How to Turn Off Read Receipts on WhatsApp
Turn off the blue check marks in WhatsApp so contacts cannot tell when you have read their messages, and learn what the setting does not hide.
Blue check marks tell the sender you have opened their message. One toggle turns them off for all one-to-one chats, and the sender sees only the gray delivered checks from then on.
Open Settings
On Android, tap the three-dot menu in the top right, then Settings. On iPhone, tap Settings in the bottom right corner.
Tap Privacy
Tap Privacy. This screen holds the visibility settings for last seen, profile photo, About, status, and read receipts. On some Android versions the toggle sits partway down the list rather than at the top, so scroll if you do not see it.
Turn off Read receipts
Scroll to Read receipts and switch the toggle off. There is no confirmation; the change applies immediately to every one-to-one chat.
Check a chat to confirm
Open a chat and read a new message. On the sender's side the two check marks now stay gray after you read it, instead of turning blue. Anything you read before turning the toggle off keeps its blue checks; the change is not applied backward. The setting syncs to WhatsApp Web and the desktop app, so messages you read there stay gray for the sender as well.
It works both ways. With read receipts off you no longer see blue checks on messages you send, and you cannot see who viewed your status updates. Turn the toggle back on in the same place at any time.
What still shows. Read receipts in group chats cannot be turned off; members can still open a message's info screen and see who read it. The blue microphone that marks a played voice message is always sent, whatever the setting. Typing indicators and delivery checks are also unaffected.