WhatsApp is currently the most used messaging smartphone application with over 1 billion active users. For privacy, the user may want to hide a particular chat or conversation and not delete it. WhatsApp now has a setting which allows you to hide chat in WhatsApp. This post will share the steps to achieve that on Android, iOS and Windows. After the chat is hidden it is also possible to show back the hidden chats when desired. The method to bring the chat back is also shared.
Apart from that, if you are looking to lock WhatsApp completely with a password instead of just hiding the specific chats then we have shared apps to lock apps. Depending on your smartphone being Android or iPhone (jailbreak or not) the apps you need to install will differ.
Hide Chat In WhatsApp
Hide WhatsApp conversations with the help of a feature used to archive chats. To archive a chat follow the procedure given below depending on the OS your smartphone has.
How To Hide Messages On iPhone In WhatsApp
The method is updated using WhatsApp iOS version – 2.16.6. Screenshots too are taken from the same version.
- Tap on WhatsApp application in Main Menu
- On the chat screen swipe left for the contact whose chat you desire to hide
- Select Archive
- On selecting Archive the conversation of the contact or group you selected will be removed/hidden from the main chat screen which appears when you open WhatsApp.
- The conversation you archived is moved to Archived Chats folder which can be viewed by swiping up on the main chat screen where the chats of all contacts are listed.
You can also hide group chat by following the similar procedure for your groups in WhatsApp. To view the chat you hide or archive select Archived Chats and you will be able to view the chat of the contact or group which you hide.
You can also archive/hide all the chats by going to Settings > Chats and selecting Archive All Chats.
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Show The Hidden Chat – Undo Archive In iPhone
- Swipe up on the main chat screen where all chats are listed. Select Archived Chats. Here the chats which are archived/hidden are listed.
- Swipe left on the chat of the contact you want to show back on the main chat screen.
- Select Unarchive.
- The chat of the contact you unarchived will start showing up in main chat screen and will no longer remain hidden.
How To Hide WhatsApp Chats On Android
The procedure is more or less the same for Android and Windows to hide chats in WhatsApp with the difference being of the options present in slightly different places.
For example, in Android, you need to long press on the chat of the contact to get Archive option(marked with Red) rather than swiping left as in the case of iPhone.
Unarchive WhatsApp Chat In Android
1. Scroll to the bottom of the WhatsApp chats screen where all the conversations are shown. Select Archived Chats.
2. All the archived chats will be shown. Long tap on the conversation of the contact whom you want to unarchive and select the Unarchive icon at the top(second from right) as shown in the image below.
After this, the chat will be again shown on the main screen along with other chats.
READ ALSO: How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages
You can also archive multiple contacts at once.
Archive Multiple Chats At Once In WhatsApp
For iPhone/iPad
Method and screenshots are from WhatsApp for iPhone version 2.16.7.
1. Open WhatsApp and click on Edit at the top left on the screen where all conversations appear.
2. Select the multiple chats you want to hide/archive.
3. After selecting the desired chats, tap on Archive at the bottom left.
For Android
Method and screenshots are from WhatsApp for Android version 2.16.133.
1. Open WhatsApp and long tap on any contact.
2. Select contacts which you desire to hide and select Archive icon.
With this, you have archived multiple chats in one go.
Note: The archived chat will be moved to the main chat screen as soon as a message is received from that group or contact and same goes when you send a message to the group or contact you archive or hide, making the chat being not hidden anymore.
So, if you want to avoid this limitation of the above method or if you want to lock WhatsApp itself instead of hiding individual chats then follow the methods below.
Apps To Lock WhatsApp
Android
You can use the application Messenger and Chat Lock available on Play Store for free to lock WhatsApp. Here’s how to use it.
- On opening, you will need to set a passcode which will be used as the passcode for apps in order to open them.
- After you set the password, a screen will appear where you can lock the apps you desire. All apps are unlocked by default.
- Toggle the button to On for WhatsApp as shown.
WhatsApp locked
There you go! The next time you open your WhatsApp after doing this it will ask for a password.
iPhone
Unfortunately, there is no direct way to lock WhatsApp on iPhone. That said, you can always use workarounds similar to what the following app named Password for WhatsApp Messages provides. It will make a copy of your WhatsApp messages, photos & videos and then lock them with a password. You can get this app from the App Store for $0.99.
Jailbreak iPhone
If you have a jailbroken iPhone then you’re in luck. There’s a ConvoProtect tweak available on Cydia store for $2. This tweak is just what you need to use to protect your chats from someone else reading it.
READ ALSO: Impressive way to set full size Profile Picture in WhatsApp
Conclusion
Hopefully, these methods allowed you to hide WhatsApp chat or lock it all together on Android or iPhone. If you know about better apps for Android or any free app to lock WhatsApp chat on iPhone please share via the comments section.
How to make group chat private so that we can’t see each other number ?
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
If that is the case the you can use mspy for Smartphones app to track her WhatsApp. However, according to mspy the party tracked must be fully aware of that 🙂
How to undo the archived chats
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.
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
Hi Marianne,
I have answered your query in the following tutorial – Hide contact from Frequently Contacted on WhatsApp
I hope this helps 🙂
I have archived the chat but it pops up when someone sends me a text message. Is there any apps that allowed the chat to continuously archive even if someone text me?
Hi Allan, it is not possible to to that. However, you can lock WhatsApp with a password.
Is there any way of hiding particular chat on WhatsApp? Need to hide only one person chat.
I am afraid that is not possible currently.
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.
Hi Ray,
It is not a secret chat and is a natural behavior. You can expect it to happen at times.
True, Archive will cause a Chat to hide, but if the Contact sends a new WhatsApp message, the Chat will simply show again!
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
Hi Cesar,
Even if you mute the archived conversation it will still show up in the chat list when you receive a new message.