WhatsApp is one of the main ways people keep in touch with friends and family around the world.
With the messaging app releasing new updates at a steady rate, it can be difficult to keep track of its most useful features. To help out, we’ve rounded up 15 essential functions that may have passed you by.
From options that keep your activity hidden from prying eyes to decluttering storage, here are the top WhatsApp tricks you should get acquainted with.
How to hide your WhatsApp online status
When you want to delay replying to a message, you can essentially stop people from seeing that you’re online.
To do so, head into settings, select privacy, and then choose ‘last seen’ and ‘online’. Here, you can choose to show your activity status to everyone, just your contacts, your contacts and additional numbers, or nobody.
Keep in mind, hiding your online status will prevent you from seeing other people’s status as well.
How to stop people from adding you to WhatsApp groups
Though WhatsApp groups are a great way to keep in touch with multiple friends, they can quickly turn into a headache when the messages start piling up.
If you want to maintain your privacy, you can decide who gets to add you to a group. Just go to settings, tap privacy, select groups, and then choose from “Everyone”, “My Contacts”, or “My Contacts Except”.
The latter means that a group admin will have to send you a private invite through a chat before you join a group. You’ll have three days to accept before the invite expires.
How to leave a WhatsApp group
Whether you’re arranging a night out or a regular meetup, WhatsApp groups are a great way for communicating with multiple people.
But, if you want to drop out of a group for whatever reason, you can silently leave without alerting anyone but the group admins (which usually includes the person who created the group and people they’ve chosen to be admins).
To exit a WhatsApp group on iPhone, tap and hold the group name, select “exit group”, and then tap “exit”.
On Android, tap and hold the group name, select the three dots icon, tap “exit group”, and then tap “exit”.
In both cases, only the admins will see that you’ve left the group in the chat, thanks to an update WhatsApp quietly introduced earlier this year.
How to turn off WhatsApp read receipts
Sticking with privacy, another way to stop people from expecting an immediate reply is to turn off read receipts. This will essentially stop the sender of a message from seeing if you’ve read it, as indicated by two blue ticks.
Once again, head into your settings, tap privacy, and then choose “turn off read receipts”.
However, there’s currently no way to disable read and play receipts for group chats and voice messages.
How to make your WhatsApp messages disappear
If you like your privacy, or simply don’t like the idea of your pronouncements being stored forever, you can make it so that your WhatsApp messages are automatically deleted after a set amount of time. Currently, you can set this to 24 hours, one week or 30 days, though there’s evidence that WhatsApp may provide more timespans soon.
You can either make this a global setting or apply it to individual groups.
To make it apply to every chat going forward (though not existing ones - you’ll have to do that manually), go to ‘Settings’, select ‘Privacy’, scroll down to ‘Disappearing Messages’ and then change ‘Off’ to one of the three options.
For individual one-on-one chats or groups, simply go to the conversation, tap the contact or group name at the top, scroll down to ‘Disappearing Messages’ and then select the timer you want.
How to save disappearing messages on WhatsApp
You’ll soon have the option to save disappearing messages on WhatsApp thanks to an upcoming update.
All you have to do is hold down the message you want to keep, and select the bookmark icon at the top of the screen.
WhatsApp will then notify the sender that their message has been saved, giving them 30 days to allow or overrule the decision.
With their consent, the message will be saved in the chat for everyone to view, and be stored in a separate folder.
To view your kept messages, tap or click on the chat info, and select Kept messages.
For senders who want to delete a kept message, just select the message you want to upkeep, tap upkeep, and confirm by selecting ok.
Group admins can also limit this feature to themselves via the group admin settings.
How to mute WhatsApp chats
WhatsApp may not have a do not disturb mode, but you can still silence the app by muting individual or group chats.
Just click on the three dots at the top of a chat, and select “mute notifications”. The same goes for group chats, where the messages can come thick and fast.
You can even choose how long to mute a chat for: eight hours, one week, or always.
How to stop WhatsApp saving photos to your camera roll
When you select a media file you’ve been sent on WhatsApp, it is automatically downloaded to your phone by default. This can quickly cause your precious phone storage to get clogged up with unnecessary photos, videos, and screenshots.
To save space, you can disable the option by going into settings, selecting chats, and tapping “turn off media visibility”.
You can also apply the option to individual or group chats by opening up an existing chat, tapping the three dots that signify the more options menu, selecting view contact or group info, and then tapping media visibility to turn it off.
How to archive a WhatsApp chat
You can declutter your WhatsApp home page by archiving the chats you no longer want to see.
Just hold down the chat you want to remove and select the archive chat symbol at the top of the page (the box with a downward-pointing arrow in it).
Best of all, this won’t delete the chat so, if you want to restore it, all you have to do is select the archived chat option above your chats, hold down the chat you wish to unarchive, and then hit the icon at the top of the screen.
How to share your location on WhatsApp
When you’re out and about, you can use WhatsApp to keep friends and family up-to-date with your current location.
You can share where you are in both individual and group chats, making it a useful way to let others know that you’re safe or to organise a meetup.
In order to use the feature, you will first need to enable location permissions for WhatsApp in your phone’s settings.
Next, open the chat you want to share your whereabouts in, and tap attach (the paperclip icon), location, share live location.
Then, select the length of time you’d like to share your live location, add an optional comment and press send.
While the feature has a timer that stops it automatically, you can manually disable it in a chat by selecting “stop sharing” and then “stop”.
You can also stop sharing it across all chats by tapping the more options icon, selecting settings, then privacy and live locations, and then tapping “stop sharing” and “stop”.
How to edit sent messages on WhatsApp
If the sight of a typo drives you mad, then you’ll be glad to learn that WhatsApp messages can be corrected after they’ve been sent.
To use the feature, just long-press on a sent message and choose ‘Edit’ from the menu for up to 15 minutes afterwards.
Leave it any longer, and you won’t be able to amend the missive. Messages you change will be labelled as “edited,” so that recipients are aware of the correction. However, they won’t show the edit history, even if they’ve been tweaked multiple times.
How to lock WhatsApp chats
For those who want to hide their WhatsApp messages behind an extra layer of privacy, the app has a handy lock feature.
With it, you can essentially put your most sensitive chats in a separate folder that can only be accessed using its own password or your fingerprint ID.
You can lock a message by selecting it and tapping the lock option. To reveal these chats, slowly pull down on your inbox and enter your phone password or biometric.
Enable two-step verification on WhatsApp
Two-step verification is one of the main protection methods standing between your online data and cyber-criminals.
Most social networks offer the security feature, and WhatsApp is no different. The technique essentially requires you to enter an additional code, on top of your password, when logging into an app.
Two-step verification can be activated on WhatsApp via your settings.
In this section, tap on Account, select two-step verification, and enable. Now, you’ll be asked to enter a six digit PIN and press confirm.
At this point, you’ll be given the option of providing an email address, which is handy if you ever want to reset two-step verification.
You can disable or reset your PIN at any time from your account settings.
How to stop spam calls on WhatsApp
While WhatsApp can’t prevent scammers from targeting you, it can mute and block these numbers so they don’t distract you on the app.
In your settings under privacy, you’ll find a calls option that lets you silence unknown callers. This can include someone you haven’t contacted or saved as a contact before.
While you’re in your privacy settings, we’d also recommend performing a privacy checkup by tapping the banner on the top of the screen. Here, you can also block unwanted calls and messages.
Track packages, check train times, and book a hotel on WhatsApp
While many people primarily use WhatsApp to chat to their mates and loved ones, you can also use it to message businesses.
There are currently over 160 companies and organisations on the app in the UK, ranging from banks to hotels to transport providers, and more.
Some of the most helpful services they offer on WhatsApp include the ability to track packages via DPD, book hotel rooms through the Mandarin Oriental London or Sofitel London St James, and check South Western Railway train times.
To message business, start a new chat, then tap businesses from the select contact page. You can then either search for a business using the search bar at the top of the page, or choose one from the list of categories. The list includes criteria such as shopping, travel and hotels, automotive, government and public services, and food and drink.
The experience of chatting with a business on WhatsApp is relatively similar to talking to customer support on a website. Some people may find it more convenient than searching for a company online or ringing up and waiting in a queue.
