5 Ways To Hide WhatsApp Chat

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Here’s how to hide a WhatsApp conversation: open WhatsApp and long press on the specific chat to select it. At the top of the screen, tap the archive button (down arrow icon) to hide the chat in the archive folder. When you’re ready, you can unarchive the chat with ease.

Do you want to know if it’s possible to hide a WhatsApp chat? If you’re like me, sometimes you want to hide WhatsApp chats so you don’t see that specific chat anymore while using the app. If you’re like a friend of mine, you might just like seeing a completely clear Chats tab in WhatsApp. 

If you’re like me and you use WhatsApp as a primary mode of communication, sometimes the chats can get overwhelming. When this happens, I archive specific chats to pace myself.  That’s why I put together this guide to teach you how to hide WhatsApp Chats.

What Is Archiving On WhatsApp?

Whatsapp chats tab with all chats archived

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world with 2 billion users worldwide as I learned from Backlinko, an SEO marketing company. The WhatsApp Archive Chat feature is how you’re able to hide WhatsApp chats, whether it’s an individual or a group chat. 

I learned from TeleMessage, a business mobile messaging company, that WhatsApp’s archive feature was made to help users better organize their inboxes. It’s one of the reasons I use the archive feature and it helps because I don’t have to deal with archived chats until I’m ready.    

When you archive a chat, your contacts won’t be notified that you’ve archived chats. In addition to this, you won’t receive notifications for hidden chats either which works great for dealing with distractions and reducing your WhatsApp notifications. 

Hiding WhatsApp chats means that they won’t be visible in the main Chats list until you unarchive them. However, WhatsApp will display the Archived tab at the top of your chats. That way, you can access the hidden chats whenever you like.

If you’re hiding WhatsApp chats to keep them private, be mindful that archiving won’t stop someone from spying on your WhatsApp messages. 

What To Do Before Hiding WhatsApp Messages

Before you begin hiding WhatsApp messages, you need to enable this setting to permanently hide WhatsApp chats.

  • Activate the “keep chats archived” option in the Chats option in your WhatsApp Settings.
  • This setting keeps all archived conversations hidden even when you receive new notifications.  

Hiding WhatsApp Chat On Android & iPhone In 5 Ways

Archived button at the top left side of the chats tab

Whether you’re using an Android or an iPhone, it’s easy to hide your WhatsApp chats. Read ahead to see exactly how to hide a single and multiple chats on both iPhone and Android as well as how to archive all your WhatsApp chats.

By Archiving Just One WhatsApp Chat On Android

I use my personal WhatsApp on my Android and hide WhatsApp messages when I don’t want to see a particular conversation.  

It will take you about 1 minute

Follow these simple steps to archive a single chat on Android.

  1. Open the WhatsApp app and long press on a single chat to select it. Next, tap the archive icon to hide the conversation.

    Single chat archive button at the top right side

  2. To unarchive the chat, select the archive tab to enter the archived folder.

    Archived button to access archived chats

  3. Then, select the single archived conversation and press the unarchive button to restore it.

    Unarchive button at the top right side to unarchive a single chat

Here’s a video demonstration we put together showing you how to archive a single chat on Android:

YouTube player

By Archiving Multiple WhatsApp Chats At Once On Android

Sometimes, I want to hide WhatsApp chats en masse because there are multiple conversations that I don’t want to be visible

Here’s how I archive chats on WhatsApp for Android:

  1. In WhatsApp, choose multiple chats that you want to put out of sight. Afterward, tap the archive button to hide the conversations. 
Archive button at the top right corner to archive selected chats
  1. Press the archived box to view the hidden messages.
Archived button to see archived chats
  1. In the archive folder, choose the archived chats to be restored. Next, press the unarchive button to return them to the Chats tab.
Unarchive button at the top right corner on the archived chats screen

Here’s a video I found that shows you how to archive chats on your Android:

YouTube player

By Archiving Just One WhatsApp Chat On iPhone

While doing this tutorial, I learned that archiving WhatsApp chats on iPhone is a bit different than doing so on Android. While I use my Android for my personal WhatsApp, I use my iPhone for WhatsApp Business. 

Here’s how to archive an individual chat on iPhone:

  1. Open WhatsApp and swipe left on the chat that you want to archive. Afterward,  select the archive option to the right on the chat to put it out of sight. 
Archive button visible after the left swipe on a single chat
  1. Now that you’ve concealed the chat, press the archive tab at the top of the screen to view the archived chat.
Archived button at the top left side to see archived chats on Whatsapp iPhone
  1. Swipe left on the archived chat and tap unarchive to restore it to the Chats list. 
Unarchive button visible after left swipe on a single chat

Here’s a great YouTube video I found showing you how to archive a WhatsApp chat on iPhone:

YouTube player

By Archiving Multiple WhatsApp Chats At Once On iPhone

While archiving a single chat and multiple chats at once on Android is roughly the same method, I found that it’s a bit different when archiving multiple chats on iPhone than a single chat

Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone and tap Edit in the top left corner
Edit button at the top right corner on the Whatsapp iPhone
  1. Select the chats that you want to archive, then press Archive at the bottom left corner
Three chats selected to be archived with Archive option in the bottom left corner
  1. To view and unarchive the hidden chats, tap the archive folder at the top of the screen.
Archived button at the top left side on the chats screen of the WhatsApp iPhone
  1. Press Edit in the top right corner. 
Edit button at the top right corner of the archived chats screen
  1. Tap Select Chats from the popup menu.
Select chats option in the pop up menu
  1. Choose the chats you want to restore, then tap Unarchive to return the selected conversations to the Chats tab. 
Unarchive button at the bottom left corner

By Archiving All Chats On WhatsApp 

While I’ve never done it myself, I know you can hide all the chats at once. For this demonstration, I used WhatsApp on my Android to hide WhatsApp messages and clear my Chats list. For iPhone users, I’ll link a video below showing you how to do it on iPhone too. 

Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open WhatsApp and tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
Three vertical dots menu icon at the top right corner on the Whatsapp Android
  1. Select Settings. 
Settings option in the drop down menu
  1. Press Chats to view the Chats settings. 
Chats option on the settings screen
  1. Scroll down and tap Chat History.
Cat history option at the bottom of the screen
  1.  Tap archive all chats to conceal all your WhatsApp chats at once.
Archive all chats option on the chat history screen
  1. Press OK to confirm.
Archive all chats confirmation pop up with OK and Cancel option
  1. Return to the Chats tab and you’ll see all of your WhatsApp chats are archived and your Chats list is empty.
Empty Whatsapp chats tab after all the chats are archived
  1. To restore your chats, repeat steps 1 – 4 then tap Unarchive all chats.
Unarchive all chats option on the chat history screen
  1. Tap OK to confirm the restoration.
Unarchive all chats confirmation pop up with OK and Cancel option

Here’s a video demonstration of how to archive all chats on iPhone:

YouTube player


FAQs

How do I hide someone on WhatsApp?

You can hide someone on WhatsApp by archiving your conversation with them. Doing this removes the conversation from the Chats list so you won’t see it with the other chats on WhatsApp. When you archive an exchange, you hide the person’s messages without blocking them or deleting the chat.

How can I hide WhatsApp chat without deleting or archiving?

You can hide WhatsApp chat without deleting it or archiving it by locking your WhatsApp. This is done by locking your WhatsApp with a biometric lock such as a fingerprint or Face ID, which means that no one can access your WhatsApp without you knowing.

Can you hide chats on WhatsApp Web?

You can hide chats on WhatsApp Web using the archive feature for WhatsApp. Archiving your chats on WhatsApp will hide them in the archive folder and remove them from view. You can hide chats on WhatsApp Web or on your phone and it will be reflected on your computer.

Hide WhatsApp Conversation – Wrapping Up

What’d you think of this article?

I know that sometimes having a lot of WhatsApp messages can become overwhelming. Between work, school, friends, and family members, can become too much for just about anyone. That’s the primary reason for writing this guide. I wanted to show you how to easily hide WhatsApp chats so you can deal with them at your own pace.

As you’ve seen, it’s quite easy to conceal WhatsApp messages. You can archive a single chat, multiple conversations, or all of them on either your Android or iPhone. 

If you want to know more about how to secure your WhatsApp messages then learn how to stop WhatsApp backup. This can prevent hacking especially if you backup WhatsApp to iCloud.
Leave any questions you have in the comments below. And feel free to share this article with your friends, family, and followers.

About The Author

  • Michael Duong

    Tech editor and senior writer Michael Duong is passionate about technology and innovation. He codes open-source projects and plays quiz games in his free time. An expert in his field and an avid learner, always seeking to expand his knowledge and skills in the ever-evolving world of technology. His specialization is mobile security and mobile data safety. Follow Michael on Twitter and Github.

Photo of author

Michael Duong

Tech editor and senior writer Michael Duong is passionate about technology and innovation. He codes open-source projects and plays quiz games in his free time. An expert in his field and an avid learner, always seeking to expand his knowledge and skills in the ever-evolving world of technology. His specialization is mobile security and mobile data safety. Follow Michael on Twitter and Github.

15 thoughts on “5 Ways To Hide WhatsApp Chat”

  1. Hi Ray,

    Question, if I got a message from a hidden conversation it automatically gets unarchived? if so, can I mute these notifications and avoid them to show up on the conversation list?

    Thanks

    Reply
  2. In my bf phone, I saw a whatsapp logo appeared on top of the screen, it has no sound but it disappeared suddenly and when I swipe it down to check there is nothing. What is that, a secret chat or something? Please guide me, thanks.

    Reply
  3. When I try to forward a text or a pic..there appears a screen listing most frequently chatted and recently chatted…how do i delete a particular contact from that page.. please help

    Reply
    • Hi Trishant,

      Chat will be unarchived automatically as soon as that contact sends you a message. However, if you want to unarchive yourself then for Android, go to the bottom of all the WhatsApp conversations and select Archived chats. After that long tap on the chat you want to Unarchive and select the unarchive icon (second from right).
      Will update the same in the article with screenshot as well.
      Hope this helps.

      Reply
  4. Hi,

    My girl friend hides her WhatsApp contacts it can’t be seen how to see her WhatsApp hidden contacts I am planning to get married to her next month. I think she is hiding some thing from me kindly guide me. thanks

    Reply

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