WhatsApp offers a privacy option to let users read chat texts without letting the sender know. The feature, known as read receipts, lets users turn off the ‘blue-tick’ (or read status): which means that they will not know if the person on the other side has read their messages or not.
Turning off this button will mean that reading receipts is disabled for both the sender and the receiver.
Read receipts are, however, always sent for group chats.
How to turn off read receipts
- Step 1: Open the Whatsapp app on mobile
- Step 2: Go to Settings
- Step 3: Tap on ‘Privacy’
- Step 4: Navigate to ‘Read Receipts’
- Step 5: Switch off the button
If users, however, wish to read messages without the sender receiving a blue tick, while not wanting to turn off reading receipts, an easy way would be to enable Airplane mode and then read the message. This will prevent WhatsApp from updating the status of sent messages.
Also read: WhatsApp to redesign chat attachment menu
How to use the Airplane mode method
- Step 1: Go to phone Settings
- Step 2: Find ‘Airplane Mode’
- Step 3: Switch the button on
- Setp4: Now, open WhatsApp and read the message
When Airplane mode is switched back on, however, the sender will be able to see that their message was read.