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WhatsApp’s strict safety and security policies, which include end-to-end encryption, are a large part of what makes the platform so valuable for business communications. But for conversations involving personal details, using the hide and unhide feature can help to add an extra layer of security and keep sensitive chats away from prying eyes.
If you use one WhatsApp Messenger account for all your interactions, you might also find it helpful to hide and unhide business or personal chats as an organisational tool. With lots of messages coming in each day, it can be difficult to stay on top of all your business comms when they’re mixed in with personal contacts. Temporarily hiding your chats can help prevent costly or embarrassing mistakes, such as accidentally sending a personal message to a business contact, or vice versa.
Of course, you could always use WhatsApp’s archive feature to temporarily hide and unhide chats, but this comes with its own drawbacks. So how can you securely hide chats without using the archive feature? Meet WhatsApp’s Locked Chats feature.
In this guide, we’ll share all you need to know about Locked Chats on WhatsApp, along with a step-by-step guide showing you how to hide and unhide chats in WhatsApp. We’ll give some top tips and best practices to help you use this feature effectively.
We’ll also explain why the WhatsApp Business app offers a more effective solution for managing your professional communications, and share how a virtual second phone number can allow you to run both WhatsApp Messenger and WhatsApp Business simultaneously on one device.
Why would I hide and unhide chats in WhatsApp?
There are many different reasons why you might hide and unhide chats in WhatsApp, particularly for business purposes:
Hide WhatsApp chats for privacy
These days most of us have a huge amount of personal information on our mobile phones, and there’s always a chance that phones may get lost, stolen or left unattended in an area where there are prying eyes. From a business perspective, hiding chats can add an extra layer of security.
Hide WhatsApp chats for confidentiality
Although WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, there are times when you may want to add an extra layer of security to ensure your conversations are kept confidential. From a personal perspective, you might want to protect a friend or relative’s confidentiality and ensure that they feel comfortable talking to you over WhatsApp. For businesses, hiding chats can ensure that sensitive information about clients or your business is kept as safe as possible within the app.
Hide WhatsApp chats for organisation
If you’re still using one WhatsApp account for all your personal and business communications, you’re likely to be feeling overwhelmed with the number of messages that you need to sort through each day. Hiding and unhiding chats could be a useful way to keep your personal and professional messages separate, although it does require you to manually switch between the two every day.
Luckily, there is a better way: a second virtual phone number from YourBusinessNumber. In just a few clicks, you can receive your new number via SMS and use it to set up a new WhatsApp Business account to use for all your professional messages, leaving your WhatsApp Messenger for family and friends only.
Can I use the WhatsApp archive feature to hide and unhide chats?
The archive feature is one way that you can hide individual or group chats from your main chat list on WhatsApp. You can access your list of archived chats from the top of your chats list.
In your settings, you can choose whether you want to enable or disable ‘Keep chats archived’. When it is enabled, all archived chats will remain archived, even if you receive a new message in that chat. You won’t receive notifications about new messages in archived chats unless you are specifically mentioned (if a contact uses an @ sign with your username) or replied to (if a contact uses the reply feature to one of your messages).
Archiving chats is less secure than using WhatsApp’s Chat Lock feature, as archived chats don’t require any form of device authentication to open.
How to archive chats on WhatsApp
On Android devices, go to the chats tab, then tap and hold on the chat that you want to archive. Tap the archive icon () that appears at the top of the screen.
On iPhone devices, go to the chats tab, then swipe left on the chat that you want to archive and select Archive.
How to hide and unhide chat in WhatsApp without archiving them
If you don’t want to use the archive feature to hide WhatsApp chats, you can use the new Locked Chats feature.
What is the Chat Lock feature in WhatsApp and how does it work?
WhatsApp’s Chat Lock feature adds additional privacy to selected chats within the app. It’s available on Android phones and iPhones.
When it’s enabled, the Chat Lock feature displays as a folder called Locked Chats within your chat window. You can lock individual chats, group chats or muted chats. Your contacts won’t get a notification telling them that you’ve locked their chat.
The Locked Chats folder acts as a ‘vault’ which can only be opened using your choice of device authentication, such as a phone passcode, fingerprint, Face ID or a separate secret code set up for this purpose. If you choose to set up a separate secret code, you can also hide your Locked Chats folder until you type your secret code in the search bar.
Media, such as photos or videos, that are sent to locked chats won’t save to your phone’s gallery unless you turn the Chat Lock feature off for that particular chat. Your notifications will also display differently for Locked Chats in comparison to unlocked chats. When you get a notification from a Locked Chat, the content and contact name will be hidden, so it will display as ‘WhatsApp: 1 new message’.
There are a few caveats – firstly, calls aren’t locked at all, so if a Locked Chat contact or a locked group chat contact calls you on WhatsApp it will display as usual on your phone. Secondly, while the feature syncs across linked Android, iPhone and Web devices, some device types aren’t supported. If your linked device isn’t supported, you’ll see a banner in the app.
How to use the Chat Lock feature in WhatsApp on an Android device
To use the Chat Lock feature in WhatsApp, you’ll need to set up a method of authentication for your device (if you haven’t already done this). This could be a passcode, fingerprint or Face ID.
How to turn on Chat Lock on Android devices
- Open the WhatsApp app.
- Find the chat you want to lock, then long press on it.
- Choose More Options, then Lock Chat.
- Choose Lock This Chat With Fingerprint and confirm your fingerprint.
- How to create or change a secret code on Android devices
- Open the WhatsApp app.
- Open your Locked Chats folder, then go to Settings.
- Choose Secret Code, then Create Secret Code.
- Enter your new code when prompted, then choose Next.
- Confirm your secret code when prompted, then choose Done.
To change your code at a later date, open your Locked Chats folder, then choose Locked Chats, then Settings, then Secret Code. Change your code when prompted.
Once your secret code has been set, you can use it to view your Locked Chats folder when it’s hidden from your chat list view. To do this, enter your secret code into the Search bar.
How to hide your locked chats folder on Android devices
- Open the WhatsApp app.
- Open your Locked Chats folder, then choose Settings.
- From the Settings page, you can toggle Hide Locked Chats on or off.
How to use the Chat Lock feature in WhatsApp on an iPhone
How to turn on Chat Lock on an iPhone
- Open the WhatsApp app.
- Find the chat you want to lock, then long press on it.
- Choose More Options, then Lock Chat.
- Choose Lock This Chat With Face ID and confirm your Face ID.
How to create or change a secret code on an iPhone
- Open the WhatsApp app.
- Open your Locked Chats folder, then go to Settings.
- Choose Secret Code, then Create Secret Code.
- Enter your new code when prompted, then choose Next.
- Confirm your secret code when prompted, then choose Done.
To change your code at a later date, open your Locked Chats folder, then choose Locked Chats, then Settings, then Secret Code. Change your code when prompted.
Once your secret code has been set, you can use it to view your Locked Chats folder when it’s hidden from your chat list view. To do this, enter your secret code into the Search bar.
How to hide your Locked Chats folder on an iPhone
- Open the WhatsApp app.
- Open your Locked Chats folder, then choose Settings.
- From the Settings page, you can toggle Hide Locked Chats on or off.
What third-party apps can I use to hide and unhide WhatsApp chats?
Although there are third-party apps with additional features that allow you to hide and lock WhatsApp chats, we don’t recommend using any apps other than the official WhatsApp app.
WhatsApp includes robust safety features that protect your personal and business data. Unofficial or ‘fake’ WhatsApp apps do not offer the same level of security, putting your data at risk, and in some cases may carry malware.
Accounts which use unofficial WhatsApp apps also risk being given a suspension or ban by WhatsApp.
Always download the official WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business app from the App Store or Google Play.
Best practices for handling multiple chats in WhatsApp Business
Struggling to keep on top of all your chats in WhatsApp Messenger? Finding it difficult to separate out personal and professional chats when they’re all displayed in one long list within the app?
WhatsApp Business is the answer. This is a separate app which is specifically designed with the needs of small-to-medium business owners in mind. That’s why the app is packed with powerful tools that you can use to keep on top of lots of different chats effectively at the same time.
Try our top tips to help you stay organised and maximise the impact of your business comms strategy:
Use Labels to categorise chats
WhatsApp Business has a handy Labels tool to allow you to stay on top of your messages at a glance.
Use Labels to track customers through your sales funnel, monitor high-priority messages, or track sensitive messages such as pending payments or complaints.
Learn more about how to effectively use Labels in WhatsApp Business.
Set up Quick Replies for automatic messaging
Quick Replies are templated messages that you can fully customise to your business and use to speed up your reply time within WhatsApp Business.
By writing out replies to your most common FAQs ahead of time, you can save valuable time that you’d otherwise spend writing out the same response again and again, keep your spelling and grammar standards high, maintain a coherent tone of voice for your brand, and make sure that you customer service is always up to scratch.
Learn more about how to use Quick Replies in WhatsApp Business.
Make the most of WhatsApp Business on desktop
It can be confusing (not to mention distracting) to switch back and forth between a desktop computer and a mobile phone many times during the working day. Luckily, you can use WhatsApp Business for desktop to access the same synced chats that are available on your mobile device.
The benefits? Increased productivity due to less time spent switching between devices and a much more convenient experience when sharing documents, links or PDFs.
Learn more about how to use WhatsApp Business for desktop.
How can I get started on WhatsApp Business with YourBusinessNumber?
A second mobile number from YourBusinessNumber makes it so easy to get started on WhatsApp Business, so you can start leveraging the power of the most popular messaging app right away.
If you already use WhatsApp Messenger to contact family and friends, you’ll need a second virtual phone number to verify your new business account and run both apps on the same phone.
Think that sounds tricky to set up? Think again. We generate your brand new unique virtual number for WhatsApp in just a handful of clicks and send it to you via SMS. You can then use this number to set up your business account. Easy!
If you need help at any point in the process, our comprehensive customer support will help you get back on track. Plus, with cost-effective, stress-free and flexible plans, you’re in complete control. So, what are you waiting for? Get your new WhatsApp Business number today.
Author:
George Lineker
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