Whatsapp is one of the largest online messaging services, with over 400 million users in India alone. With an increasingly blurring distinction between your real-life and virtual one, it’s elementary that you apply measures provided by these online platforms to safeguard your privacy, especially if you are looking to get away from prying eyes or constant surveillance of your parents or loved ones.
In this article, we are going to explain how you can turn off your last seen on WhatsApp and build a virtual wall of privacy around you.
Also read: How to turn off read receipts in Whatsapp?
Turn off last seen in Whatsapp
Here are the steps to turn off the read receipts in WhatsApp.
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the three-dot button at the top-right corner of the screen. After that, select Settings.
- Next, tap on Privacy.
- Next, tap on Last seen and online.
- After that, you’ll see four options: Everyone, My contacts, My contacts except…, and Nobody. If you choose the Everyone option, everyone can see your last seen. My Contacts will allow your contacts to see your last seen. The third option, My contacts except…, allows you to select the contacts you trust and want to view your last seen. The last option, Nobody, will hide your last seen on WhatsApp from all eyes.
If you want no one to see your last seen, you should go for the fourth option.
Benefits of turning off last seen on WhatsApp
Here are some benefits of turning off last seen on WhatsApp:
- The first benefit is more privacy and control over your WhatsApp account.
- You can always avoid unwanted and unsolicited questions from prying eyes.
- You can protect yourself from stalkers and strangers.
Drawbacks of turning off last seen on WhatsApp
Although the benefits are awesome, turning off last seen on WhatsApp also has some drawbacks:
- By turning off your last seen, you also forego the right to see others’s last seen.
- Sometimes, people may think that you’re too busy and ignore them.
- When people see your last seen, it gives a sense of transparency.
Also read: How to send Whatsapp messages to yourself?
What does turning off last seen do?
When you turn off last seen, others cannot see when you have opened WhatsApp. Similarly, you will not be able to see the last seen of others.
Even if your last seen is turned off, when you are active on Whatsapp, your contacts will see an ‘Online’ badge below your name on their screens where the last seen usually appears. Also the standard ‘Typing…’ badge will also appear during conversations. However, the ‘Online’ badge would disappear when you leave the app.
Why am I not able to see the last seen of others?
There are three possibilities if the last seen of a contact on WhatsApp isn’t visible to you.
- They must have turned off their last seen.
- They must have blocked you.
- Or, you might have mistakenly hidden your last seen or blocked the other person. To confirm, check your block list from the in-app settings.
Also read: How to find someone on WhatsApp?
