WhatsApp is undoubtedly one of the most popular messaging apps out there. The platform comes with a myriad of useful features and functionalities that improve the overall user experience in some or the other way. For instance, the platform has recently released the ability to add voice notes through status. Similarly, users can chat with anyone without saving their number, provided they are on WhatsApp. In this detailed guide, we have curated many such best WhatsApp hacks, tips, and tricks that will allow you to get more done. Check them out:
Top WhatsApp hacks, tips and tricks
Here are the top WhatsApp hacks, tips, and tricks that will help you get the most out of the chatting app.
1. Reply privately
Kicking off with a nifty little trick, reply privately. During group chats on WhatsApp, there can be times when you may want to reply to a specific message personally. You either take a screenshot or forward the message to the person along with your own text. To avoid going through this tedious process, you can use the ‘Reply privately’ feature to personally answer questions or queries of group members. Here’s how it works.
- Touch and hold on to the message you want to reply to
- Now hit the ‘3-dot’ icon at the top right corner
- From here, select ‘Reply privately’
- You will be taken to the person’s chat while a preview of the message will be created
- Enter your text and hit the ‘Send’ button
2. Share voice story
One of the latest additions to WhatsApp status is the ability to share voice notes. Just like sharing voice messages on personal and group chats, you can add a voice clip to your status for your contacts to listen. The steps to create a voice status are as follows:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the ‘Status’ tab
- From the bottom right corner, select the ‘Pencil’ icon
- Now simply press and hold the ‘Microphone’ icon on the right to record a voice note
- Once done, tap the ‘Send’ button to share the voice clip to your status
Note: You can record voice clips for only up to 30 seconds.
3. Chat without saving number
If you are someone whose work involves chatting with unknown people on a daily basis, then this WhatsApp trick is for you. Since WhatsApp doesn’t allow you to chat with an unsaved contact, there is a way to do just that without using any third-party apps or browsers. It can be done all through WhatsApp. Here’s how:
- Firstly, copy the mobile number of the person you wish to send a message to.
- Now open WhatsApp and paste the number on your self-chat. If you have never created a self-chat, tap the ‘New chat’ icon at the bottom and select the topmost chat that displays your name
- Open it and paste the copied mobile number over there
- Now click on the number and a pop-up shall open with different options
- If the other person is on WhatsApp, it will display “This phone number is on WhatsApp”
- Simply select the chat option and you will be able to send any message, image, video, or even location to that mobile number
This feature can come in extremely handy when the delivery personnel asks for your location or home address on WhatsApp. With this trick, you will be able to quickly share the details on chat and won’t need to save their contact number on your phone.
4. Media visibility
With the Media visibility option on WhatsApp, you can prevent images and videos sent from specific chats from showing in your phone’s gallery. This can come in handy to hide all those ‘Good Morning’ images and videos from family groups that clutter and make your gallery look messy.
- Open any chat on WhatsApp
- Go to the chat’s info page by tapping on the name up top
- Now scroll down and select ‘Media visibility’
- Tap on the ‘No’ option and hit ‘OK’
Now the next time any media is received in the chat, it won’t be automatically downloaded to your gallery.
5. Share WhatsApp call link
With the rapid rise in the popularity of video and conference calling apps, WhatsApp has taken cues from the likes of Zoom and Google Meet and introduced the ability to share call links. This allows users to hop into an ongoing call as long as they have the link shared with them. Here’s how to create a call link:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the ‘Calls’ tab
- Tap ‘Create call link’ option present at the top
- Now select your call type, video or voice
- Lastly, tap either of the sharing option to send the link within or outside of WhatsApp
Note: Anyone with the link will be able to join the call.
6. Send high quality photos
Send high-quality and less compressed images on WhatsApp by simply changing a setting.
- Firstly, open WhatsApp and head over to ‘Settings’ from the 3-dot menu
- Now select ‘Storage and data’ option
- Tap on ‘Photo upload quality’ and press ‘Best quality’
- Hit ‘OK’ to confirm the changes
The next time you send images on WhatsApp, they will be of slightly higher quality than usual.
7. Disappearing messages
With Disappearing messages enabled, it will automatically delete all the messages in a personal or group chat within a specific time frame. Users can choose between 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days timers upon which the messages will disappear for everyone in the chat. For groups, only the admins can change this setting while in personal chats either of the parties can tweak this setting for Disappearing messages.
Disappearing messages for each chat can be accessed from the chat settings screen or from WhatsApp’s settings.
8. Delete media from specific chats
It can be a hassle to go through the gallery and delete the media sent from a particular group or chat one by one. To avoid this, you can head over to the storage section within WhatsApp and get rid of all the images and videos from a chat in one go. Here’s how:
- Launch WhatsApp Settings
- Select ‘Storage and data’
- Now select ‘Manage storage’
- From here, tap on any chat you wish to delete the media from
9. Add chat shortcuts to homescreen
On WhatsApp for Android, you can add any chat shortcut to your homescreen. This saves you several taps of opening WhatsApp and finding that specific person or group you frequently chat with. Here’s how to add a chat shortcut:
- Open any WhatsApp chat you want to create a shortcut for
- Now tap on the menu at the top right corner
- Press ‘More’ to view more options
- From here, select ‘Add shortcut’
- Hit ‘Add’ button within the popup and a shortcut will be created on your homescreen
10. Add URL preview on status
When you share a URL on WhatsApp status (story), it doesn’t fetch the article or YouTube video’s thumbnail, which makes it look bland and meaningless. To get over this, you can manually download the image and add the URL in the caption along with a small text to emphasise what the video or article is about.
Here’s how a WhatsApp status with a URL looks with and without an image:
To download a YouTube thumbnail, you can go to this website and save the image to your device. Once done, create a new status and add the image over there along with URL in the caption.
11. Hide profile photo from specific people
Don’t want certain people to sneak your profile photo? WhatsApp has got you covered.
- Fire up WhatsApp and open Settings
- Select the ‘Privacy’ section
- Now tap ‘Profile photo’
- Select the option that says ‘My contacts’ or ‘My contacts except’
- Check mark all those contacts that shouldn’t view your profile photo
- Once done, hit the ‘tick’ icon
12. Read deleted messages from notification history
This nifty little Android trick allows you to view all the deleted messages. However, there is a catch. Once you open the chat, you will not be able to use this feature as it works only for the messages sitting in your phone’s notification panel. Follow these steps to enable this Android-exclusive feature:
- Open your Android mobile phone’s Settings
- Select ‘Notifications’ section
- From here, find and location ‘Notification history’
- Toggle it on and you are done!
All your notifications from WhatsApp and other apps will be logged here. Even if the sender deletes messages, the original message will stay intact within this section which you can view later by coming back to this setting. Also, the WhatsApp chat must not be set to mute as this will prevent the notifications to come in.
13. Prevent being added to groups
If you have shared your WhatsApp number with many people or groups and communities within social media apps such as Facebook, there are high chances of being added to random WhatsApp groups. If you have faced this recently or in the past, here’s how to prevent yourself from being added to groups by strangers:
- Launch WhatsApp and open Settings
- Under the ‘Privacy’ section, select ‘Groups’
- Under ‘Who can add me to groups’, tap ‘My contacts’
- Once done, only those people will be able to add you to groups whose numbers you have saved in your contacts
14. Approve new participants in groups
Similar to the previous hack, seeing random people being added to your group can be frustrating. As an admin, you can set up a gateway to authorise every participant that wishes to enter the group. Here’s how:
- Open WhatsApp and select a group chat
- Tap on the title to go to the group’s settings
- Scroll down a bit and select ‘Group settings’
- Toggle on the ‘Approve new participants’
- With this enabled, you will have full control over who gets added to the group
15. Text formatting
WhatsApp comes with various text formatting features through which users can bold, italicize, or cross-out text messages. While we have covered this in our detailed text formatting guide, here’s a quick glimpse at how to text format your messages:
- Send italic text messages: Add underscore (_) before and after the words to italicize the text.
- Send bold text messages: Add an asterisk (*) before and after the words to make the text bold.
- Send strikethrough text messages: Add a tilde (~) before and after the words to add a line across the text
These text options can also be added to your messages by selecting the text and tapping either of the formatting choices.
