How to Turn Off Read Receipts on WhatsApp
In this post, you’ll see what is “read receipts” and the steps to turn off the blue tick on WhatsApp.
Also, you’ll see how to read WhatsApp messages without blue ticks and see who read your message on the WhatsApp group. Let’s start.
Turn Off Read Receipts on WhatsApp
iPhone or Android
Open the WhatsApp app.
If you’re on iPhone, hit the “Settings” tab at the bottom. On Android, hit the three vertical dots at the top right and tap “Settings.”
Select “Privacy.”
You can now see the “Read Receipts” option. Disable it, and that’s it.
You can turn on read receipts by enabling the option mentioned above.
Web
In the WhatsApp Web, click the three vertical dots on the left sidebar top.
Select Settings > Privacy.
Disable “Read receipts.” You can find this between the “About” and “Default message timer.”
That’s it. You can enable read receipts by turning on the option mentioned above.
You can’t turn on or off the blue tick on the WhatsApp Desktop app. But you can see the read receipts status.
Here are the steps: Open the WhatsApp Desktop app. Click on the “Gear” icon at the bottom left and select “Account.” In the “Privacy” section, you can view the read receipts status.
What is “Read Receipts” on WhatsApp?
Read receipts, also known as blue ticks or blue tick, is a feature that lets you know whether the recipient reads your message.
If you see blue ticks in a message, the recipient has read it. This feature is, by default, enabled on WhatsApp.
What Happens if You Turn Off Read Receipts on WhatsApp?
If you turn off read receipts, the sender will not know whether you read their message. You’ll not know whether the recipient reads your message.
Also, note that you can’t turn off the blue checkmarks for the WhatsApp group, and you can’t turn on or off read receipts for one person or specific contacts on WhatsApp.
See Who Read Your Message on WhatsApp Group
The below steps apply to group participants and admins.
Android or iPhone
Open the WhatsApp app and hit the group chat you want.
Long-press the message you prefer.
If you’re using an iPhone, hit the “Info” option. On Android, hit the three vertical dots at the top right and tap “Info” above “Copy.”
You’ll now be on the “Message Info” screen, and you can see the message along with the time at the top. On iPhone, you can also view the date at the top.
In the “Delivered To” area, you can see which members have received your message and when that happened.
The “Read By” section shows all the group members who have read your message and when that occurred.
Notes:
- On iPhone, you can also swipe the message to the left to get to the “Message Info” screen.
- You can see blue checkmarks in the message in the group chat only when all group participants read it.
Web or Desktop
In WhatsApp Web or Desktop app, click on the group chat you like.
On the Desktop, right-click on the message and select “Info.”
The “Seen” section shows the people who have read your message and when they did that. The “Delivered” section displays the persons who received your message and when that happened.
On the Web, hover your mouse over the message, and hit the “Down arrow.” Select “Message info,” and you can see the message and time on the right sidebar at the top.
The “Read by” section will show you who read your message and when they did that. In the “Delivered to,” you can view which group members received your message and when.
Read WhatsApp Messages without Blue Tick
You can do this task by turning off read receipts. But it isn’t a satisfactory solution and here’s why:
- If you disable this feature, the sender won’t know that you have read their message. But the same is the case for you when you send a message to someone.
- This one won’t stop the read receipts sent for WhatsApp group chats.
- There’s no way to do this for an individual chat.
All this makes “disabling” it a non-perfect solution.
Note that the methods below work for contact and group chats.
iPhone
Method #1
You can read WhatsApp messages without opening the WhatsApp app using this method.
Open “Notification Center,” and you can read WhatsApp messages here.
Method #2
Close the WhatsApp app if it is open and turn on airplane mode. Open WhatsApp and read the messages. Close WhatsApp and turn off airplane mode.
Android
Method #1
Here’s how you can place a WhatsApp widget on the home screen:
Long press the home screen and choose “Widgets.” Scroll down to the bottom, and you’ll see “WhatsApp.” Hit it.
Press the “WhatsApp 4 x 2” widget and drop it on the home screen.
Resize it if you wish. From now on, you can view the WhatsApp message you receive in the widget.
Method #2
Unlock your Android device if it is locked. Swipe down once, and you’ll see a WhatsApp message in the notification.
Web
You can view the last message of the conversation on WhatsApp Web’s left sidebar.
Here’s an alternate method to view messages without blue ticks:
Open WhatsApp Web and turn off your PC’s internet connection.
Please click the chat and read the messages. Close the Web.
