How to read WhatsApp messages without letting the sender know

Have you ever been stuck in that awkward situation where a friend felt offended because you didn't/couldn't reply to a WhatsApp message which was assumed you might have read? Or that time when you wanted to read a message but did not want to reply nor let the sender know you read it? Well, there are ways you can avoid such situations on the most used instant-messaging app. There are hacks available that let you read a WhatsApp message without letting the sender know. We thought of helping you out and avoid all that heartache by reading a WhatsApp message without letting the sender know that you have been through them.

Currently, WhatsApp, an instant-messaging app owned by Facebook, has over a billion users. However, while the huge arsenal of features has made WhatsApp the leader in the competition, there are a couple of features which still receive a mixed bag of reactions over their usability as well as their effect on the user experience. Also see: 10 secret WhatsApp tricks you (probably) didn't know about.

One of the most prominent of these being the WhatsApp Blue Tick feature. The advantage of the ‘Blue Tick’ feature is that a user will know whether the receiver has read the message or not, however, at the same time, if you don't reply to the sender right away, he/she might feel awkward or ignored, which can turn out to be a huge disadvantage of this feature. Also see: How to know if you're blocked on WhatsApp

But worry not, here we are going to list five ways through which you can stop WhatsApp from telling a friend that you’ve read their message or not, and to stop the two blue ticks right in their tracks.

Drag down the Notification Bar

Almost everyone drags down the notification bar to see who has sent them a WhatsApp message but doing so, a user can easily have a peek at the message body as well, which can reveal either partial or complete message without opening the app.

Use WhatsApp in Airplane Mode

Don’t open WhatsApp just after you have received a notification rather drag down the notification bar or open settings to enable the airplane mode first. This will turn off your WiFi or mobile data connection, and then you will be able to open WhatsApp offline. After reading the messages close the app and disable the airplane mode.

Disable Read Receipts

Disabling read receipts is one of the most authentic as well as straightforward ways which you opt for if you don’t want to let a sender know if you are actually reading the messages. However, you will also not be able to know if someone has read your messages. To disable read receipt on WhatsApp, go to the WhatsApp Settings and tap on Accounts. Now, tap on the Privacy option and untick Read receipts.

WhatsApp Pop-ups

WhatsApp Pop-ups was once a great feature that almost everyone used earlier, however, many have forgotten that the feature still exists which can be used see popup notification along with message notifications. In order to enable WhatsApp Pop-ups, open WhatsApp settings, and select Notifications before tapping on the Pop-up Notification option. Now tap on Message Notifications and choose one of three given options, namely, Only when screen “off”, Always show pop-up and Only when screen “on”.

Use WhatsApp Widget

Just like every major app, WhatsApp also offers the widget option which can be used on the home screen of Android smartphones in order to see notifications/message without even opening the app. Reading all the messages from widget placed on the home screen will prevent blue ticks to appear on senders’ chat.
You should note that ‘WhatsApp Blue Ticks’ are only visible if the receiver opens up the app to read a text or see the receive media content.