android, there's another quite useful feature: WhatsApp temporarily saves the photos and videos from the statuses you view in a hidden folder called .Statuswithin the phone's internal memory. If you access it from a file explorer, you can view that content without using the app.
To do this, you need a file manager (many brands like Samsung, Xiaomi or Huawei already include one; if not, you can use an app like File Manager Plus or any explorer with the option to show hidden files).
- Open your phone’s file explorer.
- Enter the device internal memory (not on the SD card).
- Find and open the "WhatsApp" folder.
- In the file manager settings, enable the "show hidden files and folders" option.
- A folder called ".Statuses" will appear within the WhatsApp tree.
- Go to «.Statuses» to see the images and videos that have been downloaded as statuses.
Everything you see from that folder will not generate a display markup On WhatsApp, this is because the app itself doesn't "know" that you've opened those files. It only works for statuses that contain multimedia content (photos or videos), not for those that are just text.
Airplane mode and other variations
Another known tactic involves activating the airplane mode before opening the stateTo view it offline, keep your phone turned off until the story expires (24 hours after posting). In theory, this prevents the app from notifying you that you've viewed it.
The problem with this system is that it's easy to miscalculate the time, forget to reconnect your phone afterwards, or for the app, upon reconnecting, I ended up sending the display information as well.Therefore, although it may work occasionally, it is not the most convenient or reliable method for daily use.
Share WhatsApp Status on social media
WhatsApp also allows that share your statuses on other platformslike Facebook Stories. It's a very simple process that's done from within the status itself, using the icon of Share on Facebook that appears after posting it on WhatsApp.
- Post your status on WhatsApp as usual.
- Open the status section and locate the update you want to share.
- Tap on the share icon associated with the status.
- Select "Facebook Stories" and confirm the post.
Keep in mind that when you do this, WhatsApp's privacy policies no longer apply and those of [the relevant company/website] take over. the social network in which you publishFor example, if your Facebook profile is public, your status could be visible to many more people than it would be on WhatsApp.
Additionally, any changes you make later to status privacy within WhatsApp will be affected. It will not be automatically reflected on Facebook Nor on other networks where you've shared it. If you make a mistake or change your mind, you'll have to manually delete the story from the corresponding social network's app.
Frequently asked questions about state privacy
The same questions always arise regarding WhatsApp statuses: what each person sees, what can and can't be muted, and how far the privacy options extend. It's worth clarifying some key points to avoid surprises.
If I mute a contact's status updates, will that person know?
No. Muting statuses is a completely private action: WhatsApp does not send alerts or notifications to the affected contact. From their point of view, everything remains the same.
Is muting a chat the same as muting statuses?
No. Muting a chat only makes stop receiving sound or screen notifications When that person messages you, but you still see their status updates at the top. Muting status updates only affects their stories, not the messages.
What happens if I disable read receipts to view hidden states?
You will lose the blue double check in all your chats and you will no longer be able to know It shows when someone has read your messages or who has viewed your status updates. This is a global app setting, not exclusive to Stories.
If I delete a status on WhatsApp, will it also be deleted from Facebook or other networks?
No. If you have shared your status on other platforms, You will have to remove it manually on each social network. Deleting it on WhatsApp does not affect the content on other services.
Having control over who sees your status updates, which posts from others you want to see, and when you prefer to remain unseen while viewing stories allows you to use WhatsApp much more comfortably. By adjusting your privacy settings, muting the most persistent contacts, and learning the tricks to avoid being seen snooping, you can keep your status updates under control without sacrificing the benefits of this feature. Share this information and help more people learn how this tool works.