WhatsApp Status, a feature mirroring the ephemeral storytelling of Snapchat and Instagram Stories, allows you to share photos, videos, text, and links that disappear after 24 hours. It’s a fantastic way to connect with friends, family, and even acquaintances, offering glimpses into your daily life. However, there might be individuals in your contact list you’d prefer not to have access to this personal content. Perhaps it’s an ex-partner, a nosy relative, or simply someone you’d rather keep at arm’s length. Thankfully, WhatsApp provides robust privacy settings that allow you to control who views your status updates. This article provides a comprehensive guide on how to block someone from seeing your WhatsApp status, ensuring your privacy and peace of mind.
Understanding WhatsApp Status Privacy Settings
Before diving into the specifics of blocking, it’s crucial to understand the three main privacy options WhatsApp offers for your status:
- My Contacts: This setting makes your status visible to everyone in your phone’s contact list who also has your number saved in their phone.
- My Contacts Except…: This setting is the key to selectively blocking individuals. It allows you to choose specific contacts who will be excluded from viewing your status updates.
- Only Share With…: This option is the most restrictive, allowing you to handpick the specific individuals you want to share your status with, essentially creating a private group for your updates.
These settings provide granular control over your status visibility, allowing you to tailor your sharing preferences to your specific needs. Understanding these options is the first step towards effectively managing your WhatsApp privacy.
How To Block Specific Contacts From Viewing Your Status
The “My Contacts Except…” option is the most direct way to prevent someone from seeing your WhatsApp status without blocking them entirely on the platform. This ensures they can still message you directly, but they won’t be able to view your status updates.
Step-by-Step Guide To Blocking Status Views
Here’s a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to utilize this feature:
- Open WhatsApp: Launch the WhatsApp application on your smartphone.
- Navigate to the Status Tab: On the main screen, locate and tap the “Status” tab. This is usually located in the middle of the screen, between “Chats” and “Calls.”
- Access Status Privacy Settings: Within the Status tab, you need to find the Status privacy settings. This can usually be done by tapping the three vertical dots (menu icon) located in the top right corner of the screen (on Android). On iOS, it may be located at the bottom of the screen. From the dropdown menu (on Android), select “Status Privacy.” On iOS, simply tap “Privacy.”
- Select “My Contacts Except…”: In the Status Privacy settings, you’ll see the three options mentioned earlier: “My Contacts,” “My Contacts Except…,” and “Only Share With…”. Select the “My Contacts Except…” option.
- Choose the Contacts to Block: A list of your contacts will appear. Scroll through the list and select the contacts you want to block from viewing your status. Tap the circle next to each contact’s name to add them to the block list. A checkmark will appear next to their name, indicating that they are selected. Be careful to only select the individuals you truly want to exclude.
- Save Your Changes: Once you’ve selected all the contacts you want to block, tap the checkmark (on Android) or “Done” (on iOS) located in the bottom right corner of the screen to save your changes.
- Confirmation: WhatsApp will confirm that your status privacy settings have been updated.
Once these steps are completed, the selected contacts will no longer be able to view any of your future WhatsApp status updates. They won’t receive any notification that they’ve been blocked, and they will simply see a blank screen when they try to view your status.
Things To Keep In Mind
- Retrospective Blocking: Blocking someone from seeing your status only applies to future updates. They may still be able to view any status updates you posted before you blocked them, as long as those updates are still within the 24-hour window.
- No Notification: The person you’ve blocked will not receive a notification informing them that they can no longer view your status. This makes it a discreet way to manage your privacy.
- Mutual Contacts: If you and the blocked person share a mutual contact, that contact might inadvertently show them your status. Consider this when posting content you particularly want to keep private.
- Reversing the Block: You can easily reverse this process by going back to the Status Privacy settings and unchecking the contacts you previously blocked. They will then be able to see your future status updates.
- Profile Picture Visibility: Blocking someone from viewing your status does not affect their ability to see your profile picture or send you messages. These are separate privacy settings.
Alternative Methods For Managing Status Visibility
While using the “My Contacts Except…” option is the most common and direct method for blocking someone from seeing your WhatsApp status, there are alternative approaches you can consider:
Using The “Only Share With…” Option
As mentioned earlier, the “Only Share With…” option is the most restrictive. It allows you to create a select group of individuals who are the only ones who can view your status. This is useful if you only want to share your status with a small, trusted group of people.
- Access Status Privacy Settings: Follow steps 1-3 as described in the previous section to access the Status Privacy settings.
- Select “Only Share With…”: Choose the “Only Share With…” option.
- Select the Contacts to Share With: A list of your contacts will appear. Select only the contacts you want to be able to view your status.
- Save Your Changes: Tap the checkmark (on Android) or “Done” (on iOS) to save your changes.
This effectively blocks everyone else in your contact list from seeing your status, except for the individuals you specifically selected.
Deleting Contacts
If you don’t want someone to see your status and you don’t interact with them regularly, you can simply delete them from your contact list. This will prevent them from seeing your status if you have your status privacy set to “My Contacts.” However, they can still see your status if they have your number but you don’t have theirs and your privacy setting is set to “Everyone.”
Completely Blocking A Contact On WhatsApp
If you want to prevent someone from contacting you altogether, including viewing your status, sending you messages, or calling you, you can block them completely on WhatsApp.
- Open the Chat with the Contact: Open the chat with the person you want to block.
- Access Contact Information: Tap on the contact’s name at the top of the chat screen to view their profile information.
- Scroll Down and Block: Scroll to the bottom of the contact information screen. You’ll find a “Block” option. Tap on it.
- Confirm Blocking: WhatsApp will ask you to confirm that you want to block the contact. Confirm your choice.
Once you block someone, they will no longer be able to see your status, send you messages, or call you on WhatsApp. They also won’t receive any notification that they’ve been blocked. Completely blocking someone is a more permanent solution and should be reserved for situations where you want to completely cut off communication.
Why Block Someone From Seeing Your WhatsApp Status?
There are numerous reasons why you might want to block someone from viewing your WhatsApp status. Here are a few common scenarios:
- Privacy Concerns: You might be sharing personal information or moments that you don’t want certain individuals to see.
- Avoiding Conflict: You might want to avoid potential arguments or misunderstandings that could arise from sharing your status with certain people.
- Ex-Partners: You might prefer to keep your life private from an ex-partner.
- Unwanted Attention: You might be receiving unwanted attention or harassment from someone.
- Professional Boundaries: You might want to maintain professional boundaries with colleagues or clients.
- Keeping Surprises Secret: You might be planning a surprise for someone and don’t want them to see any hints in your status.
Ultimately, the decision to block someone from seeing your WhatsApp status is a personal one. You have the right to control who has access to your personal information and content.
Conclusion
WhatsApp provides ample tools to manage your privacy and control who sees your status updates. By understanding the different privacy settings and utilizing the “My Contacts Except…” option, you can effectively block specific individuals from viewing your status while still maintaining other forms of communication. Whether you’re concerned about privacy, avoiding conflict, or simply maintaining boundaries, these tools empower you to create a more comfortable and secure WhatsApp experience. Remember to review your status privacy settings regularly to ensure they align with your current needs and preferences. Taking control of your privacy is an essential part of using social media responsibly.
How Can I Block A Specific Person From Seeing My WhatsApp Status Updates?
WhatsApp offers a straightforward way to prevent specific contacts from viewing your status updates. To do this, open WhatsApp and navigate to the ‘Status’ tab. Then, tap on the three dots (or more) menu typically located at the top right corner of the screen and select ‘Status Privacy.’ Here, you’ll find options to control who can see your status. Select ‘Only share with…’ or ‘My contacts except…’ to choose specific individuals you want to exclude.
Selecting ‘My contacts except…’ allows you to create a list of contacts who will be blocked from viewing your status. Simply check the boxes next to the names of the individuals you want to block and confirm your selection. From that point forward, they will no longer be able to see any new status updates you post. Remember, this change applies only to future status updates, not those posted before you made the privacy adjustment.
If I Block Someone From Seeing My WhatsApp Status, Will They Know They Are Blocked?
No, WhatsApp does not explicitly notify users when they are blocked from viewing someone else’s status. The blocked contact will not receive any direct notification or message indicating that their access has been restricted. This is a deliberate design choice by WhatsApp to protect the privacy of users who choose to limit who can see their content.
Instead, the blocked contact will simply no longer see any status updates from you. If they previously saw your status regularly, they might suspect they’ve been blocked, but they won’t have concrete evidence. They will not be able to distinguish whether they are blocked, or you simply haven’t posted a status update recently.
Can I Block Someone From Seeing My WhatsApp Status Without Removing Them From My Contacts?
Yes, you can absolutely block someone from viewing your WhatsApp status without deleting them from your contact list. The “Status Privacy” settings, which are accessible through the ‘Status’ tab in WhatsApp, allow you to selectively exclude contacts from viewing your status updates while still maintaining them as contacts on your WhatsApp account. This means you can continue to communicate with them via direct messages, but they won’t have access to your status.
Using the ‘My contacts except…’ option within the Status Privacy settings enables you to create a custom list of contacts who are excluded from your status viewership. This is a helpful feature when you want to share status updates with most of your contacts but keep certain individuals from seeing them without taking the more drastic step of removing them entirely from your contacts.
If I Block Someone From Seeing My WhatsApp Status, Will They Still Be Able To Message Me Or See My Profile Picture?
Blocking someone from seeing your WhatsApp status only affects their ability to view your status updates. It does not prevent them from sending you messages or viewing your profile picture. These are separate aspects of your WhatsApp account and are controlled by different settings. Your profile picture visibility can be managed in the ‘Privacy’ section under ‘Settings’ > ‘Account’ > ‘Privacy’.
A person blocked from viewing your status can still send you messages, and you will receive them as usual. Unless you have also blocked them completely in your chat list (which is a separate action), they will continue to be able to interact with you via one-on-one conversations. The status block only limits their access to the ephemeral content shared in your status updates.
Can I Change My Status Privacy Settings After Posting A Status Update?
Yes, you can change your status privacy settings at any time, even after posting a status update. The changes you make to your status privacy settings will only affect future status updates. Any status updates that you’ve already posted before changing the settings will be visible to the audience that was defined by your privacy settings at the time of posting.
For example, if you post a status update with ‘My contacts’ selected as your audience and then change the settings to ‘My contacts except…’, the existing status update will still be visible to all of your contacts. However, any new status updates posted after making the change will only be visible to the contacts you haven’t excluded.
How Do I Know If Someone Has Blocked Me From Seeing Their WhatsApp Status?
Unfortunately, WhatsApp does not provide a direct notification or confirmation if someone has blocked you from viewing their status. The app is designed to prioritize the privacy of the person who initiated the block. As a result, there’s no explicit way to know for certain if you’ve been blocked from someone’s status updates.
However, you might suspect you’ve been blocked if you consistently fail to see status updates from a contact who previously posted them regularly, and you know they are still active on WhatsApp. Bear in mind that they might simply not be posting updates, or they may have changed their privacy settings to share their status with a limited group of people. Absence of status updates is not definitive proof of being blocked.
Is There A Way To See Someone’s WhatsApp Status If They Have Blocked Me From Seeing It?
No, there is no legitimate or ethical way to bypass WhatsApp’s privacy settings and view someone’s status if they have blocked you from seeing it. Respecting someone’s privacy and their chosen privacy settings is essential. Attempts to circumvent these settings are not only unethical but could also violate WhatsApp’s terms of service.
It’s important to remember that individuals have the right to control who sees their content. Trying to circumvent these restrictions can damage relationships and could potentially lead to further actions taken against you, such as being reported to WhatsApp. If you are blocked, the appropriate course of action is to respect the other person’s wishes and refrain from attempting to view their status updates.