How to appear offline on WhatsApp: iPhone, Android, web

Recently, there is no messaging platform or social network in which there are no tools to let your contacts and followers know all the moments in which you are online. However, there is a large percentage of people who prefer discretion and therefore often want to appear offline on platforms such as WhatsApp, for example.

Fortunately, and thanks to the constant updates from Meta developers, there are now many options for those who want to hide the online status on WhatsApp even with the internet on and without stopping using the application.

Here we will show you the different alternatives you have to fulfill your goal of going unnoticed while chatting. In this article we will describe the options for both Android and iOS users, and as a bonus, we will show you how to hide your online status from the web version of WhatsApp.

How to appear offline on WhatsApp

Well, to begin with, it should be mentioned that disconnecting WhatsApp is very useful both for general use of the app and to prevent others from knowing that you are currently online or when you last used the application, as well as for some other activities.

So, you can opt out of showing when you’ve read a message and no longer show status updates. While these options are available on Android and iOS, you should know that they can be changed again at any time. Furthermore, this is of great help for those who only want to appear disconnected on WhatsApp at some moments of their day to-day.

Change the “Last seen” option

First we will talk about the Last viewed option and how you can disable it. This feature is responsible for telling all your contacts when you last used WhatsApp or even if you are currently online. 

Note that despite the fact that these options are available for both Android and iOS, some steps and even the look of the interface may look a bit different. Nonetheless, it will work either way.

Now, if you want to appear offline in the app with the help of this tool, you can click on the three vertical dots menu on the top right of the screen and go to Settings.

Then, click on the Account option and go to the Privacy option in the next menu. There, you will see many of the options that we will use throughout this tutorial. For now, though, you will only need to click on “Last viewed.”

Lastly, remember that of the options, you must choose the “No One” option, which is the one that will make you appear offline on WhatsApp.

As we mentioned, you can change this at will, as long as you want your contacts to be able to see that you are online (or not). It is worth mentioning that by disabling this option, you will also not be able to see when was the last time your contacts were online.

Turn off Read receipts

With this method, you will make sure that your contacts do not know when you read one of their messages. Currently, if read receipts are enabled, two blue check marks are displayed below the message to show that you have read it.

But you can change this by going to the Privacy menu again and looking for the “Read receipts” option. Once there, all you’ll have to do is press the switch on the side to turn it off when you need it.

As with all the options you will see in this guide, you will also be able to modify this one at will. Also, as expected, when you deactivate this option, you won’t be able to know when someone has read your messages. All you will be able to see is whether the messages reached their recipients.

Hide your Status

The last alternative you can use to try to appear offline on WhatsApp is to hide your status updates. This option is great for those who like to update it frequently but don’t want everyone to see it at any time.

So, to prevent anyone from seeing your current account, go back to the Privacy tab and look for the “Status” option. There you will see a window where you can select how you want your status to be shared: “My contacts” will show it to everyone, “My contacts except…” will show it to all your contacts except the ones you select, and “Only share with” will allow you to select the people you want to see it.

Pretty simple, isn’t it? And remember, this is yet another option that you can share whenever you want.

Bonus: How to appear offline on WhatsApp for web

Unfortunately, to hide your online status from the desktop version requires a browser extension. Moreover, it is important that you use Google Chrome for it to work. Otherwise, be sure to follow these steps:

• Go to the Chrome web store and search for the WAIncognito extension. 
• Install the WAIncognito extension.
• Go to WAIncognito settings and choose not to send read confirmations and not to send last viewed updates.

And that’s all. We hope this guide has helped you solve the problem, and now you can use your messaging application with total freedom. Good luck!