WhatsApp is an essential part of our daily lives, used for communicating with family, friends, and colleagues. This means it holds a vast amount of our personal information. Taking a few minutes to properly adjust your privacy settings can protect you from intruders, prevent your account from being hacked, and give you full control over your digital footprint.
As technology evolves, so do methods of fraud and privacy invasion. Fortunately, WhatsApp continuously adds new features to help us stay safe. In this guide, we'll cover the most important settings you should enable or review in 2025 to ensure the highest level of protection.
1. Basic Privacy Settings (Your First Line of Defense)
These are the settings that control who can see your basic information. To access them, go to Settings > Privacy.
Here you can control who sees the last time you used WhatsApp and who sees you when you're "Online".
Recommendation: Choose "My Contacts" or "Nobody". This prevents strangers from tracking your activity.
Don't make your profile picture available to everyone. It can be used to find you on other social media platforms.
Recommendation: Choose "My Contacts".
This is the short text status under your name. There's no need to share it with everyone.
Recommendation: Choose "My Contacts".
This is a very important setting to prevent being added to random or fraudulent groups without your permission.
Recommendation: Choose "My Contacts" or "My Contacts Except..." if you want to block specific people.
These are the famous blue checkmarks. If you turn them off, others won't know if you've read their messages, and you won't know either.
Recommendation: This is a personal preference, but turning it off gives you more privacy and comfort in responding.
2. Advanced Security Features (Your Fortress)
These settings are the most crucial for protecting your account from theft and hacking. Never ignore them.
If you only do one thing from this guide, let it be this. Two-Step Verification adds a secret 6-digit PIN to your account. Even if someone manages to steal your SIM card, they won't be able to activate your account on another phone without this PIN.
To enable it: Go to Settings > Account > Two-Step Verification.
Golden Tip: Add a recovery email when setting up the feature. This will help you if you forget your PIN.
Protect your chats from anyone who picks up your phone. You can lock the WhatsApp app with your fingerprint or Face ID.
To enable it: Go to Settings > Privacy > Screen Lock.
Previously, the weak point in WhatsApp's security was backups on Google Drive or iCloud, as they weren't encrypted with the same strength as chats. Now you can protect them with a private password.
To enable it: Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup > End-to-end encrypted backup.
Warning: If you lose this password, you will never be able to restore your chats. Save it in a safe place.
A great feature to combat spam and fraudulent calls. This feature will silence calls from numbers not in your contacts. Your phone won't ring, but you'll still see the call in your call log.
To enable it: Go to Settings > Privacy > Calls.
When this option is enabled, WhatsApp will relay your calls through its servers, making it harder for the other party to determine your geographic location from your IP address.
To enable it: Go to Settings > Privacy > Advanced.
3. Smart Usage Habits for Better Privacy
Security isn't just about settings; it's also about how you use the app.
- Disappearing Messages: Use them for sensitive conversations. You can set a default timer for all new chats from the privacy settings.
- Beware of Phishing and Scams: Don't click on strange links, even if they're from friends. Their accounts might be compromised.
- Think Before You Share: Remember that any photo or information you send can be saved and shared.
- Use "View Once": For sensitive photos and videos that you don't want the recipient to save.
- Review Linked Devices: Regularly check the list of devices linked to your account to ensure there are no active sessions you don't recognize. Go to Settings > Linked Devices.
By following these steps, you have significantly fortified your WhatsApp account. Remember to review these settings periodically, as the digital world is constantly changing.
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