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How to use the WhatsApp Chat Lock feature

Stop people snooping on your WhatsApp conversations.
By
May 24, 2023

Some of your WhatsApp chats might be more private than others. If other people have access to your device and there are chats to which you want to add an extra layer of privacy and security, you can resort to WhatsApp Chat Lock. This new feature is currently rolling out to some WhatsApp users in the latest update, allowing you to keep specific chats in a separate folder from the others and only accessible via fingerprint or face ID. We’ll explain how to use WhatsApp Chat Lock in this step-by-step guide.

If you don’t have the feature, you might need to update WhatsApp to the latest version. Even then, WhatsApp Chat Lock hasn’t yet rolled out to all devices and regions, so you may need to wait a little while before getting the chance to use it.

QUICK ANSWER

To use WhatsApp Chat Lock:

  1. Go to the Contact info of the chat.
  2. Select Chat lock.
  3. Press Lock this chat with fingerprint.
  4. Scan your fingerprint.

To find your locked chats, drag down your chat list to reveal the Locked chats folder. Tap it and scan your fingerprint.


JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

How to use the WhatsApp Chat Lock feature

You use WhatsApp Chat Lock to secure each chat individually. Here’s how you do it:

  1. Tap and hold the chat you want to lock, and find more chat options by tapping on the three horizontal dots icon in the top right of the screen.
  2. Hit Contact info if it’s an individual or Group info if it’s a group.
  3. If you have the feature, you will see the Chat lock option below Disappearing messages on this contact info screen. Press it.
  4. You are given the option to Lock this chat with fingerprint on the next screen. Hit the toggle next to this option to On.
  5. You will see a popup advising you that the chat will not be locked on your linked devices. Press OK.
  6. Confirm your fingerprint on the scanner.
  7. The last pop-up will advise you that the chat is now locked.

How to access your locked Whatsapp chats

Your locked chats are hidden away in a separate folder from your unlocked ones. To access them, drag down your chat list as if you were scrolling up. The Locked chats folder will appear. Tap on it and scan your fingerprint when prompted.

You will now see your list of locked chats. If you go to the contact info or group info of any of the chats, you will see that Chat lock is displayed as On. You can tap this again and confirm your fingerprint to unlock the chat.

How to disable chat notifications on WhatsApp

WhatsApp by Facebook stock photo 6
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

As useful as the Chat Lock feature is, it might not be quite as discreet as you are hoping. Someone with access to your device won’t be able to access the chats that you’ve locked, but even with the feature enabled, WhatsApp still shows a notification when you receive a message on a locked chat. It won’t reveal the sender or show a message preview, but it will show up as ‘WhatsApp: 1 new message’. Not only will an onlooker see that you have messages from a third party, but they can also see that you have gone to some effort to hide it, which may look even more suspicious.

If you want to ensure that there are no indications from your device that you are having a surreptitious conversation, the best way is to disable chat notifications. You can either do this on individual chats or for all of your WhatsApp messages. We’ll run you through the process of doing both.

How to disable chat notifications from a specific contact or group

There are a couple of ways to mute notifications from a specific chat. If you are on the chat list, you can do the following:

  1. Tap and hold on the chat you want to mute.
  2. When the chat-specific options appear, press on the Mute notifications button at the top of the screen. It’s represented by a speaker icon.
  3. On the pop-up menu, select whether you want to mute notifications for eight hours, one week, or always. Then press OK.

You will now see the mute icon next to that chat, represented by a speaker with a line through it. Whenever you receive a message from that contact or group, no notification will show on your device.

Alternatively, if you’re on the chat screen already and you want to mute it, you can press the menu button in the top right corner. It’s represented by three vertical dots. Select Mute notifications, and you’ll get the same pop-up asking how long you want to mute for.

How to disable all WhatsApp notifications

Short of muting every chat individually, it’s not possible to blanket mute all WhatsApp notifications from within the app. But you can do it via your system settings.

Go to the settings menu of your device and find the notifications menu. It may be called something like Apps and notifications or similar. On the OnePlus 10 Pro, in this example, it is called Notification & status bar.

Scroll down through the list of app notifications until you see WhatsApp. There should be a toggle button next to it. If you toggle this to the off position, you will disable all notifications from WhatsApp until you turn it back on again. When you open the app thereafter, it may ask you if you wish to enable notifications again.

To customize which notifications you receive, you can tap on the name of the app rather than the toggle button. This will open a further menu in which you can toggle on/off group notifications or individual message notifications.


FAQs

No. When you lock a chat, it only applies to that device. So if you have linked devices, such as WhatsApp web on your laptop, the chat will not be locked there.

No. Chat Lock is essentially an organizational tool for the chats on your device, so there is no indication made to the sender that you have used it.