How to Stop Someone from Adding Me to Telegram or WhatsApp Group
In this post, you’ll see the steps to change who can add you to the Telegram and WhatsApp groups. Let’s begin.
Note: Other than the below steps, there is an alternate method to do this task – Block a person. When you do this, that person can’t add you to the group, and this method applies to both Telegram and WhatsApp. Please check our WhatsApp blocking guide if you like to try this method.
Change Who Can Add You to Telegram Groups and Channels
By default, anyone can add you to Telegram groups and channels. Here’s how you can change that:
Android or iPhone
Open the Telegram app. On Android, hit the three horizontal lines at the top left.
Select Settings > Privacy and Security.
In the “Privacy” section, hit “Groups & Channels.”
To let anyone add you to the group and channel, choose “Everybody.” If you prefer to allow only your contacts to add you to the Telegram group and channel, select “My Contacts.”
On Android, hit the “Tick” icon at the top right. On your iPhone, hit the “Back” at the top left.
That’s it.
If you want to add exceptions to the above, follow the steps below.
Hit “Never Allow” or “Always Allow.” You can only see the latter if you’ve selected “My Contacts” in the above steps.
Choose the people and group you want.
If you’ve chosen “Never Allow,” the selected ones can’t add you to channels and groups. Else, they can add you to groups and channels.
Tap the “Tick” icon (on Android) or “Done” (on iPhone).
That’s it. Ensure to hit the “Tick” icon (Android) or “Back” (iPhone) at the top.
Web or Desktop
In the Telegram Web or Desktop app, hit the three horizontal lines in the left sidebar.
Select Settings > Privacy and Security.
Hit “Groups & channels” if you’re on the Desktop app. Click “Who can add me to group chats” if you’re on the Web.
Choose “Everybody” or “My contacts.” Please see the above section to learn about these options.
Hit the “Save” option on the Desktop or the “Back arrow” at the top left on the Web.
That’s it.
To add exceptions to the above, follow the below steps:
Hit “Never allow” or “Always allow.” You can only view the latter if you’ve chosen “My contacts” in the above steps.
Choose the people and group you want. If you’ve chosen “Never allow,” they can’t add you to channels and groups. Else, they can.
Click “Save” (Desktop) or the “Arrow” icon (Telegram Web).
That’s it. Make sure to hit “Save” (if you’re using Desktop) or the “Back arrow” at the top left (if you’re using Web).
See: How to Hide Telegram Profile Picture
Stop Someone From Adding Me to the WhatsApp Group
By default, anyone can add you to the WhatsApp group, and to stop that, follow the steps below.
But remember that a group admin who can’t add you to the WhatsApp group can still invite you privately to join.
Note that you can’t do this task on the Desktop app. But you can see what option you’ve chosen for this setting.
Here’s how: In the Desktop app, hit the “Gear” icon on the bottom left. Click “Account.”
In the “Privacy” section, besides “Add to groups,” you can see your chosen option.
Let’s see the steps to do this task.
iPhone or Android
Launch the WhatsApp app.
On your iPhone, hit “Settings” at the bottom. On Android, tap the three vertical dots at the top right and select “Settings.”
Select “Privacy” and hit “Groups.”
Beneath the “Who Can Add Me to Groups” section, you can see these three options:
- Everyone – If you choose this option, anyone can add you to the WhatsApp group.
- My Contacts – If you select this option, only your contacts can do this.
- My Contacts Except – If you choose this one, only your contacts, except those you’ve chosen, can do this.
Choose the one you prefer. I picked the latter.
You can now choose the contacts you like.
On iPhone, the “Select All” at the bottom right is to select all. The “Deselect All” will deselect all you’ve chosen. On Android, the icon at the top right is for selecting all. If you chose all and hit the same icon, it’ll uncheck all contacts.
Hit the “Done” on the top right on iPhone. On Android, hit the “Tick” icon in the bottom right.
Web
In WhatsApp Web, hit the three vertical dots on the left sidebar.
Select Settings > Privacy.
Click “Groups” between “Disappearing messages” and “Blocked contacts.”
You can now view these three options: Everyone, My contacts, and My contacts except. Please check the above section to know what each option is.
Choose the one you prefer.
I selected the latter. Select the contacts you like. Note that the icon at the top right is to select all the contacts. If you’ve already chosen all, hitting this icon will deselect them. Hit the “Tick” icon at the bottom.
