How to Hide Your Last Seen on WhatsApp
Hide your WhatsApp last seen and online status from everyone, from non-contacts, or from specific people, and understand what you give up in return.
Last seen shows contacts the time you last opened WhatsApp, and the online label shows when you are in the app right now. Both are controlled from one privacy screen.
Open Settings, then Privacy
On Android, tap the three-dot menu in the top right, then Settings, Privacy. On iPhone, tap Settings in the bottom right, then Privacy.
Tap Last seen and online
Tap Last seen and online. The screen has two sections: who can see your last seen, and who can see when you are online.
Choose who can see your last seen
Under Who can see my last seen, pick one of four options. Everyone shows it to anyone with your number. My contacts limits it to people saved in your address book. My contacts except lets you pick specific contacts to exclude; tap it, select the names, and tap the check mark or Done. Nobody hides it from everyone.
Choose who can see when you are online
Under Who can see when I'm online, pick Everyone or Same as last seen. Choosing Same as last seen hides the online label from whoever cannot see your last seen. Without this step, people you excluded above can still tell when you are actively in the app.
Back out to save
The choices apply as soon as you tap them. Tap back to leave the screen. To check the result, ask a contact whether the last seen line under your name in their chat has disappeared.
It works both ways. If you hide your last seen from someone, you cannot see theirs either, no matter what they have set. The same applies to the online label under Same as last seen.
What still shows. These settings do not affect read receipts, which have their own toggle on the Privacy screen, or the typing indicator that appears while you write in an open chat. Your profile photo, About text, and status updates each have separate privacy options on the same screen.