Changing Your Group Message Privacy Settings
Select the “Settings” page in WhatsApp. Open WhatsApp and look at the different tabs at the bottom of the screen; you’ll see “Settings” and a gear icon on the far right. Tap “Settings” to get to the main settings page for WhatsApp. You can only change your group message settings via the mobile app (iOS or Android device). Those settings will also be synced with WhatsApp Web and Desktop!
Tap “Privacy” → “Groups” on the Settings page. Scan the page until you see “Privacy” (it should be right under the “Account” option) and tap on it. Then, to change your group message settings, tap on the “Groups” option, which is located in the first batch of privacy options under “About.” “Groups” is where you can control who can add you to group messages in WhatsApp. The default setting is “Everyone,” which is why you can be added to random group messages.
Select a settings option under “Who can add me to groups”. You’ll see three options: “Everyone,” “My contacts,” or “My contacts except…” Choose one of the latter two options to disable group messages from random people. If a group admin who isn’t a contact (or is excluded from your contacts) tries to add you, they’ll get a pop-up saying they can’t and will be prompted to send you an invitation via private chat. “My contacts” allows anyone in your phone’s contacts to add you to groups. “My contacts except…” prompts you to select specific contacts who aren’t allowed to add you to group messages. After selecting the contacts you want to block, tap “Done” at the top-right corner of the screen to approve your choices. You can also block everyone from adding you to group messages by tapping “Select all” at the bottom-right corner of the screen when prompted to choose contacts. “Nobody” is also an option, but only for some iOS users (Android users won’t see it). If you can select this, you’ll prevent anyone from adding you to group messages, period. If you get a private invitation to a group message, you’ll have 72 hours (3 days) to approve it.
Restricting Privacy Settings for Messaging
Go to Advanced settings to block high numbers of unknown messages. Unfortunately, there’s currently no way to stop unknown users from sending you direct messages on WhatsApp. However, you can change your WhatsApp settings to block unknown messages if you get a high volume of them. To do this, open the “Settings” page in WhatsApp and complete the following steps: Tap “Privacy” → “Advanced.” Turn on the switch labeled “Block unknown account messages.” When enabled, it’ll turn bright green! Note that this still won't block all incoming messages from unknown users, since that's not something WhatsApp can do.
Blocking Contacts & Reporting Spam
Select a contact’s name and then tap “Block” to block them. If there’s a specific WhatsApp user you want to block from messaging you, open the chat with that user and tap on their name. A new page will open (a “Contact info” page if they’re in your WhatsApp contacts or a notification if they aren’t). On that page, select “Block [Name]” or “Block [Phone Number]” → “Block” to confirm. To block someone without reporting them, uncheck the box next to “Report to Whatsapp.”
Tap a contact’s name and select “Report” to report spam. If you want to report a user without blocking them, open the chat with them and select their name, then scroll down and select “Report [Name]” or “Report [Phone Number]” (depending on whether they’re in your contacts or not). Then, confirm by selecting “Report.” If you want to report and block someone, select “Report and Block” instead. Alternatively, follow the blocking instructions above and leave the “Report to Whatsapp” box checked.
Advice on Avoiding Random WhatsApp Groups
Avoid sharing your phone number online. A spam sender can scrape your phone number (and other contact information) from social media sites, so make sure any information about you, including your phone number, is as secure as possible. Additionally, never share your phone number publicly!
Be wary of unknown links, messages from unknown senders, and spam. If you get a message with a link from an unknown sender, don’t click on it. Similarly, phishing messages with link shorteners should be deleted and reported; don’t use the links! And, if you get messages that seem like spam (often urgent-sounding messages from unknown senders), report and block those, too.
Report a spam group if you’re randomly added to it. Whether you get added or accidentally join one, you can report it by opening the group, tapping the group name at the top of the screen, and selecting “Report group” from the group information page. Then, on the same page, select “Exit group” to remove yourself from it.
Adjust other privacy settings in your WhatsApp. Go to Settings → Privacy in WhatsApp. From there, you can make other changes according to your needs (and desire for privacy). For example, you can: Silence unknown callers. Tap Privacy → Calls and turn the switch next to “Silence unknown callers” on. Change your read receipts. In Privacy, turn the switch next to “Read receipts” off if you don’t want to display them (the switch looks grey when disabled). Protect your IP address. Tap Privacy → Advanced and turn the switch next to “Protect IP address in calls” on. Use disappearing messages. In Privacy, tap “Default message timer” and choose when you want messages to disappear (24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days). This will affect all new messages, but not existing ones.
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