Social Media · WhatsApp on iPhone or Android
Turn Off Blue Check Marks in WhatsApp
Source-checked About 2 minutes
Answer
Open WhatsApp Settings > Privacy and turn off Read receipts. In one-to-one chats, other people will no longer see blue check marks when you read their messages, and you will no longer see theirs. Read receipts still apply in group chats, and turning them off also affects whether you can see who viewed your status.
Before you continue
- Open PrivacyThe switch is in WhatsApp Settings, not the phone's Messages app.
- Two-way changeYou lose other people's read receipts too.
- Know the exceptionsGroup chats and status viewing behave differently.
If it does not work
- If the switch is missing, update WhatsApp from the phone's official app store and restart it.
- If a group message still shows that it was read, that is expected because group-chat read receipts remain active.
- One gray check means sent, two gray checks mean delivered, and two blue checks normally mean read; a clock means the message has not left your phone yet.
Sources and verification
Checked against official documentation on . Scope: WhatsApp on iPhone or Android.
The written steps follow the current official pages linked below. The saved video is an older walkthrough and may show different labels.