Image: WhatsApp
It’s stressful to hand your unlocked phone to someone else—you never know what’s going to happen. Maybe they’ll stick to the single photo of your dog you’re trying to show them, or maybe they’ll see a private message you’d rather keep to your eyes only. While many messaging apps can’t help with that, WhatsApp now can: The “Chat Lock” feature allows you to hide any chat you want and keep it safe from prying eyes.
WhatsApp announced the change in a May 15 blog post. Chat Lock works exactly as you think it does: When you lock a chat, it hides it from anyone who happens to be looking at your WhatsApp. Not only that, it blocks notification previews for that chat as well. That means you’ll need to check in on those chats from time to time to see exactly what was sent, but you’re not at risk of someone seeing an embarrassing or compromising notification from one of them either.
You can lock any chat, including individual conversations as well as group threads. The feature pairs nicely with WhatsApp’s Screen Lock feature, which requires secondary authentication before opening the app in the first place.
How to lock any chat in WhatsApp
Introducing Chat Lock on WhatsApp
The feature is rolling out now on both Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp, so you should see it soon. Make sure you’re running the latest version of the app by installing any updates from the App Store or Play Store. If you don’t see the feature yet, WhatsApp should be rolling it out to your device soon, so long as you are fully updated.
To start, tap the chat in question, then tap the name of the chat at the top. Here, you’ll see the new “Chat lock” option: Once you tap it, you’ll need to authenticate yourself to complete the lock. This will be how you unlock the chat in the future: If your phone uses a fingerprint scanner, you’ll scan your fingerprint. If it uses Face ID, you’ll use a face scan. You can also use a PIN if you prefer.
Once you lock a chat, it moves to a new “Locked chats” folder tucked away in the main screen. Tap this folder, authenticate yourself, and you’ll be able to access any chats you locked.
