How to Ignore Messages on WhatsApp on Android

Learn how to ignore WhatsApp messages by muting chats and disabling read receipts

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: May 30, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to ignore messages in WhatsApp by muting a chat or disabling read receipts.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Muting a Chat

1
Open WhatsApp. It's the green and white chat bubble icon with a phone receiver inside. You'll find it on the home screen or in the app drawer.
- This method will disable notifications for any individual or group chat. New messages will still appear in the chat, but you'll no longer be notified upon their receipt.
2
Tap Chats.

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3
Tap and hold a chat. A row of icons will appear at the top of the screen.
4
Tap the mute icon. It's the speaker with a line through it at the top of the screen.
5
Select a duration. You will not receive new sound/vibration notifications for this chat for the duration you choose. You can choose 8 Hours, 1 Week, or 1 Year.
6
Remove the check mark from “Show notifications.” This makes it so you don't see on-screen notifications when you receive a new message in this chat.
- If you still want on-screen notifications (without sound and vibrations), you can skip this step.
7
Tap OK. Notifications are now muted for the amount of time you selected, making it easy to ignore new messages.
- You can still see new messages in the chat by selecting it on the Chats screen.

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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Turning Off Read Receipts

1
Open WhatsApp. It's the green and white chat bubble icon with a phone receiver inside. You'll find it on the home screen or in the app drawer.
- This method will help you disable the feature that allows your contacts to see when you've viewed their messages.
2
Tap ⁝. It's at the top-right corner of the screen.
3
Tap Settings.
4
Tap Account.
5
Tap Privacy.
6
Remove the checkmark from “Read receipts.” It's in the “Messaging” section. Once the box is blank, your contacts will stop seeing blue check marks when you've read their messages. You also won't see blue check marks when they've read yours.

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About This Article

Written by:

Nicole Levine, MFA

wikiHow Technology Writer

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 73,944 times.

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Co-authors: 5

Updated: May 30, 2022

Views: 73,944

Categories: WhatsApp

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